Good morning, all.

Gross, gross, gross in the Philadelphia area—but tomorrow is supposed to be better.

The Bring a Trailer writer has gotten me a draft listing for the 1985—a couple of changes and we should be ready to go. The auction should start sometime around the beginning of September.

Good morning, all and hello, Bob.

Woke up late this morning (7:00 AM), so just checking in now.

At 5:00 PM this evening, I do my "performance tests" and the medical folks will determine if I am done with outpatient physicsl rehab.

Also, Bring a Trailer has assigned me a writer, who has already asked aa few questions that indicate that he is a car person but not a C4 Corvette person. That's okay.

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Congratulations! A mere 20 years ahead of us …

Good morning, all.

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It keeps me occupied, at least.

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Now I'm stuck, Gris—I want to write the definitive reference. I think we're looking at another year or so.

Good afternoon, all.

Another really nice day in the Philadelphia area—disaster must be looming.

The latest book update:

https://j3studiopress.com/2021/08/02/6 ... s-and-another-test-print/

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I hope the two of you have a great time.

Good morning, all.

It seems our yard is a little too hospitable to nature—Ivelis was cleaning out the window boxes yesterday and found a new bee's nest. She was stung six times, but tells me she's okay. We deployed chemicals shortly thereafter.

My friend got back from transitioning his mom at about 6:00 PM yesterday. He and I took the convertible out in the glorious evening to do a few errands—our old joke is that they take your "convertible card" away if you don't drive it on one of these perfect days.

Hello, Marcus.

Seems quiet on Guru.

A gorgeous, glorious day in the Philadelphia area—like May or September.

My best male friend is in town, so we took the 2012 out for breakfast. He's got hard work today—transitioning his mom from less-assisted to more assisted care.

Good morning, all.

Sounds like good news on your progress, Bob. Mobility is a positive.

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Thank you, Letty.

Good morning, all.

Not as hot as Oklahoma in the Philadelphia area, but disgustingly humid. I almost turned around from my morning walk about 50 steps, but persevered.

Back update: this past week marked three months since my surgery.

Over the last two weeks, I visited with both my spinal cord rehab doctor and my neurosurgeon. Both seem pleased with my progress, and a recent x-ray shows that the spinal recovery has gone well (likely avoiding the need for screws).

I have been removed from almost all my spinal restrictions and am allowed to bend, lift, and twist—making my twice-weekly outpatient therapy more effective. I remain enjoined from heavy lifting (that’s fine) and from running on non-padded surfaces (tougher, but we’re exploring either a treadmill or an elliptical). I am also attempting to ramp down the remaining post-surgery medications.

Good afternoon, all.

Gris, 60 pictures. More details shortly.

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It's Tuesday, folks—in case you are worried about your drunken jag last night …

Nice work (as always), Tom.

Another disgusting day in the Philly area. Supposed to get better tomorrrow.

The young photographer (aren't so many we deal with young knowadays ) showed up right on time this morning. He shot hundreds of photos and left after about 90 minutes. Now, I wait for the BaT writer …

Good morning, all.

We have another sub-optimal weather day in the Philadelphia area.

The BaT photographer arrives in about an hour. We'll start with the car up on the lift, so, of course, I spent several hours last night cleaning up the most obvious parts of the undercarriage. Ah, the glamor of the Corvette lifestyle.

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Aaah … color correction. What kind of printer is it?

Good morning, all.

Thanks for the good wishes on the sale, folks. I will keep you up to date with progress.

Tommy, I've often thought that How to Clean a C4 for Judging might be a good article for the NCRS Restorer.

Cleaning the 1985 this evening to prepare for the BaT photographer on Friday reminded me of how much effort I've put into learning specifically how to clean C4s.

Good morning, all.

Warm and misty in the Philadelphia area, with rain predicted for the next few days.

As we fix various things around our house, we're tending to make them period-correct—our house was built almost exactly sixty years ago. I find that a) I'm often unsure what various architectural components are, and b) I want to make sure exactly what subtype of house we have.

I'm putting in a word for an unexpectedly magnificent book (though I should have believed the reviews). Virginia Savage McAlester's A Field Guide to American Houses is amazing—848 pages of reference about how your house, your neighbor's house, and your entire neighborhood got the way it is. Highly recommended, with the second edition now in its fifth printing. Available, of course, from:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

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Hemmings was my next avenue if BaT didn't accept the car.

BaT will allow a reserve, but I didn't set one—and I think that's probably why they accepted the car. At this point, I just want the 1985 to go to a good home.

1985 update: Bring a Trailer has accepted the car. Photography on Friday morning.

Good morning, all.

Edging toward disgusting again in the Philadelphia area.

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Thank you, Matthew.

Good afternoon, all.

Best of luck on the plumbing, Bob. Unlike others on Guru, I don't hate plumbing—I'm just mindful of my limitations …

In other news, the 1985 has been submitted to Bring a Trailer. We'll see if they accept it.

Thanks to all Gurus for the encouragement and kind words.

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I am, Gris—thanks for asking. The wound has completely healed, leaving an impressive scar but nothing else. Pain flits between a one and a two out of ten but never completely goes away—certainly manageable.

Since I'm off almost all of my movement restrictions, we're pushing forward. I told the physical therapy folks I want to start running again, so we're working on that.

Over the next few weeks, I'll get a more definite read. I have a spinal cord evaluation this coming Wednesday and a post-op visit with my neurosurgeon the following week. They're also going to x-ray me to make sure the spine is aligned correctly.

Good morning, all.

It rained most of the night, so things have cooled down a bit—nice for July.

An interesting evening awaits later today: a fellow who was once a co-op worker in my organization at the University is bringing his fiance down from Maine to meet me and a few others. I hope I'll be worthy of the build-up.

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Hah! The decline and fall of the American personal luxury coupe, in six volumes?

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Thanks for asking—better. I had another performance test last week, and I think the PT folks were happy with the results. Still pain in the wound area, aches in the trunk area, and weird muscular stuff in the thighs. Steadily improving.

No engine lifting for me anytime soon, but life is slowly returning to normal.

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You must have been hungry.

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Thanks for asking—I'm now over two years in—started in late February 2019. Obviously, the medical issues slowed me earlier this year.

Work has picked up over the last few weeks as I continue to improve. By your counting method, I now have 58 pictures. That adds up to 166 pages.

I think I've got at least another 15 or so pages to go. Some chapters feel pretty much done, while others are distinctly unfinished. Some fairly recent blog updates:

https://j3studiopress.com/2021/02/28/55000-words/

https://j3studiopress.com/2021/06/23/m ... ns-whats-worth-a-subhead/

The current book description:

https://j3studiopress.com/riviera-project/

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I like that, too—but I don't have any suggestions.

I like the thread title today, Tommy.

Good afternoon, all—I hope you have a glorious fourth.

Early this morning, my youngest sister checked in from Cambridge, England with this photo.

Good afternoon, all.

Thunderstorms came last night and dropped the temperatures by about ten degrees, which is fine by me. The now fully functional generator kept me calm.

Today, rain came in the late morning. Just medium rain—no sturm und drang. In our back driveway turnaround area, the birds are bathing in the rain.

Letty, that's good progress.

Tommy, I agree that a bunch of roofers going at it can be impressive.

Good morning, all.

Hot, humid, and disgusting in the Philadelphia area—exactly the kind of weather George Washington complained about to Martha.

My neurosurgeon may know what he's doing—taking me off the back restrictions has measurably decreased the pain level.

It's been a busy couple of days since I last reported. My best male friend was down for the weekend, so there was much food and drink intake. We jumped from that right back into a bunch of end-of-fiscal-year issues at the University. Finally, prep work has begun for the NCRS Gallery XX at Corvettes at Carlisle—we're bringing the 2003 50th Anniversary convertible, which is now (aaack!) judgeable.

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!

Good morning, all.

The heat and humidity have made it to the east coast. I figure we were due—it had been way too nice.

On Friday night, one of my best friends hit a deer in his Honda Fit near Saratoga, NY. As near as we can tell, another car hit the deer first, and then my friend hit the still considerable remnants. He's okay, the Fit less so. The whole front clip is mangled, but the hood looks okay. The car overheated right after the crash, so I'm assuming the tiny radiator is toast. We'll find out more on Monday.

I haven't (yet) had the heart to tell him that he's now an official upstate New Yorker …

Good afternoon, all.

We've seen this a few times:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_tallest_thermometer

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I intend to sell it as soon as possible.

Good morning, all.

While my Guru friends to the west melt, it is gorgeous in the Philly area. 65 degrees, 70% humidity.

It's so nice, even the cicadas are quieter this morning, though I think that's probably because most of the adults have finished their lifespan. Brood X is hyperlocal around here—hilariously,  they're only on the really expensive side of Bryn Mawr, where the homes routinely go for one million plus. Here in the (relatively) cheap seats, we don't hear them at all.

I managed to drive all three Corvettes yesterday, though it was only to move them around between the two garages. As expected, the 1985 took a lot of time to get in and out of.

Today, I'm driving down to Delaware to attend a small lunch for my boss—after 34 years at the University, he is retiring. He is the fourth boss I've had in 27 years of full-time work at Penn.

Good morning, all.

After much rain last night (almost two inches), it's a beautiful early summer morning in the Philadelphia area.

My physical therapy folks gave me more leg stretches yesterday evening to try and solve my post-op thigh and knee issues. The stretches are definitely doing … something.