Today I decided to go find some of the more obscure tools we need for the Shop. Normal wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers, etc are all over the place, but other tools took some finding. These included torque wrenches, which allow you to accurately set the tightness of the fastener you are working with, and feeler gauges which are small metal sheets of particular thicknesses which allow you to set or check the distance between surfaces. Luckily I didn't bring any money, because I found everything I was interested in. I have pictures in one of the earlier posts of the area of the Russian Market I was in, and I feel like a kid in a candy shop when I'm there. This feeling of glee was tempered by feeling badly for asking so many stall owners how much various tools cost and then seeing the disappointment in their faces when I don't actually buy what I am asking about.
Finding the tools was pretty interesting, and required describing the tools in slow English and with my hands. So for the feeler gauges I mime something flat going between two surfaces, and try to make it clear that there are several thicknesses. I have no idea what people thought I was miming, but they mostly just looked confused. I ended up seeing a set on a rack. Miming worked for the torque wrench though.
I was worried about getting worked with prices, but they seem reasonable and/or very low. The feeler gauges were four dollars, a massive torque wrench was thirty five. I think the latter is probably too low, indicating a poor quality tool. So I'll try and find a Japanese or American one, which will be much more expensive, but proportionally more accurate and less likely to break.
I am so incredibly excited to set up the shop. I have always wanted a legit garage, with a full set of tools. Even though these tools are for the shop and are not 'mine', It's still weirdly awesome because I am deciding which ones to get and purchasing them. The thought of setting up the benches and racks of parts is also really cool. I think part of my eagerness comes from the fact that I feel ready to move on from my repair school, and this is one of the first steps in that chain of events.
Seriously though. It's kind of silly how amped I am. I have even decided on a paint scheme (white and black checkered flag, of course) for the walls of the shop, which I will hopefully be able to paint. I'll try and get guys from TC involved, so they are in it from the beginning.
That's the exciting news bit from the title. Tomorrow I'm meeting Leb Ke and Yousos in SLP, and Leb Ke told me to bring money to start renting the shop space! Hooray!
I'm hoping to not be waylayed by a decision I made earlier today. There was some old chicken in my fridge, and it seemed on the edge of going bad, so I cooked it really well and then ate it. I'm hoping I don't wake up regretting it.
Changing topics, I wanted to illustrate a fantastic thing about Cambodia, which is the ability to get stuff made very cheaply. In the below pictures, you will see two pairs of boots I had made here. Both were $35. Theoretically they were made to measure, but despite carefully measuring my feet the boots were approximately 1.5 sizes too small in terms of width. Luckily, they were able to stretch the boots out and they are now super comfortable.
The first are my everyday boots, the second are my dressier pair. The dress boots have leather soles, which I love because they remind me of my cowboy boots from Thacher, which i miss very much. If you click on the pictures they will get bigger.
Finally, and randomly, I wanted to mention that I found an air-conditioned cafe with wireless internet that is very fancy, but has desserts like a brownie with ice cream and chocolate mousse for $1.25, which is pretty cheap. So it's been nice to hang out in. Also, I've been going to another cafe almost every morning for a week or two, and they started giving me a 20% discount, which is awesome.
Okay, sorry this is ramble-y and has 1,000 I's. The next update should come at the end of the weekend, hopefully with more info about the shop.
Hope everyone's well, and take care.
Ned.
P.S. My bike's noise has remained at bay, please knock on wood.
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