Hounding After Hours

Unholy Mackerel!

TedTheewen said:

Unholy Mackerel!

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... Batman?

Other side, think Scatman only not as good a dancer.

TedTheewen said:

Other side, think Scatman only not as good a dancer.

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I'm sure this isn't what you meant, but this is what came to mind:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xweiQukBM_k





My apologies for resurrecting tunes that should have stayed dead.

It's good enough. At least you didn't post the pic I was thinking of.

And at least I didn't post that pic, either.

I'm not going to ask.

Because I do not want to know.

And that's all I have to say on that.

I'm supposed to be working on my car right now. I'm late for work already. I simply cannot find a care to give at this point. It's about 50 degrees outside, cloudy and I just dont' feel like working on it.

ETA: I bought a set of metric wrenches last night. It has everything but the size I need. Plus, the guides for this car all say a different size anyways. I forgot the Golden Rule of working on cars--never trust the manuals.

Is it bad if you squee over your own work? Like, while revising? I forgot how much I enjoyed this bit where the giant beetle-things attack.

Giant beetle-things <blink, blink>

I thought I was the icky bug writer...

###

Got an appointment with a car dealership salesman tomorrow to go over a few things about my buying a new car (Hyundai Tucson 4WD V6). My old car (1998 Pontiac Sunfire bought 15 years ago) needs replacing (hey, it's been a darned good car for the last 15 years and it's only got about 160k miles on it). I'm hoping they can give me a good trade-in price and they've already virtually promised $1200 cash-back and no payment for 90 days.

I was pre-approved by a couple dealerships last year, but had problems with the driver's license that I hope these guys can help me resolve tomorrow (it may just be a case of going and getting a new license since California isn't in the picture anymore and they can only freeze/suspend a license for 6 years or so my research seems to indicate).

I've actually been driving without a license for close on to 6-7 years, maybe 8, apparently, but I've been able to acquire car insurance and keep my car registered the whole time. One bad mistake 3 years ago here, but that's all paid for and the fine's paid for and the probationary period is over so there shouldn't be any more roadblocks in the way of my becoming all legal and everything again.

Insurance ($2k a year) and payments (I really can't go any higher than $400 a month) are going to be a bear though...

Ouch. Less beer, I guess - which my waistline won't be sorry for.

Greg, good luck.

I just got my starter off. It's colder than hell outside and I'm stiff from wriggling on the pavement. The starter is off and now I'm looking for a bolt that seems to have gone missing.

I know your pain, Ted. I once had to replace the starter on a Pinto 3 times in 3 months.

Jack up the car high enough to get under
Place flimsy-looking car blocks under car
Unmount engine
Jack engine up
Find starter mounting bolts under car while being pelted in face with dust and debris from underneath car dislodged during jacking car and engine up
Disengage starter from flywheel, maneuvering surprisingly heavy starter unit out from around whatever incredibly stupid place the engine designers decided to put it in
Slide out from underneath car and head to auto shop to find out what the heck could possibly be wrong with this 50-lb hunk of metal and gears you just grubbed out from underneath the car
Get charged $100 for a replacement starter or $50 for a new Bendix gear (what the heck is a Bendix gear?)
Go home, look at car up on blocks, grab a beer
Call brother-in-law or mechanic friend to come and complete the rest of the job for you
Pay him $200 because he just did in 30 minutes what it took you 4 hours and a buttload of cursing, yelling, and bloodied knuckles to do halfway

(Oops, I forgot, while lying on cold wet pavement with cats or dogs sniffing around wondering what you're up to (and sometimes showing their disapproval in very disapproving ways with oil dripping into your eyes from some unknown leak somewhere up above, snow, rain, or hail falling, or the sun beating down on a hundred and twenty degree in the shade day and you're too stupid to have rolled the car into the nice air-conditioned garage before starting this whole fiasco)

Greg, why didn't that pinto just catch fire and explode like the rest of them?

Mine was on top of cross-bar for the frame, no direct angle. But I got it done, the car starts and it runs just fine. Now I can finish my day.

Oh, it did catch fire one day. I was inside, turned it over (at my step-father's direction), and he was holding the fuel line (which was disconnected from the engine, but still connected to the fuel pump).

He caught on fire, the engine caught on fire. I dove out of the car, raced into the house and got the fire extinguisher, and dove back out to put them both out.

It was not one of my best afternoons...

OH! Fire--thanks, I knew this scene was missing something.

Ugh, I have to renew my car insurance... There's a reminder I could've done without.

If I recall, a lot of Pintos burned up.

So, about an hour ago, I drove off the lot of the Hyundai dealership with a brand new 2013 garnet red Hyundai Tucson front wheel drive (not 4WD) GL AT ($24,523) with all of 24 miles on the odometer. Guess I'll be drinking a few less beers over the next couple or five years.

Pics will follow in the next day or two.

Greg..very nice. Is that the first new car you've ever bought? That's always a special moment. And I promise not to eat a bacon cheeseburger while inside. Or fart.

Technically, it's the second new one, the third "sort of" new one. The first was my '98 Pontiac Sunfire bought in '98. That was the car I was driving before this one today. It was a fleet vehicle bought more or less second-hand from Budget in Ohio after my old Volvo (bought used) blew up in Columbus on the last leg of a cross-country trip.

The second was a 2005 Hyundai Tucson V6 4WD bought in '05 and repo'd in early '08 (about 4 days after I got out of the hospital after a 4-day stay for asthma and pneumonia.

The Sunfire cost $13k, the first Tucson cost $30k. This one cost $25K. Oddly, payments have been roughly the same for all 3 vehicles 'cause my credit rating sucks.

I have a friend who has cars given to him for super-cheap. Granted, they are beaters with heaters, but he's been able to fix them a bit and trade them off for better ones. I've never had a new car.

Unless I win the lottery, or make that great leap into Best Seller status, I never will either.

As I've said before, writing is the only thing I have that will get me out of the rut I'm in.

Rhoda Nightingale said:

Is it bad if you squee over your own work? Like, while revising? I forgot how much I enjoyed this bit where the giant beetle-things attack.

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Not at all! You have to savor those moments when the muse decides to grace you with terrifying attacks of giant beetle-things.

Meanwhile, Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there! Hallmark has decreed that you should feel appreciated today. (And I'm on board with that. Getting ready to take my Mom out now.)

Ted, talk to a salesman at a dealership. First, they're not all crooks. Second, their main incentive is to sell you a car, but one you can afford. Third, they know ways of obtaining financing for a car you don't. Fourth, maintaining your payments on a car loan boosts your overall credit rating.

I got a loan with a RePo in my past and NO DL in my possession (though they gave me a REALLY good suggestion of how to skirt California's stupidity and re-obtain my DL in short order).

The guys at a dealership know all the ins and outs. It doesn't hurt to go talk to one of them.

Seriously, my credit rating is in the upper 500s - miserable. But I rolled off the lot in a new 2013 car yesterday.

It never hurts to talk. No one's going to run your credit until you give them permission.

Hallmark has declared that you should all feel appreciated by having money spent on you for a piece of cardboard you'll probably throw in the trash in a week.

:0

Why, yes. I am cynical. Why do you ask...

FOTSGreg said:

Hallmark has declared that you should all feel appreciated by having money spent on you for a piece of cardboard you'll probably throw in the trash in a week.

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Which is why we make our own cards in my house.

Once again my mom was busy today, like most Mother's Days, so a phone call yesterday was about it. I'll send her the card I bought in the mail.

Yea for new cars (no I've never had one)

Yea for wordages! and squees on wordage!

Yea for moms!

*now backs out of the room slowly