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My deepest sympathies on the poison oak. I am highly allergic, although it has gotten better with time and I don't swell up like I gained 150 pounds as I once did. My first encounter was at age 13 when I watched local firemen put out a fire in a brushy area along a creek - about 80% poison oak. At least you didn't get it in your nose, throat and lungs.

Go to a doctor next time. They can look up standard treatments (Stanford Medical Center developed a series of topical and oral treatments for Cal Fire, our state firefighting service) online. Basically you take prednisone orally for 4-5 days and apply prescription strength corticosteroid creams, which are much stronger than over-the-counter stuff. It helps with the nose and throat too. The same treatments work for poison ivy and poison sumac. In two days you'll be human again and it dries up very quickly. Bleach can help, but can also cause scarring. Prednisone is 10X times better.

Poison oak is everywhere here from coastal creeks to the mountains. I can now spot it 100 yards away, but it does not grow above 5,500 feet. You do build resistance to it. The Indians up by Yosemite have a great business clearing it off local properties. They are completely immune to it, but they've been dealing with it for 35,000 years or so.

I hope you feel better soon. It does come to an end eventually.

Regards,

Lonnie

I know about Writers Block, but I think I am suffering from a good ole case of Builders Block? I'm not talking simple analysis paralysis, but a honest to goodness case of "Just what one of the millions tasks should I tackle next"??

So, having spent all Saturday taking care of the SWSBCs (new one for the list.. She Whom Should Be Consulted = Girlfriend) brakes. She mentioned on Fri that she was hearing some grinding, especially in Rev, in the AM for the last few weeks!! ARG!!! Luckily it was only grazing the rotors and a simple surfacing and pad replacement later, she's on the road again!

So on Sunday, after spending the last 4 weeks combating Poison Oak (sweating is now only a minor discomfort), I finally make it out to the garage and after a bit of cleaning I sit down in front of the car and find myself trying to figure out exactly where to start. I sat there for nearly 3 hours.. moving this part, checking that clearance, sitting in, laying under, etc, etc... but making no appreciable progress at all! I don't know if it was the heat (about 94F in the garage!) or the fact that I have come to a stage where there are about a million little things, but no major obstacles to tackle (save the ones I'm creating apparently!). I think that I start to realize that the things that I am doing now are very close to finalized and I'll have to live with them. Maybe it's a mild case of AP mixed with the process of choosing what to focus on. This is unusual as I am normally so "cut, hack, whack, crap, redo".

So I'm going to have to break down and follow my own advise from the past and white board my "to-do" list and see if I can't jump start my own a$$ by focusing on a single task until it's a task no more! Most of it simply has to do with a lack of funds to perform the needed work, but there are a lot of things that would take an hour or so to do and you string a few of those together each time your out there (the 10 minute rule presented recently!) and the car is done before you know it! This is where the ADD starts to take over and becomes an issue!

It is interesting to consider that I've now reached a point that it's the little jobs keeping me "entertained" rather than the big ones!!

Cheers!

K "soon to be making progress again.. no, really!" S

Ok.... So I came home all piss & vinegar to work on the car. Grabbed my welding gear and almost made a huge mistake!

About a week ago I put on a shirt that I wore out to dinner the evening I "infected" myself with poison oak. Some how it made it back on a hanger without being properly "disinfected". Man....I tell you.... About 3 pm I figured out what was happening, but not before raising hives all over my torso. It went away in about 24 hours and I believe I have washed any thing I might have even breathed on during that dark time!

But the welding gear is a different story..... Does any one know how to easily clean a leather welding apron? I'm sure I wore it after I was contaminated, so I don't think I can even risk it. It states Dry Clean Only, but I'm wondering if there is anything that can be used to clean it.

I have MEK, denatured alcohol and other general cleaners. Its in good shape, so unless its proven, I'll just send it of to the cleaners.

I'm just wondering if there are any quick ways to clean it.

K "Glad I wasn't that dumb twice!" S

I would use a "poison oak soap" - google it. There are also recipe's for the soap. There is also a "poison oak" antidote plant!! It is found nearby the poison oak.
Saddle soap the leather after washing.
Good Luck!

JMR