Author: Justin

Crown build progress

Post-respray, aged trim parts removed for chroming

 

Cutting a new rear speaker shelf

 

Perhaps the original (40 year old!) rear speaker shelf, at some point apparently modified by an epileptic monkey with children's scissors

 

New interior door panels and glove box being fitted

 

A pump we found in the passenger-side door apparently for a Mercedes-style pneumatic door lock system. I've never heard of this being used on Crowns and doubt it is original, but as they say, Crowns are Japanese Benzos

 

The taillight frames were apparently very difficult to chrome because they are made from strange 1970's not-quite-metallic material

the car, she is black now

Car Restoration Vertigo

I finally got my Crown out of the body shop that had taken her hostage for five months… Now she’s in my friend’s car audio/accessory shop getting shit done that was supposed to be done by the body shop, plus getting shit fixed that the body shop screwed up… They even lost a bunch of parts: Interior panels, various covers, the entire glove box (!), plus pretty much every type of clip, screw, bolt, pin and other fastener needed to keep everything together.

My pal, Ot, and his guys at Wattana Sound are busy refitting chrome parts, repaneling the interior, crafting new doors, making a new glove box (haha), plus fitting a bunch of cool secret stuff.

I actually have to take the Crown back to the shitty body shop to attempt to get some of the paint job fixed (they couldn’t even get the paint done right in five months). They promise it will be fixed in one day. We’ll see. Meanwhile, I’m taking build photos whenever I visit Ot’s shop and am getting obsessive about certain details, which is a good sign of progress… It shall be done soon, I swear.

raw onion

Today, Mina got so hungry in the car that she pulled an onion from a grocery bag, started peeling it, and had every intention of sinking her teeth into it until her mother took it away. I wanted her to try it, but Nam wouldn’t hear of it.

Max’s current thing is suddenly crouching into low kung fu poses and declaring, “LET’S FIGHT,” before assaulting you with low kicks and spinning back fists. Ultraman and Masked Rider are his current inspirations.

Khon Kaen Immigration

So the most heinous task of renewing our non-immigrant Type B working visas and work permits fell on this very day and to my great surprise, was quite painless, if not actually pleasant. Since I’ve been here, the immigration officethe foreingers in Maha Sarakham report to has changed from Nong Khai to Mukdahan to Khon Kaen. The Khon Kaen office started out kind of rough, which is to be expected anywhere, I guess, but they have really improved their operation. What used to take us 2 hours in Khon Kaen (or in the worst case, 10 hours at the Mukdahan office) only took us 45 minutes today, and since we arrived at opening time (8:30am), it meant that we had a chance to try renewing our work permits at the SArakham labor office before lunch.

Arriving at 11:45 meant that the staff was more interested in getting on lunch break than processing our renewals, so instead of the typical treatment (“it’s time to eat, please wait”), they examined only my documents (which were in perfect order) and rubber stamped the rest. And ran to the cafeteria. It was quite awesome, really.

Here’s to the greatly improved efficiency of the Khon Kaen immigration office and the Maha Sarakham labor office – I never would have believed that both visa and work permit renewals could be finished in half a day, but it all went smoothly this year.

Some baby photos

Mina is currently going through the dreaded NO! stage, and Max is off school (a month earlier than Mina) and going to work with mommy or daddy every day. Mina hit me in the face when I said she couldn’t have ice cream, then ran away giggling to mommy when I came after her. Max is perfecting his knee kicks and nailed me in the eggs a couple times this week. The first time it hurt so bad, I bit my lip until it bled. There is something to be said for having babies when you are young and still indestructible. When people ask if we are going to have more children, I want to punch them in the face and run away giggling.

And yet, we are having a great time and value this time spent together more than anything.

Lego Land Mines

One of the worst ways to wake up is by stepping on a lego. Add in the fact that you’re in a rush to reach the room of your crying baby, and it means you are probably in a hurry, and may fall down on the tiled floor before smashing your head into the doorway of the kid’s room.

At least the baby stopped crying long enough to give you a WTF look.