Luke Mendola's project presentation

This evening I went to York lecture hall in IHS to spectate my fellow WISE student presenting his project. Luke's project was learning to play the harmonica, if that was his only goal that he is an overachiever. Not only did Luke learn to play the harmonica, but he gave a detailed background of the instrument, taught us how they work, and even had a live jam session with another WISE student who played the guitar! After watching Luke's presentation I though a lot about mine. I need more visual aids. I'm thinking about bringing in various tools that I found helpful, and because my presentation will be preformed to a much smaller audience, I will be able to pass around parts and important objects from my project. I will begin a creating a slide show soon, and practice presenting to ensure that I meet the time constraints. Overall, I though Luke's presentation was extremely well done, I can't vouch for his Narrative or his journal, but his presentation was A+ material.

Oil filter and Case in!

Today I installed the new oil filter and cover plate CORRECTLY. I adjusted the cover plate to the appropriate 22 Foot pounds of force. The cast aluminum did not snap as it did before, but firmly set in place creating a snug seam in between the Filter plate and the engine block.

This is the old filter, and broken cover plate sitting next to the new filter and cover plate,

                                                                 This is the new plate and filter after being installed

problems, problems problems...

This is a view of the bottom of the engine, the hole is where the oil filter goes, and there is a cover that is connected to the broken stem within the hole in this photo. I broke the stem by over tightening the oil filter cover, this was a mistake on my half, after reading the owners manual, I learned that only 22 Foot Pounds of force was required to fasten the cover. The stem is currently broke off inside the filter port, It's extremely hard to remove even with pliers. Oil runs through the down stem (broken) and the holes in the stem allow oil to be released where is is forced to run through the paper filter. With a broken stem, there is no way to fasten the oil filter in place nor the cover plate. I ordered another oil filter case, It should be here by Monday but either way, this problem will put me behind schedule.

Presentation Date set, Reality kicks in.

On Monday, I scheduled to present my WISE project. The presentation date is currently Wednesday, May 29th at 345 in Ms. Lords' room at Ithaca High School. I'm extremely nervous about this presentation, I haven't even began to organize a slideshow, or make any form of visual aid. The papers that are also required are due by May 22, that is merely 6 days away. There are other stressful aspects of school that are preventing me from making further progress on this project. Tomorrow I have my AP Human Geography test, which has consumed much of my time. After this test I will be able to dedicate much of my time to my WISE project. There have been other technical issues with the bike that will be extremely difficult to fix by May 29.

Motorcycle Value Research

Today, I was told by a friend of my mothers (john) that I may be able to have my bike appraised online at NADAguids.com. After visiting the website and specifying the year, make, and model, the website displayed these results:
(Value according to condition)

Excellent: $1655
Very good: $1180
Good: $710
Fair: 405
Poor: N/A

I determined that because the motorcycle has been stored inside although there are still problems, the condition it is currently in is "good". That means the value of the bike is around $710 (will be when project is finished). My next step is to call the bonding agency and see if NADAguide.com is an acceptable source.

The legal scavenger hunt

The past week I have been undergoing a scavenger hunt, but with no fun involved, only my gas, and precious time. I knew from the beginning that getting the title would be hard, multiple trips to varies agencies and shops in and around Ithaca would be involved, but I did not know how genuinely angry I would get when told "Sorry sir, you're in the wrong line" or "A surety bond? I have no idea what that is, I'd go back to the DMV if I were you."
In the month, I've been to the DMV twice, Andrews Agency Insurance once, An online bonding agencies site or phone call 3 times, and yet I still have made ZERO headroom on the Title for this motorcycle. Evidently my next step is to have a dealership appraise my bike, so I can tell the Price to the bonding agency and we can get this ball rolling. One exception though, the dealership I spoke with (Goldsport Suzuki) said I needed to bring the bike in for them to actually physically appraise it. I was expecting the Kelly BlueBook value, not a full inspection, if they appraise the bike in its current state they will say it's scrap metal! Tomorrow I will call Goldsport and talk with Jerry (the owner) who is a personal friend of my father and I think he can appraise the bike without me bringing it in. I'm crossing my fingers that after this, the bonding process is smooth sailing.

Need motivation? Declare a deadline

I agree with many parts of this article, but not all. Deadlines are good motivators for some, but if your like me, regardless of when the deadline is, the task will not be finished until the night before. I think that it is more important to set small goals within a big deadline. IN the Author of this article's case, she should have publicly announced a deadline, and then privately rationed the task into a series of small goals, this would make the article she promised a much easier job. Deadlines are beneficial for some and detrimental and embarrassing for others, they appear to be a good life skill and it's something I need to improve at.
(As I finished the article I realized one of the final paragraphs address' my suggestion above, whoops)