1:45 AM Why all the owls i ever saw crossing road did it right in front of my car and not in front of the car in front of me? 2 owls on the road, first was very low, nearly hit it, 6 deer in Lincoln City.

1:46 When i got at Road's End i popped the hood to see if the oil on the damper of the right half shaft dried, but it was more. I decided to wipe it with a paper napkin (at this car you can access it from above, only on the right side) but when i tried to do so i looked closer and saw oil way above it on the engine.

In short, my new gasket is leaking, because it is broken. Now i remember that night at Spirit Mountain and the pinched ticket. Was she trying to help me or mocking me or both?

No way could have pinched it myself when i put it on. In fact is quite impossible with that cover, the gasket stays in a groove, like 80% of its height. It is true that the cover was moving a bit, like being 1 mm higher in two opposite corners, but that is either because the gasket was not perfectly regular in size or the cover itself was a bit bent from molding.

Angela was standing next to me, she did some similar stuff at work, was familiar with the parts and process, i remember i put it on and back off several times, out of paranoia, before putting on the bolts, to see if i did not screw anything.

The interesting part is the gasket got pinched in the worst possible place, leaking on the hidden part of the engine, but in front of it, not on the manifold so it goes all the way down and at the filter from where some probably gets sprayed by the fast moving air on the hot exhaust and makes some stench behind but only when i drive at high speed.

The other weird part is the gasket was black, the part that is now protruding is gray.

A few days later i went and re-tightened all the bolts (barely any torque) and after a week they were still tight and they are still today. I unscrewed a couple of those, right and left where the leak is to see if i did not cross the thread and after losing those, they came out and back in by hand.

I remember i checked the oil level after the first longer trip i missed very little oil and then i tightened the oil filter just a bit and i thought i was ok and stopped checking.

If you pinch a gasket i would assume it would start leaking right away. Yeah i know. I replaced the cover because a fabrication defect was allowing leaking (of blow by gas only) and now i got one that it's leaking oil and it took me weeks to figure it out.

At all vehicles i ever had i had at least one leak, including the S10 (designed in Japan) when it was new which had an exhaust leak because of a bracket installed on one of the exhaust bolts was tightened with the nut together with the bracket. I was hearing it but did not know what it was and went back to the dealer and the boss of maintenance said he does not hear anything, nor other mechanics i was going to at the time.

I hope the oil did not get to some rubber parts because it's got additives that damage rubber, including possibly the damper itself and then i would start to have vibrations at that shaft.

Got the old cover with the old gasket (if i did not throw the gasket) and if i still have it tomorrow i will replace it, waiting for a new one that i will order right now.

2:05 Ordered FEL PRO, Amazon choice, delivery Monday.

2:45 Went outside. One poop on the ground, one wide open (green) in the dumpster, one loosely knotted on top of the dumpster. One couch in the no dumping area and... 4 barrels, probably made of fiberboard, about 4 ft each, in vertical position. Dense smoke. One dog barking in the alley while i eat polenta.

5:10 PM I slept. My BP was 206/106. Took some lisinopril (haven't taken in days). I knew that if i take some backing soda, drink some tea, remove the poops, and do a short walk i will get better which i did. The left side chest pain (heart area) got better.

Went outside, took some pictures around and at the car, went to WinCo (with no wallet but had some cash), cooking, eating. Angela is watching Twin Peaks the Return in the bedroom. Man that song is genius. It's all the movie. And yes, Twin Peaks is Oregon.

5:32 Made some salad, ate with ham. Jesus started the trumpet. Got so many things to write down.

Better start with the pictures.

4 big barrels, one couch at the no dumping areas. People moving around, making me nervous while taking the pictures. This is valid for all the pictures below.

See how neat is the garbage dumped in the next picture? Is an indication that they are doing some Arian pranks, showing even their trash is neat.

Remember when i said the other day an Asian woman was taking pictures of the bikes as i was taking pictures of the dumpster. Could not see from where i was,  wanted to go see but a guy got in between and gave up. Abandoned bikes were a recurrent theme, but haven't seen them in a while or since they wee replaced with Lime scooters.

Could not have done that. The gasket is in a groove in the cover and is also preformed. To do it like this should have pulled it out of the groove, stretch it over the rim and force the screws, a lot and, i put them first with the feeble electric screwdriver with no resistance, then by hand and tightened with a ratchet. Checked twice after. Made a mess, probably creating more damage. Will see.

Tomorrow i get the new gasket.

To take this picture i activated the gasket and as usually a plane started to make noise above. Like usually when i go outside with the flashlight or take pictures at the car with the flash;
 

6:15 When i got back home from WinCo the guys upstairs where doing a sound i haven't heard in a long time. Turns it was the washer. It vibrated the closet and a familiar smell came to me and reminded of the whole water heater saga.

I would like to put links but my blog was not so well organized at the time. The idea is the water heater pan was contaminated being used as a litter box before me. No matter what i've done over they years, was still stinking, but was not bothered so much because of the smoke from the holes outside that kept me high.

In the end they put in a new water heater but did not give me enough time to clean the pan (they came very quick with the new one) though i did some. They put in some concrete blocks taken from somewhere outside, full of mold and soil which i had enough time to clean in the bathroom tub. But those absorbed the remaining of the s...t from the pan and still stink from time to time, if they absorb moisture.

7:55 Yes there is (was) a guy at the second garage  (about 15 meters away) from my parking spot who judging by the noises, i think fixes cars, who once came and tried to give me a check, saying he found it and it was mine. I don't know the amount. I was high from the smoke anyways, leaving somewhere. I once saw in front of that garage a woman looking like Maia Sandu (mmm, sexy!, could have a crush on her), vacuuming a car.

Man i miss those highs, would go to a casino, have some drinks on top of it, was feeling like Superman in his fortress of solitude.

It briefly re-started a few days ago but i plugged the holes, promptly. The transition from non-high back to high and the other way around is brutal.

Man imagining getting high and listening to the Twin Peaks song above.

9:20 Just curious. For how long had she been waiting behind the garages? Or maybe they knew the exact moment when i was going to go outside to see if there's enough oil for Angela to got to work tomorrow, thought i turned around many times in my way out.

I think the same woman as yesterday, this time dressed in white came with the same dog who turned its back on me and started... no i did not want to see this so i just went back inside while an airliner started to roar above. I waited a few minutes, went back, this time a guy passed by.

9:30 It stinks. Got to go outside.

10:30 Yeah today when i was most pissed he came and turned the car around when least expected while i was thinking which way was the best to take pictures of my leak of which i was worried about. Didn't pay much attention but when i reviewed the pics right now i remembered a funny though arrogant face and thought could have been him projecting a different face than in the pics i saw (actually he dynamically changed several faces so i don't have time to react). Ok so i screwed the match.

Nobody looks around at people when there is not 1/1 billion chance to see them. It seems to them it is a scripted game but my chores and errands are real and time and mind consuming.

And then... The slow moving and very polite cashier that opened right in front of me at WinCo was Gaga, cause i recently posted about?