{"id":11039,"date":"2015-02-17T16:42:42","date_gmt":"2015-02-17T21:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.monocoque-metalworks.com\/main\/?p=11039"},"modified":"2015-02-18T13:34:00","modified_gmt":"2015-02-18T18:34:00","slug":"baby-its-cold-outside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monocoque-metalworks.com\/main\/2015\/02\/baby-its-cold-outside\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby, it’s COLD Outside!"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has literally been “too cold to blog”…<\/p>\n

The new shop has an electric heat pump – which seemed like a great idea at the time (and probably still is, really…) – but when temperatures get THIS low, a heat pump pretty much just pumps up your electricity bill.\u00a0 So we turned the heat WAY down over here (51 degrees), and have been hunkered down in the old shop for about the past 10 days.<\/p>\n

Of course, that means that the office, packing room, etc. up here on the second floor of the new shop is FREEZING, and so I have been coming over, handled the emails and parts orders, and getting the hell back out of here!\u00a0 last night, it snowed about 5 inches, so Brent didn’t make it in, and I spent the first couple of hours today dealing with that.\u00a0 Ironically, the snow brought “warmer” temperatures with it – and sunshine, and so I decided to crank the heat up over here today and get caught up.<\/p>\n

The snow is a pain, but I can’t really complain about it – especially now!\u00a0 I was just talking to a customer in Massachusetts yesterday, and their business is all but SHUT DOWN up there from the snow!\u00a0 He said that they have received about 8 feet in the past month, and their industrial park has a one-lane “tunnel” cut through it, with 12-15-foot high sides!\u00a0 That has got to be a NIGHTMARE!<\/p>\n

Anyway, in the middle of all of this, we are plugging away with shell work & parts sales – and on the homefront, Valentines Day, visiting with friends, and the Pinewood Derby – an annual Cub Scout tradition where the kids build a small car out of wood and run it down a track 3 lanes wide – powered by gravity…<\/p>\n

This was my 6th Pinewood Derby – spanning 34 years.\u00a0 As a Cub Scout myself, I was in the Pinewood Derby 3 times – in 1981, 82, and 83.\u00a0 My father and I built some pretty cool cars, but I never even came close to winning…\u00a0 Then in 2012 and 2013, I helped out a friend’s son with his cars, and we DID come close to winning, but alas, weren’t quite there…<\/p>\n

THIS year, 2015, was Cooper’s first year in Cub Scouts.\u00a0 He is taking to it pretty well, and you would be surprised how much 7-year-old boys still LOVE the Pinewood Derby!\u00a0 We worked on the car probably 4 or 5 times over the past couple of weeks, for 1-2 hours at a shot so he would not get bored – cutting it out and sanding, painting, filing and polishing the axles (nails…), melting lead into the car for weight, etc.<\/p>\n

Finally, the big day came this past Saturday AM, and…<\/p>\n

WE WON THE PINEWOOD DERBY!!!!<\/span><\/h1>\n

FIRST PLACE!!!\u00a0 I have to tell you – it was better than winning the Indy 500…<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Then we went Ice skating with the whole family (and no-one got hurt – unbelieveable for the Hadleys…), and THEN we went out to some friends with the kids and had a great time.\u00a0 It was a LONG day – culminating in a ride home late Saturday night in the truck with 3 inches of snow – which the kids loved.\u00a0 Altogether, it was GREAT day – it really put a smile on my face the next morning thinking back on it – on at least one day, I had followed through on Goal #1 for 2015 (and 2014, and 2013, and…) – “spend more time with family.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But back to E-Types…\u00a0 On Sunday AM, I got up on THE COLDEST day of the year, and headed down to Virginia on one of my semi-famous “E-Type cars and parts rescue missions” – take a look at the latest treasure hunt!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n