It was a little after 9am when the outraged email went around the office. Someone, probably an early starter, had done something that had outraged the sender. A completely selfish, thoughtless act. A little over a week ago a much friendlier email had been sent reminding the workers of the correct office etiquette. It had briefly covered what this person had done. And yet, possibly oblivious to that email, or possibly in a deliberate affront to it, this person, this so called "work mate", had not only gone against the established etiquette but done so far beyond the extremes of common decency. A line had been stepped over, and they had continued walking.

As the email spread, the office area broke out into frenzied conversation. Over the tops of cubicles people were offering both alibis and accusations alike. Nobody was safe from the allegations, the perpetrator was very likely among us. Which made it all the more outrageous. They had not only commited the act, but they also had the gall to lie about it. Or perhaps they were simply ashamed of what they had done. In the spirit of forgiveness a half hour amnesty was offered during lunch. If the person responsible undid what they had done, the office largely emptying at this time, no further action would be taken. The amnesty passed and the act still had not been undone.

Fresh accusations flew.

"Only a male could have done this. Its just such a male thing to do. If Simon was still here, I'd blame him. No girl would do this."
"Well don't look at me, I started late today. You saw me walk in."
"I sent the email, it wasn't me."
"Hey don't you guys think you might be overreacting just a bit?"
"Why do you say that? Do you perhaps have a guilty conscience?"
"What? No. I was there when you found it."
"It would have had to have been someone who started early, or else someone would have noticed."
"Or... someone who finished late last night."
"The cleaners?"
"No. They wouldn't do something like this."
"Someone had to have done it."

The list of suspects drew longer as the day went on. Even people who weren't working that day were suspected.

"Maybe it was James?"
"He not in today."
"Convenient. Maybe he came in early, left it, then went home."
"He's sick though. And why?"
"Maybe he did it last night? And he's staying away out of shame."
"You seem to be quick to point the fing-"
"YOU SAW ME COME IN LATE!"

The day ended without a resolution to the drama. People were still discussing it on the way out. Those leaving early threw a suspicious eye at those who stayed on. In their eyes, amongst the stayers was the villain waiting for the office to clear at the close of business to right their wrong in secrecy.

The next day came and there was no trace of the offending item. However, the office was once again abuzz with chatter. The sender of the original email arrived, and logged in to find an email confession from the offender. On the condition of anonymity, they had provided a sincere apology. They acknowledged their act had torn a deep rift through the workplace. The mistrust lingered in the office still, like the smell of Parmesan cheese. The offender asked that the apology be passed on to the others. They clearly deeply regretted leaving their oversized Tupperware container with left-over spaghetti in the small bar fridge dedicated solely to milk. They had never intended to disrupt the workplace (and the positioning of the milk bottles) so profoundly. The apology was generally accepted with good grace and people returned to their normal routines, though the reverberations of their actions and the resultant mistrust of others would continue to be felt for days.

This was a typical day at my workplace.

Outside of the high drama of work place, I had managed to do some solid, if not overdue, work. Not work-related work though. Clearly, there was no time for that with Tupperware saga going on.

I did manage to fix a broken car though. The work on the Gemini been abandoned almost a month before due to weather, beers and general laziness. The desire to fix cars reduces when you are already driving the best of the three. I've been enjoying what I call black bonnet driving. As in I have no idea what's happening under the bonnet and I prefer not to find out. I just keep it closed. (I prefer the Schrödinger style of automotive maintenance to Haynes' method.) Also, the 34 degree heat and the retarded humidity preceding the inevitable afternoon storm doesn't help motivate either.

There really wasn't any work to do on it. Not major anyway, just really annoying. The final straw that had defeated the desire to fix and the means to do so, was having a the only available fluorescent light come loose from its temporary attachment point and shatter over the exposed head of the motor. Glass went everywhere, down the time cover to the sump, all over valve train. The mercury film was everywhere too, but I figured it could only help prevent valve seat recession. (And likely half the IQ of anyone following the car close enough to breathe fumes. "If you can still comprehend this you aren't too close.")

I didn't really want to have to pull the head off again, as it was a hassle to even get it there. Especially hooking up the exhaust manifold. Its a bit like engine bay Tetris when you are a line from filling the screen. It can fit, yes, but good fucking luck if you can get it there. Tetris doesn't let you use a mallet though.

We cleared the glass from the head by using compressed air. Yeah, can you think of a better (and I mean, easier) way? The oil got dumped, but I'm sure there still bits of glass in the sump. The oil filter should sort that out. If not, engines are cheap. After we got it all back together, with some traditionally nasty hacks of the coolant lines (lets just say there's a section of a sway involved and nothing more about it), I lent it to someone that Greg described as a cousin. He's not exactly related though. He promised me a full tank of fuel in return, though. He also bought a carton of beer. Seems fair. Two cartons and he could have kept it. Strangest of all, it didn't explode the next day.

With an amazing two whole cars running, the momentum was there to try fix the Pajero. That and the fact we need it running in less than 4 weeks.

I still wasn't convinced the fuel system was working (as it is really dodgy), cranking the motor didn't seem to pump fuel, I couldn't smell fuel when I removed spark plugs. Though that said, I probably have the same tolerances to it as your average Musgrave Park resident by now.

I found the oil pressure guage I had previously used to confirm the fuel pressure on the Skyline. And dropped into Dick Smith to pick up a suprisingly cheap automotive multimeter. Now they are a cool device, they used to go for several hundred dollars but now go for $80. Thank you again China.

The best thing about them is that they let you monitor injector duty cycles, airflow meter outputs (Magnas use a encoded square wave signal), CAS outputs, you name it. I wish i bought one earlier as they are very handy. That said, I'm sure I'll lose it.

Everything seemed to be working though. Which is annoying. It doesn't explain why the car won't start. Fuel pressure is fine, if a little high. Injectors were getting the right signal and they had the right voltage.

We pulled the rail out of the manifold, leaving it hooked up. This is one of the best things about the Magna EFI gear. Just 2-bolts and you can pull the rail free, the Bosch injectors have retaining clips so you can, in effect, bench test them on the car. Just point them at the road or the grass or the bloke standing next to you. They were also squirting fine. We gave up for the day, as (typically) a storm was coming. Greg happened to mention that the injectors are from the wrong model and they might be the wrong flow rate. He dispatched his cousin on Sunday to source the correct ones from a wrecker along with a new AFM in case that was broken. I'll throw in some new plugs just to be sure.

I spent the whole Sunday drinking at a mates house instead which was probably just as productive, plus there was air-conditioning. Though I am hoping to get this car going this week, because I see blue skies even if bom.gov.au says otherwise.

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