Build the Back to the Future Time Machine - Issues 067-070

Sweet, two shipments this month, which means I might not get the next shipment until way late into May.  Hopefully, the next parts get to me earlier and not later...and not way later, like last year.

Issues 067-070

Nicely packed box.  This time, there were no 'air bags' for packing, just the parts and the magazines.  We get a door, looks like a complete driver's side door.  Exciting!

Issue 067 - Driver's Door Details

Contents of Issue 067

Some great detailing in the interior door pieces.  I am not sure why there are 'light bronze' coloured areas along the door edge, I guess it visually helps break up that area.  Oh and there are door lights...LED door lights.  One of the first 'mods' I did on my car was converting the door lights to LED. 

Very few cars these days have door lights, but when you have bad ass gull winged doors, you need that extra visual warning so you do not hit your head.

We also get two new screws in this Issue, the tiny JP and KP.

Issue 068 - Driver's Door Lights

Contents of Issue 068

Speaking of LED lights, here they are.  Some simple routing of wires and we are good to go. 

But wait, there is more.  We have working windows!  The little tollbooth window goes up and down via a gears and a dial located at the bottom of the door.

Issue 069 - Driver's Door

Contents of Issue 069

The first die-cast piece of this shipment and boy is it a big hefty piece.  The door pieces from the previous two issues come together to form the door.  It even has mirrors that fold, just like the real thing.  Yes, there is a mirror piece that you can use to check your blind spot, or just to see how cool you look whilst driving a DeLorean.

Issue 070 - Fitting Driver's Door

Contents of Issue 070

Ah, the headliner.  I had my headliners redone a few years ago.  They were drooping, as many do after time and neglect.  Also, the were not die-cast...but they are in this model.

Another new screw is introduced, the QM, one more tiny screw for the collection.  Two of these tiny screws take the responsibility of holding up this heavy door.  Feels a little dangerous to me, but at least there are struts to help ease the pressure.  What?  Struts?  Yeah, just like the bonnet, there is a strut. 

Fun fact:  Last year, I replaced all the struts in my car.  The louvre and bonnet were relatively easy to install.  But the doors, being heavy and awkward, were not as easy.  I had to come up with something to hold the doors up while I removed and installed the door struts.  The solution...hockey sticks.

Hockey sticks for the assist

Probably not the way I am supposed to do it, but it worked.

The finished assembly up to issue 070 should look like this:

Outside of door assembly

Inside of door assembly

I hope those tiny QM screws hold.  Speaking of screws, note that we have three new screws in this shipment.

58-AP, 18-BP, 2-CP, 19-AM, 12-BM, 4-EM, 4-CM, 22-DM, 3-DP, 1-FM, 3-GM, 3-HM, 2-IM, 2-EP, 18-FP, 2-JM, 4-HP, 2-GP, 8-NM, 1-MM, 4-KM, 1-LM, 1-IP, 1-OM, 1-PM, 2-JP, 1-KP, 1-QM

to be continued...

My Fitbit Alta HR Stopped Working

I have been wearing fitness trackers for about six years.  First with the Nike FuelBand in 2013, and more recently with the Fitbit Alta HR in 2017.  There have been issues with the Fuelband, mainly from a design and quality standpoint.  But overall, fun to wear.

About a week ago, my Fitbit Alta HR died.  I had just finished the first game of a double header and wanted to see how many steps I had.  By the way, a typical hockey game, for me, generates about 2500-3000 steps.  The displayed only showed the Fitbit logo and a battery logo with an exclamation point (!),  no blinky blink from the heart rate lights, and unable to access any other information like time, heart rate, steps, etc.  I even checked the battery before the game, and with about a third of juice left, it was more than enough to last the day.

The Fitbit has been worn for two years, through many games, and a few double headers.  Never had an issue with the Fitbit.  It seems that water, or sweat, got in to the unit and shorted the device while playing hockey.

While I do not exercise everyday, I do get a good amount of 'movement' through running around at work, going to the gym, hockey, and various errands.  There is no need to constantly check if I have met my step goals for the day.  The only thing I miss is the heart rate monitor.  Oh, having the Alta HR linked to my phone was a bonus. 

So, what now?  A week into being fitness tracker free, I like it.  I am no longer 'handcuffed'.  I am not looking for another fitness tracker to replace it anytime soon.

Update:  I just checked the Fitbit site, just to see what my options are should I choose to enter this game, again.  The Alta is no longer available, looks like that model has been discontinued and replaced by the Inspire.  The other option, with heart rate monitor, is the Charge 3.  I will just wait...or just not have anything on my non-watch-wrist.

Build the Back to the Future Time Machine - Issues 063-066

A little late posting this, not the fault of the supplier or Eaglemoss.  I was on a business trip for over a week and had not have time until this week to get on this.  Let us get to it.

Issues 063-066

We start to see the exterior of the car take shape.

Issue 063 - Hood

Contents of Issue 063

Huge flat metal piece for the hood.  Also in this issue are the struts that help hold the hood up.  Wow, they are actual struts.  Okay, not gas or oil filled, but friction rod-and-tube.

Oh, and we have a introduction of the PM screw, new screw!

Issue 064 - Hood Frame

Contents of Issue 064

Ah, the hood frame, the structure that gives the DeLorean hood the distinct "X".  The hood light is a part of this assembly, which means a little bit of wiring.  Really, just routing the wire along one arm of the X.

Issue 065 - Luggage Compartment Interior

Contents of Issue 065

We are at the half way mark at Issue 065.  Like the 1955 white wall tire parts, there may be 'extra' issues in addition to the planned 130 issues.

This assembly is pretty straight forward.  For me, it seems that I was short one GP screw.  This will show in the screw count later.  Luckily, I have kept all the extra screws well organized and it was not a problem 'replacing' the GP screw.

Issue 066 - Door Catches

Contents of Issue 066

More wires!  Luckily, this is pretty simple routing of wires.

All issues in this shipment are assembled onto the frame from the last shipment.  It should look like this, or better...for you, probably a lot better.

Issues 063-066 installed

Here is a close up, albeit an out of focus photo, of the hood struts.

Hood struts at work

Fun fact that you do not care about.  I recently replaced all the struts on my car.  So, working on these struts brought back memories.  It was less than a year ago, but I have a memory of a goldfish.  Pretty easy to swap out hood struts on a DeLorean, so if you have experience doing that, this shipment of parts should be no problem for you.

Now, the screw count.  Note that this is a new screw (PM) and a shortage of one screw (GP).

55-AP, 18-BP, 2-CP, 18-AM, 12-BM, 4-EM, 4-CM, 20-DM, 3-DP, 1-FM, 3-GM, 3-HM, 2-IM, 2-EP, 18-FP, 2-JM, 3-HP, 2-GP, 6-NM, 1-MM, 4-KM, 1-LM, 1-IP, 1-OM, 1-PM

to be continued...

FUCK YOU, STOP CALLING ME - April 2019

Three months down and heading into the fourth month of the year

1 April 2019
  408-961-4321  San Jose, CA - April Fool, indeed.  I had already blocked this number on the Call Protect app.  So, this was intercepted by the app.  Curious as to why the call was even flagged.  At least there was no ring, or message left.  Keep calling, you will never get through.  Fuck you!

4 April 2019
  310-849-5956  Beverly Hills, CA - I waited three days for this call.  Not really. But it has been three days.  It seemed like this was going to be a daily thing.  The inconsistency kinda makes it fun.  Not really.  Fuck you!

  310-299-0499  Beverly Hills, CA - Just when you think they might be running out of Beverly Hills numbers, they call from a different prefix.  How cleaver. Good thing AT&T marked this as a telemarketer.  Not that it matters.  You know what matters...fuck you!

9 April 2019
  310-743-0258  Inglewood, CA - Nothing showed up on a quick search. This could be a legit 'wrong number', but more likely, this is your garden variety spoofed number from a telemarketer.  Fuck you!

  424-239-7363  Beverly Hills, CA - Something tells me that this call does not really originate from Beverly Hills.  That city is not that big, yet I get countless calls from different area codes and prefixes.  Fuck you!

10 April 2019
  213-880-8071  Los Angeles, CA - Getting calls all over California this month, so far.  I better not get any calls from other states.  Oh no, I jinxed it.  Fuck you!

11 April 2019
  424-239-7363  Beverly Hills, CA - Nice, a return caller.  Fuck you!

12 April 2019
  310-849-1888  Beverly Hills, CA - Too bad one cannot block an entire city from calling.  Fuck you!

  424-239-7363  Beverly Hills, CA - I thought I blocked this number.  Apparently, I forgot to.  My mistake.  Now blocked, fuck you!

15 April 2019
  310-849-2506  Beverly Hills, CA - Norte Dame is burning.  I wish telemarketers were burning instead.  Fuck you!

16 April 2019
  970-233-2961 Collbran, CO -  Oh, could this be a legit call?   I mean, how many people do I know in Colorado?  None.  So, a quick search and the first result that comes up is...

"970-233-2961 is a Debt Reduction Scam.  Do not answer."

I mean, good for you, for using a non-California number. For a time, I was tempted to answer the phone.  How long a time, you ask?  About 0.68 seconds, sir.  For and android, that is nearly an eternity.  Also, fuck you!

17 April 2019
  310-849-1799  Beverly Hills, CA - No need to check, this is a telemarketer.  Fuck you!

  310-849-3597  Beverly Hills, CA - Second call, or should I say, attempt from possibly the same telemarketer using another Beverly Hills area spoofed number.  Fuck you!

19 April 2019
  310-404-8529  Gardena, CA -  Another spoofed number.  No message left.  No results from a quick search, so we can safely assume this another telemarketer.  Fuck you!

22 April 2019
  No Caller ID - Well, this is strange.  I even checked Call Protect and this was listed as "Private Caller".  No message was left, so this defaults to telemarketer.  It also defaults to fuck you! 

27 April 2019
  747-282-2570  Agora Hills, CA - Alerted by AT&T as a Telemarketer.  Another call on a Saturday, another call ignored.  Fuck you!