If It's Not One Thing... Part 2

If it's not one thing, it's another. Well my sticky lifter unstuck itself without any help from me.... But now it seems I have developed oil blow-by through both valve covers on my engine. For those of you who aren't familiar with blow-by and what it is, it is when oil, bypasses the combustion chamber... Usually in the form of oily smoke blowing out the exhaust pipes, or the valve covers. There are a few different causes of blow-by. Ring problems, Piston problems, Valve problems, oil drain hole clogs, or Head gasket problems. The easiest problem to fix is a clogged oil drain hole. Well, that isn't the problem. I did a compression test on the engine and the rear passenger cylinder is the low/problem one. I put about 2-3oz of oil in the cylinder and re-did the compression test. The pressure didn't rise, so that means it is most likely not the piston or the rings. So the problem hopefully is either a blown head gasket, or a burnt valve. Those are the 2 options I was hoping for as those do not require a rebuild of the entire engine. But alas, I won't know for sure until I pull the head off the engine. Keep your fingers crossed for me that this stays a cheap/easy fix.

Winter Blows

I don't know about you, but Winter blows. I go to work in the dark, I get home and it's dark. It's too cold outside to work on my truck. It's too cold to play outside with my dog much. I have to put the top and doors on my Jeep because of the cold. I feel like going to bed early because it seems like its so late even though its only like 8:30. I just get depressed in Winter. There are three things that make Winter worthwhile. Snow, Christmas, and New Year's Eve. A couple problems with that... we hardly ever get snow, and if we do it turns to ice overnight. Christmas and New Year's are only 1 day each, so that leaves..... oh... lets see.... 88 days to endure. So in case you were curious as to why I was writing this, it's because
I Hate Cold and Winter!

Thanks for listening to me ramble.

Stereotypes Vs. Racism

When does a stereotype become racism? We are all familiar with some of the more popular stereotypes. Blondes are ditzy. Arabs work at quick stops, or own hotels. Black mothers are on welfare. White men can't jump. Women who wear revealing clothes are whores. Smart people are nerds. Fill in the blank with your favorite.

My favorite is, "Tall people should play basketball." I wonder if those same people go up to fat people and say, "Hey, you're Fat, you should be a Sumo Wrestler". Maybe they go up to short people and say, "Hey you're Short, you should be a Jockey". Now I know, you're saying "But being tall and playing basketball are a good thing". You may be right, I'm not differentiating between "Good" stereotypes, and "Bad" stereotypes, just tackling them as a whole. What I want to know is when does it become racism. If I went up to a black man and said, "Hey, you're Black, you should be a basketball player." Now the RED flag goes up. I just added color to a stereotype and it's taboo now. Well, all stereotypes are generalizations, that is the definition of a stereotype; A generalization about a group of people based on a characteristic or attribute. There are always exceptions to the rule. It's funny how ingrained some have become, we don't even blink when we hear them.

I guess along the same lines of this subject is "Reverse Racism". I have heard the term used when describing racism directed at whites. My question.. when did racism just refer to blacks? According to the dictionary this is the definition of racism, "Discrimination or prejudice based on race". So how did there come about to be a Reverse Racism, if Racism does not describe a particular race or color. Funny how things change.

I know this post is gonna earn me some enemies, that's fine, as long as it makes some people wake up and start taking notice, and thinking about things.