Build the Back to the Future Time Machine - Still waiting for parts

If you are here, you may be expecting to read about the Eaglemoss Back to the Future Time Machine build.  Well, looks like you, like me, like last year, will still have to wait.  Heck, you may have thought that I had cancelled my subscription to this awesome build.  Nah!  Here is the scoop.

The reason why there have been no updates to my build is not because I am lazy...well, I am lazy...but, just like last year, my next parts are on back order.  If you remember, there was a five month gap between July 2018 and December 2018 where no parts were received from Eaglemoss due to back order issues.  According to various social media posts and blogs, this is an on going issue with this build.

Obviously, I have contacted Eaglemoss with the issue, only to get "your next issues are on back order" as a response.  Now, as someone familiar with the manufacturing and distributing business, I know things like this can happen.  But,waiting five months last year for parts is ridiculous.  

This year, I am again waiting for parts, as my last shipment was in April. So, we are approaching that five month gap, again.  And, again, this is fucking ridiculous!  This puts me ten months and 40 issues behind.  At this point, I should be about 85-88% complete on my build.  Instead, I am barley half way through. 

It was projected that this build would be complete at the end of this year, since I was on the first batch of subscribers when this project hit the US market.  Like many, I have been following this project since it debuted in the UK a few years ago.  Most of the subscribers in UK are done with their builds.

I know others, at least in the US, have also been waiting for their next shipments for months.  While others have been receiving shipments on a regular basis and are on 'schedule' to complete at the end of the year.  Even those who signed up on the second or later waves have caught up and/or surpassed first wave subscribers.  

So, if you are 'back ordered', we are in the same boat.  If you are thinking about starting this build or any Eaglemoss subscription based builds, be warned that there are major back order issues and give yourself at least a year cushion on your completion date.  

For now, my incomplete build is just sitting there waiting, like in Delago Mine, waiting for parts.  Hopefully, I do not have to wait 70 years or send a telegram to someone via Western Union to get my parts and finish my build.   

FUCK YOU, STOP CALLING ME - September 2019

New month, but it took a while to get to our first call of the month.  These guys are slackers!

5 September 2019
  310-849-5346  Beverly Hills, CA - Of course, we have to start the month off with a call from our favourite spoofed location, Beverly Hills.  How many of these numbers do they have in their spoof Roladex?   Fuck you!

  816-582-2450  Kansas City, MO - Oh, another call from Kansas City. We received a call, I believe for the first time, two weeks ago, from Kansas City.  This may be the first...uh, second of many to 'originate' from Kansas City.  So, we expect a nice dose of Beverly Hills and Kansas City in the future.  Fantastic and fuck you!

  863-733-8400  Bartow, FL - Marked as "Spam Risk" by the phone, this call comes in all the way from Florida.  It looks the the telemarketers are making coast to coast calls today...well fuck you from sea to shining sea!

863-733-8400

By the way,the robot left a voicemail.  Here is the transcript from the call.  Again, fuck you!

6 September 2019
   305-689-0892  Miami, FL - Still in Florida?  Fuck you!

  919-337-6612  Cary, NC - Wait a second...first Florida, now North Carolina.  Hurricane Dorian is a telemarketer!  Fuck you!

9 September 2019
  919-608-1737  Raleigh, NC - Wow, bright and early on a Monday.  What is up with these calls from the East Coast?  Fuck you!

  305-728-2975  Miami, FL - Oh look, another call from Miami, just minutes after the call from Raleigh.  Looks like another day full of telemarketer calls.  Fuck you!

 435-772-8775  Saint George, UT -  We are getting calls from all over the country today.  The map is all over the place.  Possible spoofed number from another telemarketer.  Fuck you!

 954-503-9501  Fort Lauderdale, FL - Back to Florida!  Fuck you!

10 September 2019
  813-510-1400  Kansas City, MO - An early morning call from your friendly neighbourhood telemarketer.  A lot of calls from all around, this month.  Fuck you!

  801-229-5468  Provo, UT - Just three minutes later, a second telemarketer call, from a different location.  Fuck you!

  314-526-3734  Kirkwood, MO - Three calls in less than thirty minutes. It is not even 8:30 and the phones like I am cheer captain and it is homecoming season.  Fuck you!

  310-849-5504  Beverly Hills, CA - Ah, here we go.  Back to our familiar friends in Beverly Hills.  This should also sound familiar...fuck you!

  762-224-1507  Augusta, GA - Five calls in three hours.  Fuck you!

  573-212-5761  Oran, MO - How many cities in Missouri are housing telemarketers?  If you are keeping track, this is the sixth call of the day.  I think the record is 10 or 11 calls in a day.  So, you assholes are about half way there.  What are you waiting for?  Call!  Fuck you!

11 September 2019
  463-888-0377  United States - Well, listed as United States.  Face it, I am too damn lazy to look up where it really is from.  Not that it matters.  We know this is a telemarketer, possibly a spoofed number.  Kinda perfect for the origin show up as United States.  What a great way to honour those who perished eighteen years ago.  Fuck you!

  774-250-9325  South Easton, MA - Since I am getting telemarketer calls, at least they are making it interesting by calling from different parts of the country.  But still, fuck you!

  310-849-8848  Beverly Hills, CA - Less than ten minutes latter, we are back in Beverly Hills...

  310-849-8848  Beverly Hills, CA - Twice!  Fuck you!

  762-224-1657  Augusta, GA - At what point do we consider this as getting out of hand?  Fuck you!

The last two days, so far.

12 September 2019
  405-257-0915  Wewoka, OK - Wewoka?  I hope that is a Native American tribe.  I would really like to hear Bugs Bunny say "Wewoka". I would also like to hear Bugs Bunny say, fuck you!

  209-270-3485  Los Banos, CA - Only had to wait four minutes to get the second call this morning.  I think I have received a call from Los Banos before.  Pretty sure I made a to bathroom joke.  Fuck you!

  313-209-9677  Detroit, MI - Oh, Detroit?  What business do I have with anyone in or from Detroit?  Is it a car company calling?  Maybe the Red Wings want to sign me.  Oh, just a telemarketer.  Fuck you!

  430-255-8958  Kemp, TX - Wow, all over the map this month.  This is impressive.  Fuck you!

13 September 2019
  949-401-7779  San Clemente, CA - Marked as 'Telemarketer".  Ha, you could say it was 'telemarketed' as telemarketer.  Fuck you!

  605-550-7132  South Dakota - This is a text message with just "Hello!"  It may be a legit wrong number, but most likely some sort of phishing scam.

Who just texts "Hello!"?  No introduction, acknowledging me, or reason for contacting me.  Nothing like, "Yo, it's CJ.  This is Frank.  I got them goods."  Seriously, who dis, new phone.  Fuck you!

17 September 2019
  310-849-2636  Beverly Hills, CA - They took Monday off, must have been a telemarketer holiday.  But, we go right back to Beverly Hills.  Fuck you!

18 September 2019
  310-849-2702  Beverly Hills, CA - Here we go.  You guys need to be more creative with your locations.  Did you guys have a temp fill in last week?  I mean, there were a lot of calls and from all across the country.  This guy you have here just spoofs Beverly Hills numbers.  Slacker.  Fuck you!

FUCK YOU, STOP CALLING ME - August 2019

Well that did not take long.

1 August 2019
  714-988-6103  Brea, CA - Hmm, another call from Brea.  Totally random thought, Brea is almost bread.

714-988-6103

Fuck you!

  714-543-5555 Santa Ana, CA - Two calls, both from the 714 area code.  Coincidence?  Probably not.  Telemarketer?  Obviously. Fuck you!

2 August 2019  
  646-520-8734  New York - This is interesting. First, this is another one of those text messages...and you know how much I love text messages.  Second...hold on, let us take a look at the text message.

646-520-8734

So, the text is from one number, but they want me to call back at a totally different number.  I mean, toll free, but still.  Pretty sure this is a scam since my FICO was running fine last week when my neighbour borrowed it for the night.  No scratches, even washed it afterwards. My FICO does not need repair.

FICO...more like, fuck you!

 800-742-5877 - Another toll free number.

800-742-5877

Another message left, another Chinese voice mail.  Another telemarketing scam.  Another...fuck you!

5 August 2019
  310-849-5424  Beverly Hills, CA - So, back to the Beverly Hills numbers. The robocall left a robomessage.  I purposely have a long outgoing message, so only humans that really need to leave a message will do such.  If you are a robot, most of your propaganda gets lost or, hopefully not even received.  Only the last 4 seconds of the robomessage was recorded.  Better luck next time.  Fuck you!
   818-927-3716  Los Angeles, CA - The phone marked this as Telemarketer.  Yeah, no shit.  Second call of the day and it is not even lunch time, yet.  Looks like it is going to be a telemarketer filled week.  Fuck you!

  817-444-5310  Azle, TX - Interesting number and origin.  Did a quick search, and this seems like a legit number, possible wrong number.  I for sure have no business receiving a call from this number.  This will most likely point to a spoofed number.  Fuck you!

7 August 2019
  310-849-5831  Beverly Hills, CA - Cool, one more number I can block.  Fuck you!

8 August 2019
  310-798-3132  Redondo Beach, CA - There is a Morrissey song called "Redondo Beach".  The great comedian Dana Gould once said something like, "Just give someone you don't like a gun and a Morrissey CD and they'll do the rest."  Or, was it a Mazzy Star CD?  Was it even Dana Gould?  Anyway, Dana Gould does a great parody of Morrissey, look it up.  Oh yeah, this was most likely another telemarketer call.  So, fuck you!

  310-849-4091  Beverly Hills, CA - Is this going to be a pattern?  Alternation between some other city in the Los Angeles area, then back to Beverly Hills?  Fuck you!

  Unknown Caller - Fuck you!

9 August 2019
  310-849-5191  Beverly Hills, CA - Uh, no.  Fuck you!

  310-849-1539  Beverly Hills, CA - Hey, the last four digits are almost the same but scrambled.  Okay, not really.  Fuck you!

12 August 2019
  573-461-2633  Ellington, MO - Whoa, Missouri?  Some random number, legit wrong number, or typical telemarketer.  I usually go with the latter.  Fuck you!

15 August 2019
  619-371-5892  Chula Vista, CA -  So I used the Google translate and "chula vista" roughly translates to "hot view".  The Google maps tells me it is just south of San Diego, like right next to National City.  Remember when I got the call from National City and I totally went of on a Supergirl tangent?  Now, that is a hot view.  Anyway, fuck you!

19 August 2019
  833-289-0000  United States - Almost got through the day without a call.  This one came in late in the day whilst I was at the gym.  First result on the internet points to a robocaller.  Fuck you!

20 August 2019
  573-217-6591  Campbell, MO - Last night, late call.  This morning, early call.  Mixing it up to try to fool me.  Fuck you!

21 August 2019
  310-849-3745  Beverly Hills, CA - One would almost think that I ask for this.  As if I love the abuse.  Fuck you!

  310-849-9232  Beverly Hills, CA - This is abuse, right?  Fuck you!

23 August 2019
  816-353-1376  Kansas City, MO - So, Kansas City is in both Kansas and Missouri?  Basically the same city divided by state lines.  Weird.  Well, the Kansas side seems cool.  But, the Missouri side has been invaded by telemarketers.  Fuck you!

25 August 2019
  562-583-3715  Downey, CA - The rare call on a Sunday evening. Good old Call Protect got to this and the number is labeled as Fraud Risk

562-583-3715

Severe threat with 82 reports logged, and auto blocked.  One more thing, fuck you!

26 August 2019
  408-892-2824  San Jose, CA - Fuck San Jose!

  310-615-1639  El Segundo, CA - Another spoofed number.  Fuck you!

  956-266-0833  Brownsville, TX - Okay, we know this is a spoofed number. But, Brownsville...really? As in Shittown, USA?  Come on! 

Oh, this is the third call today. Why so many calls?  Well, same as highway patrol giving away tickets like Oprah giving away cars.  It is the end the month.  So, I would imagine there will be a shit tonne of calls this last week of August.  Fuck you!

FUCK YOU, STOP CALLING ME - July 2019

Off to an early start this month.

1 July 2019

   310-849-2352 Beverly Hills, CA - Happy Canada Day! Call coming in at 8:30AM. Do you think they are calling to wish me a happy Canada Day?  Probably not. Perhaps a call to inform me of NHL free agency and signings. I think not. Fuck you!

2 July 2019
  310-849-4882  Beverly Hills, CA - Call Protect works even when the phone is off.  So, fuck you!

4 July 2019
  310-770-6292  Beverly Hills, CA - Call Protect works even when the phone is off.  So, fuck you!

8 July 2019
  310-849-3035  Beverly Hills, CA - Call Protect works even when the phone is off.  The last three calls were made, then intercepted by Call Protect while my phone is off.  Fuck you!

12 July 2019
  310-849-6794  Beverly Hills, CA - You may be wondering, "wow, it has been over ten days since the last call".  Well, there is a reason for that.  I have been on holiday and I turned off my phone for most of that time.  Surely, these fuck nuts have been trying to contact me for the last ten days.  Ha!  Well, back to to reality...back to getting telemarketer calls.  Fuck you!

14 July 2019
  213-729-6854  Los Angeles, CA - Really?  On a Sunday?  Well, looks like this another spoofed number.  Apparently, this number is/was registered to a lot of people in the Los Angeles area.  I know, shocking.  I hope the boogie man in the sky royally fucks your shit up or whatever he is supposed do to if one prays enough,  for ruining his day of rest.  But, really, on a Sunday?  Fuck you!

  +33 891 06 50 62  France - Bonjour!  I got a fucking robocall from France...at 22:52...on a Sunday night.  Even factoring in the time difference, it is early Monday morning at the Eiffel Tower.

+33 891 06 50 62

Call Protect intercepted the call, and according to my sources (Google) this is a confirmed robocaller.  The question is always, why call me?  I mean seriously, why call me?  I do not even speak French.  I barely speak English.  Although, I do love French Fries!  Vas te faire foutre!

15 July 2019
  800-223-4542 - Oh 800 number, must be free.  Nope.  Another telemarketer.  They left a voicemail, same old Chinese scam.  Fuck you!

  800-463-3062 - And, another one. Fuck you!

  310-849-3830  Beverly Hills, CA - Well, at least this one is not an 800 number.  Fuck you!

Three calls within 30 minutes

  800-649-4034 - Back to 800 numbers.  This is getting ridiculous.  Fuck you!

18 July 2019
  310-849-8865  Beverly Hills, CA - How many more of these Beverly Hills numbers have I yet to receive calls from?  They just keep on getting spoofed.  Fuck you!

22 July 2019
  619-399-9757  National City, CA - This call came in at 7:46AM.  That is way too early for anything.  But what got my attention is National City.  Dude, that is the (I thought) fictional city where Supergirl hangs out.  Filming locations of the show suggest Los Angeles and Vancouver.  But there is an actual National City just outside of San Diego.  Wow!

Oh yeah, fuck you!

  305-646-4863  Miami, FL - Another early call, almost exactly one hour after that call from Supergirl. What superheros are in Miami?  TV show?  The only thing I can think of is Miami Vice.  I do appreciate the various locations of this morning's calls, still...fuck you!

23 July 2019
  323-517-8817  Montebello, CA - So are we taking a break with the Beverly Hills numbers in attempts to fool me into thinking these are legit calls?  Message left, same old Chinese robocaller.  Fuck you!

  310-843-7923  Beverly Hills, CA - I just praised you for not using a Beverly Hills number.  Okay, not the usual 310-849-XXXX.  But, come on!  You need to change the city of origin, like the last call.  There is no hope for you robots.  Oh yeah, same Chinese voicemail...at least I think it is, they all sound the same.  Fuck you!

  888-208-4837 - Well, okay.  You followed my tip, even made it a 888 number.  Pretty good.  Great the you listened to me, too bad I am not listening to you. Fuck you!

25 July 2019
  949-295-6976  Laguna Beach, CA - Oh, fancy.  Laguna Beach is a nice town.  Way above my tax bracket, so there is no reason anyone from there would contact me.  Maybe I am moving up in the world.  First Beverly Hills, now Laguna Beach.  Ugh, maybe the robots are taking over.  Fuck you!

26 July 2019
  424-427-4449  - The phone branded this shit as "Spam Risk"

424-472-4449

City unknown, but the 424-472-XXXX is known to be in the Los Angeles area.  So, fuck you!

30 July 2019
  714-988-6103  Brea, CA - Brea, another mid-upper class community ruined by telemarketers.  Fuck you!

31 July 2019
  310-929-4064  Avalon, CA - Last call of the month

310-929-4064

Fuck you!

Get Thee...Back to the Future

Been a while since I have read Shakespeare or even seen a movie based on his works.  Heck, I did not really read Shakespeare even when I was in high school.  Although, I did visit Shakespeare's Globe whilst in London a few years ago.  You can no doubt tell, from reading my posts, that reading and writing is not my strong point.

When I heard about William Shakespeare's Get Thee...Back to the Future by Ian Doescher, I was excited to be re-introduced to Shakespeare.  Well, at least the writing style of Shakespeare.  What better way to 'trick' me into reading than to write on one of my favourite subjects.

William Shakespeare's Get Thee...Back to the Future

The author,Ian Doescher, included many Easter Eggs that many fans of the movie will no doubt pick up on.  For example, he had Milton Baines, played by Jason Hervey say "'Tis new, and not from past wonder year".  Jason Hervey is known for playing Wayne Arnold on The Wonder Years. He is also played Kevin Morton in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. "I have been ready, since first call...roll!"

Even Match, Billy Zane's character is given the line, "- Ha, ha, a zany plan indeed".  I was hoping for a "family ties" reference in there but did not notice one.

I learned a few things about Shakespeare's writing in the notes as Ian Doescher explained the pacing and format.  I remember that Shakespeare ended a scene with the last two lines in rhyme.  Things like having ten syllables per line, I never knew.  Or, maybe I was told in class, but totally forgot...more likely, I was not paying attention...probably sketching in my notebook, no doubt.  Oh, and always a even number of lines.

One interesting thing I learned was the acrostic poem.  Hidden in the first letter of each line is a hidden message.  The author mentions the first is in the prologue and there were two other ones hidden within the text.  I scanned the pages back and forth until I found them.  Pretty sneaky.

Here is a (bad) example of what an acrostic poem looks like:

A play adapted from a classic film
Will Shakespeare’s Get Thee...Back to the Future

I have not read Shakespeare’s work since high school

Last two lines rhyme, that is all I recall

Decree of pacing and format were lost

Enjoyed the book as I did the movie

Read it all through to find the hidden clues

Messages encrypted in acrostics

Oh, how clever this author is, how fun

Determined to locate the other ones

Extra line to complete my acrostic

Yeah, not that good.  You can guess what kind of grades I got in English.

Anyway, the location of the three acrostics are:

• The first was a given by the author, in the Prologue, p.15
• The second acrostic is a little harder to find, located at Act III, scene 4, lines 33-48, on pages 101-102.
• The last is kinda obvious, it sticks out from the rest of the lines.  Located at Act IV, scene 4, lines, 45-62, on pate 131.

Tangent:  I know you were hoping for an update on my Eaglemoss build, but I fear there is another delay.  Hopefully, not another five month delay like last year.  As soon as I get new parts, I will start building and sharing.  Until then, this book filled my Back to the Future void.

Ian Doescher has also written Shakespeare versions of Star Wars and Mean Girls.  I may read some more books in the future.  http://www.iandoescher.com/

FUCK YOU, STOP CALLING ME - June 2019

Well, this is a surprise.  Enough talk, we will get right to it.

4 June 2019
   650-562-6846  Redwood City, CA - Fucking Door Dash!  Oh, surprise!  It is fucking Lori, again!  I do not understand why this cunt keeps using my number.

650-562-6846

Remember a few months ago I contacted Door Dash via Twitter?  I thought this shit was handled.  Well, I guess not.  Looks like someone is using my number again for their shitty food orders.  Too lazy to get their own food, too lazy to use their own number.

You know what?  I have a feeling this is a marketing scam by Door Dash. What are the odds that "Lori" used my number again?  Seems to me Door Dash created a "Lori" to cold text people in the form of advertising.  Fuck you!

5 June 2019
  323-772-6908  Los Angeles, CA - Two calls

  323-772-6908  Los Angeles, CA - Here is proof

323-772-6908

Call Protect does its job.  Thank you!  Telemarketers try to do their job. Fuck you!

   310-849-8807  Beverly Hills, CA - Well, Call Protect did not get this one.  No worries, I pretty much default to not answering anyway.  Fuck you!

7 June 2019
  310-849-8247  Beverly Hills, CA - Oh, Beverly Hills.  What are we going to do with you?  This will never end.  Fuck you!

11 June 2019
  234-320-9269  Salem, OH - Nothing showing up on a quick search.  And, by 'quick search', I just mean I googled the number.  I do not have some crazy Batcave set up with thousands of dollars of hardware to track these things.  Might be a wrong number, but most likely a spoofed number from a telemarketer.  Either way, fuck you!

13 June 2019
   310-215-4320  Inglewood, CA - Well, here is another spoofed number.  How do I know, you may ask?  I looked up the number using the old internet machine, and found that this is a fax number for a shipping company.  A fax number.  They spoofed a fucking fax number.  Which means, if I was to call back, I would get the sweet sounds of ones and zeros.  01000110 01110101 01100011 01101011 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100001

  310-849-5589  Beverly Hills, CA - Second call of the day.  I thought I blocked this number...correction, I just blocked this number.  Fuck you!

14 June 2019
   347-254-9165  Hyde Park, NY - Nothing like an early morning text on a Friday to start the weekend

347-254-9165

Clearly, this is a scam.  Fuck you!

   510-112-7183  United States - What kind of number is this?  AT&T identified this as a scam.  Like, no shit.  Who has a number with the prefix 112?

510-112-7183

They kinda left a voicemail.  Nothing in the three seconds.  I guess my long outgoing message fooled the computer.  Fuck you!

  510-112-7188  United States - Oh, check this shit out.

510-112-7188

Same MO as the previous number...but look.  The last four number are different.  They are cycling through their numbers and cold calling people in an attempt to scam.  Fuck you!

  510-112-7209  United States - So, a third call, with a third number.  Same MO as with the previous two.

Spam Risk

What the fuck is going on.  Fuck you!

  510-112-7214  United States - So they change the number again and again.  Fuck you!

  510- 112-7219  United States - Same modus operandi.  Fuck you!

  510-112-7224  United States - Call, leave a message with nothing.  Call back later with different number....all day.  Fuck you!

  510-112-7224  United States - First time they repeated a number.  I think they are losing their touch.  That makes seven calls from the same telemarketing robot

510-112-7XXX

This is totally Cyberdyne.  The machines are taking over.  Fuck you!

17 June 2019
  510-112-7283  United States - New week, new number.  Again, AT&T alerted this as Spam Risk. Looks like this is not going to end anytime, soon.  Fuck you!

  510-112-7297  United States - At what point is this beyond overkill?  Fuck you!

18 June 2019
  310-582-2359  Santa Monica, CA - Kinda strange that a 'normal' number pops up on the old mobile.  Still, we all know the routine.  Fuck you!

  510-112-7404  United States - Okay, now we are talking.  Back to this weird number thing.  Notice the last four digits keep going up.  There has been only one repeat, other than that, the numbers have been increasing.  Seems like they are trying every number from 71XX to 72XX, and now to 74XX.  What happened to 73XX?  I guess I got bumped from that list.  Until the next call, fuck you

20 June 2018
  310-849-5845  Beverly Hills, CA - So have we stopped with the weird 510-112-7XXX numbers?  Going back the tried and tested 310-849-XXXX?  Yeah, tried and tested as in everyone just ignores this shit.  Fuck you!

  310-849-6551  Beverly Hills, CA - Wait did you (510-112-7XXX) seriously run out of numbers?  Were they one time use?  Well, except for that one time they called twice.  I guess the 310-849-XXX has not run out of numbers.  Fuck you!

25 June 2019
  310-849-2585  Beverly Hills, CA - Surprise, another Beverly Hills number.  Fuck you!

  646-520-8734  New York, NY - Check out this text

646-520-8734

Okay, like what score are we raising 100 points?  Credit score?  Cholesterol?  Pretty vague, asshole!  What, like just call you back and select and option?  This sounds like a fucking high school note.

Do you like me?

I pick option 4, fuck you!

26 June 2019
  310-849-8474  Beverly Hills, CA - I am just impressed by the range of numbers from Beverly Hills that these guys have spoofed.  Fuck you!

28 June 2019
  310-674-1878  Inglewood, CA - Change of pace.  Another spoofed number, but from a different "location".  Fuck you!

FUCK YOU, STOP CALLING ME - May 2019

Tax season is over so there should be a decline in "IRS" calls.

4 May 2019
  424-999-0122  Torrance, CA - Talk about evil Empire...Star Wars Day.  Getting a call on a Saturday is usually no surprise, but on an International Holiday like Star Wars Day.  This is blasphemy.

424-999-0122

They left a voicemail.  Do you know what is interesting about this?  I checked the number against Bank of America branches in Torrance. Guess what...prepared to be shocked.  This number does not match any numbers in any branch within a thirty mile radius.  Fuck you!

7 May 2019
  214-556-6518  Plano, TX - Auto blocked by Call Protect before the call even came through and marked as "Fraud Risk". Call Protect, thank you. Telemarketers, fuck you!

8 May 2019
  251-239-3024  Bay Minette, AL - Aw...too bad.  Bay Minette sounds like a cute place in the south.  Well, it is shit now, thanks to it being a telemarketer hub.  Honestly, I know nothing about Bay Minette.  Anyway, good old AT&T marketed this as a telemarketer call...and since I was in a meeting, that gave me two reasons to ignore this call.  Fuck you!

9 May 2019
  310-849-1542  Beverly Hills, CA - Packed week.  Three calls in three days, from three different locations.  Fuck you!

10 May 2019
  310-389-3624  Los Angeles, CA - Like I said, packed week...and with a little variety.  Four calls in four days from four different locations.  I wonder if they will cal tomorrow, on a Saturday...and from where?  Fuck you!

13 May 2019
  310-849-5626  Beverly Hills, CA - Today is Top Gun Day. Boy, it would be awesome to buzz the tower of a telemarketer.  Maybe launch a missile at their building...no, too close...switching to guns.  Speaking of Top Gun, here is to keeping up foreign relations...Fuck you!

18 May 2019
  714-746-5084 Anaheim, CA - A text message.  Obviously, another scam.

714-746-5084

 This also appears a spoofed number was used to send this text.  Not your usual scam here.  We have an attempt to contact on a Saturday, a text, a text from a spoofed number.  That a rare occurrence.

Other things that bug me.

• There should be no space between "Hi" and the comma.
• Reward?  Should be something like "gift card".  Not like I found a lost cat, so I would not receive a reward.
• Cannot recall the last time I shopped at Amazon.  Months? Years?  So, you are just now getting back to me on my shopping experience?  How can one possibly remember that far back?  What did I buy?
• Yeah.  Not going to the link provided.

Fuck you!

21 May 2019
  310-849-5011  Beverly Hills. CA - So no call on Sunday or Monday...must be recovering from Game of Thrones Series Finale?

310-849-5011

What the shit!  Calling me at 08:09?  Fuck you!

28 May 2019
  310-752-2789  Santa Monica, CA - You guessed it, another spoofed number.  Although, I am surprised they took a week break, including Memorial Day.  Last few days of the month, so surely there will be a push to meet their numbers.  Fuck you!

29 May 2019
  310-849-7434 Beverly Hills, CA - Call coming in just before 9AM.  Early worm gets the bird*.  Fuck you!

*Yes, I know I said that wrong...that is the joke.

30 May 2019
  310-849-2005  Beverly Hills, CA - Being consistent is a good thing.  See if these bastards can finish out the week.  Fuck you!

  657-295-7587  Anaheim, CA -  They

  657-295-7587  Anaheim, CA -  Called

  657-295-7587  Anaheim, CA -   Five

  657-295-7587  Anaheim, CA -   Times!

  657-295-7587  Anaheim, CA -  Yeah, five times in less than a minute.  Luckily, Call Protect intercepted the calls before it even got to me.

  657-295-7587

Look at this shit!  A for effort, F for Fuck you!  

Build the Back to the Future Time Machine - Issues 067-070

Sweet, two shipments this month, which means I might not get the next shipment until way late into May.  Hopefully, the next parts get to me earlier and not later...and not way later, like last year.

Issues 067-070

Nicely packed box.  This time, there were no 'air bags' for packing, just the parts and the magazines.  We get a door, looks like a complete driver's side door.  Exciting!

Issue 067 - Driver's Door Details

Contents of Issue 067

Some great detailing in the interior door pieces.  I am not sure why there are 'light bronze' coloured areas along the door edge, I guess it visually helps break up that area.  Oh and there are door lights...LED door lights.  One of the first 'mods' I did on my car was converting the door lights to LED. 

Very few cars these days have door lights, but when you have bad ass gull winged doors, you need that extra visual warning so you do not hit your head.

We also get two new screws in this Issue, the tiny JP and KP.

Issue 068 - Driver's Door Lights

Contents of Issue 068

Speaking of LED lights, here they are.  Some simple routing of wires and we are good to go. 

But wait, there is more.  We have working windows!  The little tollbooth window goes up and down via a gears and a dial located at the bottom of the door.

Issue 069 - Driver's Door

Contents of Issue 069

The first die-cast piece of this shipment and boy is it a big hefty piece.  The door pieces from the previous two issues come together to form the door.  It even has mirrors that fold, just like the real thing.  Yes, there is a mirror piece that you can use to check your blind spot, or just to see how cool you look whilst driving a DeLorean.

Issue 070 - Fitting Driver's Door

Contents of Issue 070

Ah, the headliner.  I had my headliners redone a few years ago.  They were drooping, as many do after time and neglect.  Also, the were not die-cast...but they are in this model.

Another new screw is introduced, the QM, one more tiny screw for the collection.  Two of these tiny screws take the responsibility of holding up this heavy door.  Feels a little dangerous to me, but at least there are struts to help ease the pressure.  What?  Struts?  Yeah, just like the bonnet, there is a strut. 

Fun fact:  Last year, I replaced all the struts in my car.  The louvre and bonnet were relatively easy to install.  But the doors, being heavy and awkward, were not as easy.  I had to come up with something to hold the doors up while I removed and installed the door struts.  The solution...hockey sticks.

Hockey sticks for the assist

Probably not the way I am supposed to do it, but it worked.

The finished assembly up to issue 070 should look like this:

Outside of door assembly

Inside of door assembly

I hope those tiny QM screws hold.  Speaking of screws, note that we have three new screws in this shipment.

58-AP, 18-BP, 2-CP, 19-AM, 12-BM, 4-EM, 4-CM, 22-DM, 3-DP, 1-FM, 3-GM, 3-HM, 2-IM, 2-EP, 18-FP, 2-JM, 4-HP, 2-GP, 8-NM, 1-MM, 4-KM, 1-LM, 1-IP, 1-OM, 1-PM, 2-JP, 1-KP, 1-QM

to be continued...

My Fitbit Alta HR Stopped Working

I have been wearing fitness trackers for about six years.  First with the Nike FuelBand in 2013, and more recently with the Fitbit Alta HR in 2017.  There have been issues with the Fuelband, mainly from a design and quality standpoint.  But overall, fun to wear.

About a week ago, my Fitbit Alta HR died.  I had just finished the first game of a double header and wanted to see how many steps I had.  By the way, a typical hockey game, for me, generates about 2500-3000 steps.  The displayed only showed the Fitbit logo and a battery logo with an exclamation point (!),  no blinky blink from the heart rate lights, and unable to access any other information like time, heart rate, steps, etc.  I even checked the battery before the game, and with about a third of juice left, it was more than enough to last the day.

The Fitbit has been worn for two years, through many games, and a few double headers.  Never had an issue with the Fitbit.  It seems that water, or sweat, got in to the unit and shorted the device while playing hockey.

While I do not exercise everyday, I do get a good amount of 'movement' through running around at work, going to the gym, hockey, and various errands.  There is no need to constantly check if I have met my step goals for the day.  The only thing I miss is the heart rate monitor.  Oh, having the Alta HR linked to my phone was a bonus. 

So, what now?  A week into being fitness tracker free, I like it.  I am no longer 'handcuffed'.  I am not looking for another fitness tracker to replace it anytime soon.

Update:  I just checked the Fitbit site, just to see what my options are should I choose to enter this game, again.  The Alta is no longer available, looks like that model has been discontinued and replaced by the Inspire.  The other option, with heart rate monitor, is the Charge 3.  I will just wait...or just not have anything on my non-watch-wrist.

Build the Back to the Future Time Machine - Issues 063-066

A little late posting this, not the fault of the supplier or Eaglemoss.  I was on a business trip for over a week and had not have time until this week to get on this.  Let us get to it.

Issues 063-066

We start to see the exterior of the car take shape.

Issue 063 - Hood

Contents of Issue 063

Huge flat metal piece for the hood.  Also in this issue are the struts that help hold the hood up.  Wow, they are actual struts.  Okay, not gas or oil filled, but friction rod-and-tube.

Oh, and we have a introduction of the PM screw, new screw!

Issue 064 - Hood Frame

Contents of Issue 064

Ah, the hood frame, the structure that gives the DeLorean hood the distinct "X".  The hood light is a part of this assembly, which means a little bit of wiring.  Really, just routing the wire along one arm of the X.

Issue 065 - Luggage Compartment Interior

Contents of Issue 065

We are at the half way mark at Issue 065.  Like the 1955 white wall tire parts, there may be 'extra' issues in addition to the planned 130 issues.

This assembly is pretty straight forward.  For me, it seems that I was short one GP screw.  This will show in the screw count later.  Luckily, I have kept all the extra screws well organized and it was not a problem 'replacing' the GP screw.

Issue 066 - Door Catches

Contents of Issue 066

More wires!  Luckily, this is pretty simple routing of wires.

All issues in this shipment are assembled onto the frame from the last shipment.  It should look like this, or better...for you, probably a lot better.

Issues 063-066 installed

Here is a close up, albeit an out of focus photo, of the hood struts.

Hood struts at work

Fun fact that you do not care about.  I recently replaced all the struts on my car.  So, working on these struts brought back memories.  It was less than a year ago, but I have a memory of a goldfish.  Pretty easy to swap out hood struts on a DeLorean, so if you have experience doing that, this shipment of parts should be no problem for you.

Now, the screw count.  Note that this is a new screw (PM) and a shortage of one screw (GP).

55-AP, 18-BP, 2-CP, 18-AM, 12-BM, 4-EM, 4-CM, 20-DM, 3-DP, 1-FM, 3-GM, 3-HM, 2-IM, 2-EP, 18-FP, 2-JM, 3-HP, 2-GP, 6-NM, 1-MM, 4-KM, 1-LM, 1-IP, 1-OM, 1-PM

to be continued...