The update (We know it's been killing you):

Monday we never turned the key. Or did we? We forget. It was either Monday or Tuesday that we turned it for the first time. Either way, we ran into some problems.

First problem: Being good little grease monkeys, we cranked it for a while with the spark plugs disconnected to build up oil pressure, as recommended. Problem was, we didn't get oil pressure. Tested and futzed around, eventually disconnecting the thingy (technical term, sorry) and squirting oil all over (a fine way to determine that you do, in fact, have oil pressure). Messy but effective, we had oil pressure, despite the little light telling us otherwise.

Naturally, as soon as we squirted oil, the light started working. 'Tis the way of things.

So then, with video camera rolling, we hooked up the plugs and... Nothing.

Okay, not exactly nothing. We got some good rrr-rrr-rrr-ing, a few coughs and sputters, and some white smoke. That's something, but not what we wanted.

They say engines need three things to work: fuel, air, and fire. Fuel is fuel. Air is air. Fire is a spark from the spark plugs. So we checked that stuff. Got it all. The problem is that you also need proper compression of that air, and the fire has to come at the right time. You also, naturally, need all of the little electrical doohickeys to do their doohickeying or the fuel and air part won't cooperate because they're controlled by a computer. Computers are really stupid in that they always do what they're told. This makes things difficult.

Anyway, no one asked for that. We're sorry. It's just that we're mired in such minutiae, so now you are too. How's it feel, huh?

In all seriousness, our spirits are still higher than low, and optimism rules the day. We'll get it going, Anthony is a determined son of a bitch.

Elsewise, though we've kept our mouths shut until now, feeling, as we still feel, that this isn't the forum for such things, we feel the need to say a few words about the situation we all find ourselves in of late. No highfalutin' moral declarations, we'll just say simply that we're in favor of peace. People needn't die and we're sad that our government feels such a strong desire to wage war in the face of no immediate threat. We hope it's over soon and that everyone's sons and daughters come home safely, and that means everyone's.

http://www.moveon.org/