mini-truck love

The first day I drove the truck to the shop,

the mechanic Alex said I'd better get a cut-off switch.

On the coil not the battery,

so it takes longer to find.

On our monthly trip to the TJ dentista,

we decided to drive the truck,

save some gas.

I locked it up and hoped it wouldn't get stolen.

In the past two months,

they've bricked the walkway to the border.

It's hard to see how wavy it is,

I don't feel bad at how our bricks line up!

When we got back to the truck,

the door was unlocked.

Could've sworn I locked it.

And what was this in the key slot?

Great.

No tools,

just a homemade nail blow-dart from the kids,

the perfect extraction device.

The wife was amazed,

she thought The rip-off comment was a joke!

Out of all the cars on the street,

never had this problem with the fakey p-71.

Must be the rims.

Fortunately nothing was missing.

And we have a new shank!

TP

Hick Hat™

Howdy y'all here's a little play by play,
the evolution of my new wife proclaimed Hick Hat™.

don't tread on me

How could I pass up the free camo NAPA hat,
after Andy bought his new alternator.
A donation goes to the intrepid fallen heroes fund,
so it's for a good cause.

napa - intrepid fallen heroes fund hat

For some reason I've had a series of camouflage hats since moving down to SD,
even though I was more of a hick when living up in Ventura.
My wife even joked I used to say warter instead of wotter.

This one is the digital camo which I'm not a huge fan of...yet...
but the material is a super light rip-stop,
doesn't get hot in the sun,
and dries fast in the rain.
Both of which have been tested the past couple days even here in SD.

belleville steel toe boots

And get this,
now I have the matching ensemble to these bitchin steel toe boots from Ken.
No not the most stylish and no brand recognition,
but hey - I've worn out Red Wings and Doc Marten's,
and these are the most comfortable boots right out of the box.
No expensive insoles and holey chit are they light.

Ken scored two pair,
and I figured what the heck,
I'll trash the first pair and baby the second.
Well after almost 2 years of torching, grinding, welding, oily bilges,
they're still going strong - ho holes in my socks, rubber sole is like new.
Eff yeah and they're made in USA!
I'm drawing the line at the cut-off camo shorts...

fail

Now time to personalize the cap.
I found a camo Navy Jack patch on ebay,
from a guy almost off the grid near Little Ogeechee Pond in Georgia.
I've always dug the "don't tread on me" ideal,
although I'm more Libertarian in my views.
******************************************************
It seems our dickhead neighbors have released my long lost aggro-ness!
These guys first two albums were on repeat for the black truck rebuild...

Good not-so-old aussie easy listening punk rock!
The Distillers - Oh Serena
*****************************************************

spilt blood good luck

We tested a meki iron on trick with the towel,

but no go.
So I tried my hand at a thread and needle.
Not alot of practice and I poked my finger a couple times.
No problem blood is supposed to be good luck!
It's a little crooked and off-center,
but it's a friggin hat!

TJ border flags

What a day and place to christen the modified hat.
Everything went smoothly on our adventure to the TJ dentista!

TP

tijuana gold

This evening marked the end of a long haul of dental visits,
for me anyway.
A couple extenuating circumstances had pushed the rear molar fix
to finish within a couple days of a year.

gold TJ crowns

If you've missed the detailed history it's been great fun.
Here's a quick pictoral evolution...

gutted molar

First the molar was gutted in preparation for the root canal.
Talk about good times!
The memory of drowning in my own saliva...

TJ root canal

After that a gold post was cast and cemented into place.
Later the original tooth was whittled down,
and a mold taken to make the crown.
Here's where I dropped the ball.
This was last year about the time of daylight unsavings time,
and instead of pushing through,
I let it slide.
In Mexico if you let things slide,
then you go to the back of the line.
Not the dentistas fault actually the crown maker.
Really I could have left it with just the post,
with that huge square chunk of gold in there.

gold molar post

Looking back it wasn't that big of a deal,
as the wait allowed the front gold crowns to adjust into place.
The bummer was the post didn't give any resistance to the top molar,
and after the winter my teeth didn't match the old mold.
Since the wife has her braces there,
I piggybacked the visits with her every month.
Finally it was time to wrap this up.

perich sled

I love riding the bike the couple miles to the dentist,
and at the last minute the red Shelby cruiser was picked to go.
Every other bike had a flat tire!
I've never ridden a prewar bike down there so this would be fun.
I grabbed the wife's car and sped off.

holey chit - accident waiting to happen

Check out that top pick.
This little kid was walking in the middle of the turn there,
while the mom was getting the other kid.
Holey Chit!
That would have been one horrific accident!

road to Gato Bronco - Manuel Clouthier Blvd

The old cruiser was a blast to bomb down the hill to Gato Bronco.
Nothing like an oily coaster brake hub!

Gato Bronco - TJ

Yeah this post is picture heavy!
Here's a shot of the dentistas storefront.
You'd definitely walk right past this place!

Dentista Monica Torres - Otay/Tijuana

And here's the crown jewel.
A fat chunk of gold.

gold molar crown

The technician sculpts the tooth to resemble what should be there.
It's a lost art,
as most US dentists are going with the computerized resin process.

dental mold contraption

Within a half hour the Dentista had cemented the crown in place.

Dra. Monica Torres - TJ Dentista

In celebration I couldn't resist a stop by the local chelada shack.

chelada shack

These guys make a mean bloody beer.
It's the recipe we try to copy at home,
but way better.
It's all about that dark red goop on top there.

bloody beer

This one is like a meal.
Who doesn't like shrimp and clams with their beer!?

clamato afrodisiaco

Now I was ready for the ride up the hill.
I've been wanting to get a picture of these driveway gates.
A throwback to the time of long american sedans,
just cut the gate to fit the car!

trippy gate engineering

The ride up Clouthier Blvd is much safer on the trailway.
It's a main thoroughfare for walkers.
Definitely not the place to go dressed up.

Gato Bronco 

I'm really surprised this area isn't developed,
it has a really cool view of the valley and the mountains.
Check out that little shack above the bicycle up there on the hill.
Not sure if it's a squatter or a legal house.

TJ singletrack

The trail farthest away from the road is much more fun.

overlooking gato bronco

Tons of graffiti growing on the walls.
Definitely a cinderella area,
I'm ok riding around in the day,
at night I'd rather take the taxi.
Chicken!

Shelby Bike in TJ

Civilization arrived on top of the hill.

honda pizza delivery motorcycles

Here is a concept that America hasn't grasped yet.
These pizza companies rely on these little motorcycles for delivery.
I think they are 150cc.
There are tons of them around the city,
delivering for pharmacies and restaurants.

pizza delivery motorcycles

Here's the main drag of the Otay side of Tijuana.
Tons of radiator shops and taco stands in this part.

Otay Tijuana

I went a different way,
so missed the liquor stop at Calimex.
Instead dropped by this tortilleria,
and scored 2 dozen tortillas and that crumbly cheese for $4.

tortilleria La Laguna

Near the border crossing this guy had a bunch of old bikes.
This was a cool Schwinn B6 or Autocycle.
Check out the bat holder,
it's a pair of handcuffs and a water bottle holder.

mexican schwinn B-6 or autocycle

The border crossing had no line and I zipped right through,
and met the sunset on the way back home.
It is much less hectic leaving after the rush hour traffic.

sunset

There's your virtual trip to TJ!

TP

TJ ramblings

The wife and I were sitting in our TJ taxi,
on the way to her monthly Dentista visit.
Far up on the street corner,
I spied a kid cruising a stingray,
complete with a slick rear tire.

heart tree

We caught up to him and the wife got the shot.
Guess it wasn't a kid!
I've got this guy all figured out.
Probably a student who lives cheap on the TJ side.
Instead of getting stuck for hours in the border lines driving,
he parks on the US side and does the quick walk across.
Double Double cheap cheap.
The little stingray fits perfectly into his little car.
Or maybe he's one of those cheese smugglers,
that crosses the border carrying liquid meth in the tubes of his frame,
along with homemade cheese and cartel notes.
Hmm you never know.

happy street

On the way back the line was hot and not too long.
The sugar shack had the treats to make your hands all sticky,
while your stuck in line for half an hour.

Is it worth crossing over every month?
Sure it is.
I'll post up some progress pics of the wife's braces.
It's hard to remember how crooked they were only a year ago.
For $50 a month plus the $12 in taxi it's a great deal,
and a round trip from our house is 2.5 to 3.5 hrs depending on traffic.

$28

Of course we topped it off with a bottle run.
All this stuff for less than $28!

Well that's it over here have a good day!

TP

viva mexico

Yesterday was our monthly TJ trip to the dentista,
and was also the year anniversary for the wife's braces.

dental mold or mould?

It is unbelievable the transformation in only one year - 8 visits.
I don't quite understand how the teeth can move so much,
since they are set in bone.
According to her there is a bit of pain involved!
In America they figured at least 2 years to straighten out her mouth,
most likely to have a longer time with less discomfort.

Anyway it was a shock to see how crooked her teeth were in comparison.
I always liked them but healthwise it's better to have them fixed up.
Couple more months and hopefully she'll be done.

the wife

Yes.
This is an extremely rare photograph of "the wife"!

Honda CG 150 Titan motorcycle

On the way out I had a clean shot of a popular motorcycle down here.
It's a little honda 150cc and they are all over the place.
Check out the trunk box on the fender!
It's like a cycle truck.
I'd love to have one of these to buzz around town.

Honda made a similar bike for the Indian market - Honda Unicorn.

Honda Unicorn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and it looks to have the same motor.
These things are rated at 120-130 mpg!
In San Diego,
little vespa-like scooters are really popular,
and I'm not sure what the hold up is for the little motorcycles.
I guess there are more people like me,
who like to drive big vans and suv's carrying 100's of pounds of junk everywhere!

calimax score

On the way back we couldn't pass up the calimax run.
All this stuff for about $25!
Those are liter bottles too!

Viva Mexico...

TP

macey's wiggly tooth

Hi!
This is Macey.
My mom just pulled out my tooth!

Macey and Jakob Perich

My tooth was loose forever.
I let my Dad try to pull it a bunch of times but he was too chicken.
My Uncle Steve said he would put a string on it.

Macey's loose tooth

Since my Dad wouldn't pull it out,
I couldn't eat anything too crunchy.
Well I did eat some hard stuff but only on the other side.
My Dad said he would chew up the food first but that is gross.

Macey's dangling tooth

So I wanted to play games on my Mom's phone,
but Jaxon and Jakob were teasing me cause of my tooth.
My Mom said I would get a treat if she could pull it out.
She pulled out Jakob's teeth
but not Jaxon's cause he likes to pull his own out.
She got a paper towel and pulled it out.
I cried a little bit but not that much.
The end!

MJP

viva mexico

We just got back from a long awaited trip to our TJ dentista.
Not bad timing too,
the round trip from our house took 3.5 hours.

peatones a Mexico

Since it had been a while,
we actually left earlier than usual,
so we weren't rushing to get across.
Gave me more time to take some boring pictures!

otay border crossing

On the walk across the bridge,
I must have felt for my passport and cash a dozen times.
The gates are a bit intimidating,
they are the doors to another country.
That's what happens when a couple months go by.
Next time I told the wife we're riding the tandem!
Yeah right...

taxi to gato bronco

Once across everything was back to normal.
It's that comfort in familiarity.
This poor taxi had absolutely no shocks and ball joints left!

TJ Dentista

Again nothing had changed to the storefront.
Not like it should it's only been a couple months.
This time only the wife had her orthodontic adjustment.
I just went as a bodyguard.

muffler shop

There was so much traffic,
the taxi driver took us on the scenic route back to the border.
I tried to get some good pics but my cell phone sucks for that.
There was some serious yard art going on at this muffler shop.
I'll try to get a better pic next time it was crazy.

OTAY border crossing

The last time or second to the last time we went was around christmas.
We were stuck at the pedestrian line at about this point.
It took over 2 hours!
Walking over is a gamble as sometimes there is no wait.
This time it took about half an hour.

worn

Of all things this metal rail was so interesting to me.
Over time the two coats of paint had worn through long ago.

The welder had smoothed out the welds,

and the bare steel had been hand rubbed by thousands of hands.

patina

Yeah it must have been a slow line!

bacardi stock

Forgot to mention but we did restock our rum supply!

TP