I started a new project tonight. I am working on my car. I recently found out that my car has a V-Tech engine which is Honda's performance engine. When I bought the car, it was rated as an Si, and that was it. I guess I assumed the engine was the standard engine . . . what a pleasant surprise . . . now seven years after I bought the car.

Anyway, it has opened up a new world of possibilities with engine performance. I bought a new cold-air intake which delivers more air to the engine. This will cause a better burn in the chamber. I installed that tonight. What a difference it made. Not only does the engine sound better (you can hear her sucking in all that clean air), but it runs to red-line in a heartbeat. The new air intake boasts that it adds 15HP to the car. Cool!

On Tuesday I will receive a new external distributor and high voltage spark plug wires to deliver more spark to the chamber for a hotter burn. This also boasts improved performance and greater horse power. I'll take more pics and let you know.

If this all goes well, there may be a supercharger in the future. We'll see. I am pretty pleased with what was delivered today. This may be enough to satisfy my need for speed right now . . . and all for under $150.00 . . . thank you E-Bay !!

Pictures are in my album.

Picture Number Two

Yesterday started the next home improvement project here at the house. Peter and I have been talking about re-doing the back porch. The roof was leaking worse with ever rain. The former owner of the house told us that he installed the roof only to block the afternoon sun from warming up the kitchen so bad. And it served that purpose well, but it did nothing for the rain.

So, I climbed up on the roof and began ripping up the tar sheets. Yuck! What a task. When I finally revealed the wood underneath, I could clearly read, "This Side Down." Maybe that's why it didn't do so well to weathering - the weather seal was on the wrong side!

Peter and I just got back from Miami. Peter had a presentation today; so I tagged along, and we made a weekend out of it. We flew up EARLY Saturday morning and arrived in Miami at about 11:00am. After getting the rental car, braving the confusing infrastructure that is the Miami freeway system, and getting checked in to the hotel, we were on the beach. It was wonderful!

We stayed in South Beach which had wonderful food, beautiful beaches, plenty of shops to pick from, and a good crowd of people. It also had the highest prices of anything I have seen. One meal for the two of us was equivalent to one night in our hotel (which was right on Ocean Drive). The prices were extraordinary along Ocean Drive. Once we drove in to Miami Beach prices dropped - but so did the attractive nature of the place. Miami Beach was a slum! It was dirty, there were bars on the store fronts, the stores were run down, and there were lots of thugs and homeless walking the side walks. What a difference a few blocks makes.

Downtown Miami was very nice. The sky-scrapers were beautiful, the shops were high-end, and everything was clean and shiny! But go three blocks in any direction, and it is run down and dirty. What a shame. But if you stick to the tourist spots and the beaches (as we did), you will love it!

We enjoyed 75 degree temperatures (which felt much warmer), bright sun shine, and swimming in the ocean. It was a weekend well spent! Take a look at the photos!

We celebrated Peter's Birthday over the weekend. His birthday is not really until Tuesday, but there's nothing wrong with celebrating early!

To mark the occasion I reserved a hotel right on the River Walk in San Antonio. We went right after work Friday. When we got there we took a nice walk along the not-so-commercialized section of the River Walk, ending our stroll in the commercial section among hundreds of restaurants.

Saturday was the big day. I took Peter to Natural Bridge Caverns where we went on the Adventure Tour. It is a three to four hour excursion through the caverns 233 feet below the surface. It was amazing! We were lowered by rope down the original drill shaft that was about 32 inches in diameter. I had to curl my shoulders in order to fit well. It took about four minutes to get to the cavern - the entire time dropping down a dark shaft with only your head lamp, rubbing the bare earth as you went. It was GREAT!

After reaching the cavern, we hiked, climbed, belly crawled through slime and mud, rappelled down a 20-foot drop, and explored the entire time. It was so much fun.

We had two guides that went with us, and there were two others that signed up for the adventure tour as well. It was the perfect sized group.

By the time we were done, we were dirty from head to toe, grinning from ear to ear. You can check out our photos in my album.

Peter and I had a wonderful Christmas in the Hill Country. We rented a log cabin on Canyon Lake and spent two days with spectacular views, a romantic surrounding, and some classic holiday movies . . . oh, and we managed to come back with more wine than we left. We went to a couple wineries in the area and bought more than we planned to drink. Not to worry, they wont go bad any time soon. =P

The cabin was wonderful, and we had a great time together! Check out the photos and let me know what you think.

I went to the doctor for my physical a couple weeks ago, and I got my results back last week. Everything was picture perfect, except my cholesterol. It is 216. Damn! When did that happen. The last time I checked it was 5 years ago, and it was great then.

So, I have read everything in print about it, and Peter and I have a new plan for the foods we eat. Peter is wonderfully supportive. He is willing to change his eating habbits too, even though he does not have high cholesterol. What an incredible partner he is to me!

So, we are improving our diets, and I am exercising again. We will get this under control! My doctor said no pills - yet. He wants me to get this under control with proper diet and exercise.

Wish me luck!

I am calling out to all those that took pictures during Thanksgiving. Would you share your pictures with me? I lost my camera over the holiday, and I have no pictures to mark the event. I would like to catelog this event as it was the first time that Peter and I hosted and the first time that Mom and Dad traveled for the holiday.

I appreciate any hand-me-downs that you can offer.

Much of my life, folks have mispronounced my name. They insist that somehow I managed to misspell my own name. They call me Walters, Waiters, or they ask straight out how to pronounce that crazy last name.

Not Peter.

No.

I found out just this past week how he managed to pronounce it correctly the very first time he attempted after only seeing it in print. The idea came to him like the proverbial light bulb going on. In fact, that is exactly where it came from.

Days before he attempted to throw my last name out in casual conversation, he had been changing a light bulb at his place. Have you ever read the top of the light bulb? It will tell you the wattage of the bulb. In clear letters one reads, "60 Watts."

Our guest bedroom is a fair sized room, but it only has a bed in it. I have an extra TV that I want to put in there, but I also feel like the room needs some additional pieces of furniture. Peter has a hutch that was meant for his office desk, but there was not room for it without sacrificing the window. So, we had it in mind to buy a dresser and place the hutch on it. Today was that day. Clyde went to a few stores with me, and I found the exact items that would fit in that room. It is a corner TV stand, and a beautiful dresser. They are perfect. They will be delivered next weekend.