Where did September go? Looks like I missed the monthly update but the weeks spin by faster than the dial on my electric meter. This project was officially started September 12th 1999 - think about it, in less than three years a decade of Project33 will have passed. I'm feeling the need to move on to something else these days, but I need to finish this project first, as in get it running, looking and driving flawlessly before moving on to the next project, whatever that may be.

This photo was shot this morning.. The transmission is finally out and will be heading to the shop on Monday. It was a royal pain to remove but the modifications that were made will make it much easier to remove the next time. Of course I pray there isn't a next time. Two times in one year is enough!

The new 3000 stall B&M torque converter has finally arrived (it was on backorder for over a month) and I'm hoping this will be what's needed to cure all the drivability issues we've been experiencing.

I'm also toying with the idea of swapping out the transmission cooler for a couple two foot long tube-type four-pass coolers (for a total of twelve feet of cooling capacity) just to make sure that I never have to remove the transmission due to heat issues. The tube type coolers are supposed to work well with little or no air flow (i.e. creeping through a fairgrounds) and I can tuck them up beside the drive shaft for better ground clearance (remember the scoop/trailer incident?).

That's about all that's happened with the car in the past couple months but a lot of other things have happened. We now have a granite kitchen counter top. It was relatively easy to install other than the sheer weight of a couple of the slabs. It took five of us to lift the largest one in place. Needless to say, I have a happy wife but we all know that happiness is temporary. I've added under cabinet lighting and next I get to don my tile layer's cap and install a custom tile backsplash. You can't have too may projects, right?

I used to drink a ton of milk until I became lactose intolerant (over night) several years ago. Since then I can no longer enjoy milk, ice cream, malts, egg nog, some cheeses and a host of other dairy products I once loved.

I love seafood, especially shellfish like shrimp, crab, clams, lobster and muscles. A couple weeks ago after eating a batch of "drunken muscles" at a local Irish pub (muscles steamed in Guinness - YUM!) I developed a sever allergic reaction. My throat, lips and eyes swelled and my entire body was covered with hives. I had to go to acute care where they injected a steroid in my budious maximus and sent me home with an oral dose of the same.

The good news is it cleared up three days later. The bad news is that another food group I once loved has been permanently removed from my diet and I could test positive for steroids. (of course I've become a much better athlete ;)

They tell me it's not uncommon for people to develop an allergy to certain foods at any time, even if they've eaten them on a regular basis their whole life. Lately I've been going though shrimp withdrawal and the permanency of "for ever" is starting to set in, causing a deep seafood related depression. It's just so unfair! If this keeps up I'll be living on boiled chicken and water :)

Thank goodness it wasn't the Guinness!