Jodi and I have been busy wrapping up our senior portrait season.  We have just a few more photo shoots scheduled this year and then it's just a matter of getting all of the images retouched for ordering appointments.  We have about 15 ordering appointments remaining and she still has quite a few sessions to edit but we are getting there.

We are heading to the Kansas Krawl event at Kansas Rocks this Saturday.  I'm hoping to win some cool prizes like I did at Frostbite.  There are about $25,000 in prizes being raffled and one is a set of 37" tires. 

JD is up for a promotion at his work.  He made the first cut of interviews and was hoping to hear by today whether he got the job.  If he gets it, he will be a salaried employee with greater responsibilities in management.  We are praying that he gets the position so he can start advancing in the company.   

I have been too busy to post lately but hopefully that ends soon.  Training at work and photo shoots every day are taking its toll.  We have much to do still but we are looking ahead to a break that is drawing near.

My Jeep didn't perform as expected this past weekend and I am now dealing with the owner at Rebel who committed to getting it right.  Not sure how this is going to work as I told him I'm done putting money into it and ready to send it all back for a full refund and go another route.  I sent him some pictures per his request.  Not happy about the ride and articulation at all.  We shall see.  This has been a cluster. 

As of 2am this morning, Nemesis is back in our garage.  After a photoshoot last night, I had an 8pm consultation and at 9:15pm we were on the road to Topeka.  We pulled in around 10:30pm and Mike, the shop owner, was at the back door waiting for us.  My Jeep was parked outside and it sure looked good.  Mike joined me in my walk around before he pulled it into better light so we could crawl under it and look at a few things.  As of now, we are not running a rear sway bar.  He drove it the night before and advised me in a text that I should hold off on having Rebel send me the Currie Anti Rock rear sway bar until I drove it as is.  He had said he really liked the way it drove without it and questioned whether or not I needed it.  So I took his advice and told Rebel to hold tight.

Every time we get together with Mike, it turns into long conversations about Jeeps and sometimes life in general.  We stood talking before we went inside to settle up.  When he told me what he was comfortable with accepting, I told him that was not enough.  Ultimately, I got him to accept a little more and then I gave him extra to buy the shop a good lunch.  This guy is the best and it's worth every minute and mile to have him work on my rig.

We rolled out of Topeka a little after midnight.  My rig is definitely sitting up higher.  It handled great and at a pit stop for gas in Lawrence, I couldn't help but give a look over from afar and think to myself how beastly it now looks.  I mean, it really looks huge and I like the stance more now too.  Before it had a little rake and now it appears to be leveled out more. 

We pulled into the driveway and Jodi stood watch as I pulled into the garage to check clearance.  She said I barely cleared the raised portions of the soft top, so it definitely is sitting higher.  Tonight after my photo session, I'll give it a good lookover before loading up for Kansas Rocks and Creepy Crawl in the morning.  Tomorrow will be a big test for it as I will get to find out how it responds on the trails and if it need any additional tuning.

Pics and video coming. 

 

The saga of my Jeep may come to an end today as a test ride by the owner of the shop said it drives great, even without a rear sway bar.  That's been the hold up since the weekend as the stock sway bar will not work as is as it won;t allow for the amount of flex the coilovers now provide.  At first, they tried to move/modify it but ultimately, Rebel disclosed that all of their conversions use the Currie Anti-Rock rear sway bar.  It would be nice to disclose that the rear sway bar won't work with this kit and oh by the way, you will need a $550 setup.  I ordered it and it's on the way but the owner of the shop questions whether I really need it.  Many people remove the rear sway bar for more flex, etc...  I'm picking it up tonight so I can have it for Creepy Crawl and will get to finally see it pretty much finished.  I'm told it sits a bit higher than where it was before. 

We got another session in last night and we have one tonight and tomorrow before I get Saturday off.  Next week I have 6 shoots lined up so I will be running the gauntlet.  We're both ready for some downtown after this record month for our studio.  Jodi had to do a sales session last night by herself to keep things moving along while I get all the shoots in.

I got word yesterday that the latest set of springs sent for my shocks are correct and my Jeep should be ready soon as they make final adjustments to the suspension.  Finally, some good news. 

Creepy Crawl is this Saturday at Kansas Rocks and we will head down in the late morning for a fun day of wheeling and haunting.  Food is included in the event fee and there are some contests as well.  Night wheeling is the big thing for this event with the woods filled with costumed people out to scare you.  Metalcloak will heave their CTI machine there so I should be able to get my suspension flex scored.

We got in our session last night on a cold day that topped out around 47 degrees.  I have three more sessions this week, 5 the next and 3 the next and then that is all we have currently scheduled.  It's been another really good year for our business.  Hopefully it carries over into Spring.  That said, I'm ready for a break.  Here's a recent shot that this boy and his family loved.

When we last left you, the saga of my Jeep had me ready to throat punch someone.  Hard to do when they are in Mexifornia so I had to resort to a blistering email to them.  They apologize, naturally, and are "doing everything they can" to get my Jeep right.   If only they could get the rear spring rates right.  The last info I received was another set of springs was on the way.  The owner of the shop did his best to calm me down saying that these types of things happen all of the time and they'll get it worked out with Rebel.  With a wheeling event scheduled for this weekend, my confidence level isn't very high that I will have it back in time.  The clock is ticking.  A two day job is now over two weeks. 

It's a cold morning here in KC with snow overnight, albeit flurries, but places north got a decent amount.  Not sure I can recall snow in mid-October, ever.  Today's photo shoot is going to be a bit chilly with the high of 46 degrees projected.   Got to get them in as we have no real room for rescheduling unless it's a rainout.

Let's start with the good news.  My Powertank gift certificate is for 40% off, not 30%. 

Now, the bad news.  New springs arrived and it lowered the rear about an inch.  Still 3" too high.  New spring set being sent.  What a clusterF$#!*!!!!  Ready to beat some ass.  Seriously.  Nasty email sent that will be waiting for them when Commiefornia time hits 9am.   

All I know about my Jeep is that the new springs arrived yesterday about Noon.  Hopefully I hear something today as to whether the ride height is proper now and it's ready to come home.  I probably can;t pick it up until Friday evening or Saturday but it would be nice to know that all the nonsense is behind me and I'm going to have a pretty badass ride to hit the trails with in a week or so for Creepy Crawl. 

Although it was cold and breezy, we got our shoot in last night which really helps keep our schedule from getting super crazy.  It;s crazy enough as it is right now.  This evening I have a pre-session consultation followed by two ordering sessions followed by a phone consultation for my Saturday session client.  Looks like my work day will end about 9pm.

Well, hopefully the coilover conversion saga starts to come to an end today as the "correct" springs are being overnighted to my shop so they can be swapped out.  Apparently the springs that were originally sent are way too stiff for my Jeep.  Ya don;t say?  Anyway, I hope that once these new springs go on, the proper ride height can be set and we can get my rig back home where it belongs. 

The weather has been total crap here for nearly a week.  Hopefully we get today's session in although it's going to be cloudy and cool.  We still have a lot of sessions to get in and we aren't having very good luck right now.  There aren't too many makeup days left as we head toward November.

I am hopeful that today we begin to figure out the issue with my shocks so we can get a plan together to get my Jeep back on the road.  Waiting all weekend to hear something was tough.  I'm ready for this crap to get resolved. 

We went to a fundraiser yesterday with our Jeepers and they had a raffle for some nice prizes.  I won a metal Jeep sign and a 30% off gift certificate on a Powertank.  Guess I'm getting a Powertank!  We had a good time and the rain held off long enough to enjoy a few hours of friends, music and food.

Today's photo shoot is being rescheduled due to the rain.  This is the worst month to have rainouts in. The weather is going to start turning really cool and we still have something like 17 sessions to get it.   At least the forecast starts to look better next week.  We need to get in the three sessions we still have scheduled this week.  Fingers crossed. 

What a total cluster my coilover conversion has been.  I talked with my shop yesterday and they said when they put it on the ground, the rear was about 4" higher than the front.  Even after adjusting it some, it was still higher.  They think I have the wrong coil pack so they are now dealing with Rebel trying to get this figured out.  Either Rebel ordered the wrong setup or King goofed (again).  Needless to say, I'm not going to be driving my Jeep for awhile until they get this worked out.  Not only that, it's costing me money.  It's always something.

I got home yesterday from my photo shoot and Jodi advises me that the garage door only goes up a few inches and then stops.  Great.  Now what's wrong?  I looked at the drive belt and it's under some kind of strain when the door is trying to open.  I tried pulling the release so I could open the door manually and I couldn't lift the door.  I then noticed that the torsion spring was broken.  Great!  It'll be fixed Monday.  So it was a great Friday around our house!

My shoot today will likely be rained out as we are suppose to get 3"-7" of rain this weekend.  We have a sales session later this morning and then tomorrow we have a Jeep event to attend.

I can only assume that since I didn't hear anything about my Jeep yesterday that all is well and progressing as it should be.  We have a social event on Sunday and I really hope I have it back by then because there will be an RTI ramp there and I'd like to flex it out.

We had a good sales session last night and money aside, it filled our hearts with joy, which to me was much more valuable.  Our client is legally blind and sees peripherally.  I had some trepidation about being able to capture her looking directly at the camera and creating images that she and her family would love.  We had to put a bench about 1 foot in front of the 65" TV for her to sit on for her to see the slideshow.  She was giddy with excitement as each image came up on the screen commenting about how much she loved each one.  Her parents and sister were practically shouting with excitement.  I had a smile on my face the whole slideshow, which was about 4 minutes long.  We are enriched this morning with much more than just some money.  Today we cheer her on as she competes in a track event for blind and sight impaired athletes. 

King overnighted the parts we needed to repair the shock.....to my house, instead of the shop.  Morons.  So, I got to drive an hour and fifteen minutes to Topeka to deliver the parts.  The upside to this was I got to see the progress on my Jeep and so far, it's looking pretty good.  Hopefully the shock is now repaired and installed.  They still were waiting for delivery of the extended brake lines that are needed and those will be here tomorrow they said so at the earliest, I will get my Jeep back late Friday or Saturday morning. 

I ran a sales session last night while Jodi went to a fellow Jeepers send off party who is moving out of the area.  Fortunately, I wrapped things up quickly and was able to join everyone.  Afterward, we went to get some ice cream with our good friends before returning home. 

Today I have two pre-session consultations and a sales session.  We have a session scheduled for Friday and Saturday also but rain this weekend will probably force us to reschedule the Saturday one. 

My shop said they would be willing to repair my leaking shock if King would send them the parts.  It's an o-ring that isn't seated properly, possibly pinched.  I told my supplier to have King overnight the repair parts to the shop.  Did it happen?  Won't know until later today.  King better come through.  

Knocked out another session last night and it was a fun one.  Today we have winds gusting up to 40 mph so I don't think we will be doing the session.

   

 

5 photo sessions this week are keeping me busy, if the weather cooperates.  I don;t need a rainy month with a record number of sessions on the calendar.  Lots of thunderstorm activity in the next 10 days it looks like.  Not good!

In the category of "It's always something", one of my new shocks is leaking right out of the box.  GEEEEZ!!!  Now I have to make phone calls later this morning.  The shop said it looks like they pinched an o-ring when they tightened the shock down.  Hopefully they will send another right out and they can get back on the install.  They have some other work to do on it while it's there so they will get busy on that until they hear back from me.

Another weekend has passed us by and it's back to the grind.  We have 5 photo shoots lined up this week and the weather doesn't look great for a few of them.  Not what we need in our busiest month.  Hopefully we manage to get them all in.  Jodi and I are looking forward to our long break coming up next month.  ABout 7 more weeks of busy and then we should see some rest.

My Jeep is at the shop and work begins today.  I hope to have it back by the weekend and give it a test on the street prior to getting out on the trails later this month at Kansas Rocks.  It will be a one of a kind around here.

We had dinner with friends last night and spent a couple hours talking.  It was good to catch up with them as we hadn't seen them in a while.  Dinner was very good and so was the company.