noise."8-4-23 · 3:17am Aug 5th, 2023
Oh boy, today was a day. Rather than give you a long, ranty blogpost about the two delightful comebacks I got to work on (one which had a failure which had nothing to do with what I'd fixed on the car previously and the other which had a recurrence of an issue that the customer had chosen not to repair the last time we saw it) or discuss the Ford Ranger that I'm diagnosing for a no-start (in the case of this Ranger, no-start is in everyone's best interest, because then the owner can't drive it on the road), I decided to go a different route.
I decided to revisit Ocean City.
Earlier this year, I attended SeaquestriaFest which coincided with a huge car show. If you've never attended anything like it, I can't do it justice describing it, but there were people who just set up chairs alongside the road to watch what went by; they had a morning parade down the boardwalk that lasted over two hours.
It was also technically before beach season, so they were still doing maintenance. They really do drag the lifeguard towers behind a pickup truck. I don't know how they stand them up; I didn't see that part of the process.
In my previous Corduroy Road story, Dogman15 suggested that I could have her visit Jolly Roger Amusement Park on her day off, which was a great suggestion. And I, being an author who does as much research as possible, visited the Jolly Roger Amusement Park . . . which wasn't open for the season just yet. The train was being maintained, they were putting down gravel. I wandered around getting a sense of the place, and on my way out I bought a magnet with their logo, which is now proudly displayed on my fridge.
I don't know for sure if Alice Cooper is a pony fan or not, but there is this:
Source
According to the OP: "Alice loved it and said it was the “coolest thing he’s ever signed”. :)"
And that's that for story notes!
Besides resisting the urge to 'accidentally' set Ford Rangers on fire (it would be a public service), I've been working on a project which'll come to fruition in November. And since I've reached the point in this blog where I'm talking about upcoming events, I'll mention that if you're coming to Everfree Northwest, I'll be there and there'll be a bookstore selling five! print copies of my books (Fanfare for the Common Mare, Rose and Sam, Sam and Rose, The Haunting, and Destination Unknown. I'll also be on-scene to sign books and on a panel as well. Also if you don't like my books there are a lot of others available; RBDash_47 dialed the Bronycon Bookstore to 11. You can read about it and see what's on offer HERE.
Protip: airlines charge extra if a bag's overweight, and the cost (on Delta at least) is more than the cost of an extra bag, so if you're the type who really loves books, bring an extra suitcase. Or a U-Haul.
Finally—last November, we celebrated my tenth year on FimFIction (where does the time go?). Now we're celebrating my tenth birthday on FimFiction, yay!
Ten years ago, I gave you Science!
This year, I don't have that to offer you, but I can offer you a Google Slideshow about harnesses! Complete with some drawings I made myself!
It's maybe not as useful when not presented in my glorious booming voice, but you get what you get. 
Shachza drew the base ponies I put harnesses on.
And that's it! Love y'all 
Buy my books!
I just realized you need a parody third story. "And Sam Rose"
Don't ask me how or where I got that reference... I honestly have no idea where I even heard of this movie.
Happy birthday! :D
And I do hope EFNW goes well, though I don't expect to be there. Still looking forward to PVCF, though!
Happy Birthday!
5740827 Also!
🎂
Happy Birthday, Biscuit! 🎂🎈
Well it sounds like all those vehicles are going to be plenty of fun to fix. I am surprised that you can’t declare that Ranger to be unsafe and refuse to fix it. Then just tip off the local police that a driver refuses to take an unsafe vehicle off the road. I would hope your owner would be at least that ethical.
Hurray for anniversaries! Also Alice Cooper seems like such a good sport, I love it.
Good luck on the cars!
Happy belated birthday!
🎂 Happy Birthday! 🎂
Yeah, that train is probably powered by a Briggs and Stratton Vanguard engine. Or a small Yanmar. 🚂 🚄 🚂 ⛽
Good luck with those cars. 🛠
Slightly belated happy birthday, Admiral!
That harness/horseshoe/saddlebag slideshow was both educational and entertaining, well done! ^^
5740821
Well, I do have the kind of parody Salmon Rose.
- MLP: FiM
- Comedy
- Slice of Life
Ichthyology doesn't pay all that well, so I was lucky to get a roommate for the annual conference, and even luckier that she was an actual doctor.I never have
5740822
Thank you!
I'm really looking forward to both EFNW and Ciderfest! I'll be at Ciderfest for the whole weekend this year, and it's gonna be lit for writers!
5740827
Thank you!
5740828
Thanks!
5740829
Thank you!
5740855
Thank you!
5740884
Yeah, it's going to be an adventure and a half, I can't wait /sarcasm
I doubt the local police would do anything (heck, it's not the worst vehicle we've seen). I do wish the manager would--tell the guy that we either fix everything, or nothing. It's a constant source of frustration to have cars where the customer fixes one minor thing and not a major thing (in the case of this Ranger, not running is minor, almost no brakes and broken suspension parts is major).
5740912
Thank you!
Alice Cooper does seem like a cool dude. I almost met him once, which I suppose might count for something?
5740937
Thank you!
5740959
Thanks!
Whatever it is, it's old. It looked kind of like half a Ford flathead (it was an inline four). Dunno if it's a repurposed car engine, or some industrial engine from a manufacturer who builds industrial stuff but not cars/trucks (or did, given how old this thing looked)
Thanks! We pushed the Ranger out this morning, we'll see what happens.
5740971
Thank you!
Glad you liked it! Hopefully it's of some use in fiction-writing.
¡Happy BirthDay!
5741201
"I'll be at Ciderfest for the whole weekend this year"
Ah, nice! :)
"and it's gonna be lit for writers"
Aye, I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes! :D