Car Show - Springfield Ill 2013

You just have to love falling into the middle of a big street fair when walking from one tourist destination to another.  This one happened to be a gigantic car show with streets upon streets blocked off, a band, food vendors, and of course cars galore.


This was a ramp where the car revved to super high speeds.  One look and my son knew instantly what it was and rattled off all sorts of information.  Clearly the wrong person attended this event.

Look closely.  Can you find the duct tap AND bunge cord?

Nephews' hair was dyed purple to cheer on their sister.  Oddly it matched this raspberry car perfectly.

I love this old rusted car.  All of the other ones were shiny and remodeled.  It was sort of refreshing to see one in a realistic state for a 60 year old car (beyond the new chrome, engine and tires)

Waxing the Truck

This is from early last month.  Ian got the assignment to scrub then wax the top of the truck.  So he made the most of it while he was up there.

Friday Fragments - August 31, 2012

I'm baaaaaaack!!!!

I took a wee little Blogcation as I ironed out crap at home.  I think this happened last August too.  Not that anything has settled down, I just missed you so much and had to get back in the pool!

******

While we were apart you missed my grandbaby's first birthday.  Yes, he is one whole year old.  Not at all possible, is it?

Need a good laugh?  Here he is with his cake

******

My youngest finally got his driver's permit!!!!  He hasn't been behind the wheel yet, which I'm sure is simply killing him.  Getting that stupid permit has been sheer torture.  He has had the book to study for the test since his birthday in May.  Finally, two weeks ago, he announced he was ready for the test.  Hubby took him up for the test and he totally nailed it.  I think he missed two questions (see what studying can do??? - oh wait, he's not reading this, but yeah, that's the moral of the story - study).  So they go up to the desk with birth certificate in hand and nooooo it's not good enough to simply know ones social security number, this particular office insists upon seeing the card.  Guess who can't find the SS card?  Moi.  We turned the house inside out looking for it.  I know I had it, I remember taking it to the tax prep office last spring and I think I made a photo copy of it for his work permit.  WHERE IS IT????  

I never did find it.  So I finally look up the social security administration online to find out what I have to do to replace a lost card.  I gathered up the necessary paperwork, made sure I went overboard and got extra items on the list just in case, took an hour off work, grabbed the kid and headed to the local SS office.  We waltzed in, took a number and before I could sit down for what I was sure was going to be the most ridiculously long wait imaginable, I was called to the window.  Badda - bing- badda - boom, we were out of there WITH a temporary card.  A-MAZING! 

******

And in other kid news, we will be spending this weekend moving my daughter into her new apartment.  This will be the first time she won't have extra roommates other than her boyfriend so it's an exciting time for her.  I hope this means a little tranquility in their lives!  They certainly need it.

******

As I write this we're keeping an eye on the sky.  Big ugly clouds have already rolled into town, the remnants of Hurricane Isaac have reached St. Louis.  We're hoping for a good soaking rain after a summer of drought, but it's more likely there will be lots of flooding and probably a few rounds of tornados.  It's kind of weird to be in the middle of the country and have to deal with a hurricane.  Several others have made this route, including Katrina.

******

Work is absolutely crazy right now.  We are about to roll out a new database.  If you've never suffered that fate, let me tell you it is downright miserable.  Especially for your IT department.  Big boss took pity on me and my partner in crime and sent us out of the office last Thursay for a day at the ballpark.  We sat ten rows behind the dugout, in the sun.  Fabulous day!  St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros 11-5 (if I happened to remember the score incorrectly, sorry.  Bottom line - we won).

Sunday In My City - Cars

Saw this car THREE times yesterday

Then my car-obsessed kid insisted we stop at the dealership so he could admire this beauty

Friday Fragments - February 24, 2012

Oh this week has been eventful in many ways.  This is what I get for bemoaning a boring life, right?
Over the weekend my future daughter-in-law took the baby with her parents to visit her brother in Florida.  My grandbaby got to go to the beach!!!!  From the texts and pictures it looks like he had a great time.

*****

As they drove back to Missouri, my brother was making his way to Florida.  I'm quite sure they passed each other.  After a blown tire and a midnight fiasco trying to repair it, he managed to get to Florida, retrieve what he needed out of his storage locker and return three days later.  Sadly the shrimp vendors only come out on the weekend so he didn't bring back any fresh shrimp.  DARN!

*****

I made a special trip myself - to the ER!  Don't worry, I'm fine.  I have a history of rapid heartbeat and had a little episode.  I went in to just be safe that it wasn't something truly scary.  Over the last 25 years I've visited about half of the ER's in the St. Louis area. That means I have a few more to go.  I went to Mercy Hospital (recently renamed from St. John's - a change I'm still getting used to).  I had decent service although there has to be latex in some part of the EKG leads because I still have a rash from them! 

*****

In other news, I managed to smack my leg into the toilet seat.  I heard a crack, no not from my knee, WORSE... I managed to BREAK THE TOILET.  Okay, just the toilet seat, but it was still a major inconvenience.  Nothing like trying to do your business with the toilet lid resting on your back while keeping the seat in place with your thighs and not tipping over.  That is way too much coordination for me during the day, much less at 2am.  This required a trip to Walmart, a new seat selection and then installation.  Why is it necessary for men (I don't know a single woman guilty of this) to rachet every single screw, nut, and bolt at it's absolute tightest?  I didn't mess with the installation, but there was a lot of swearing and grumbling and seeking of alternate tools to undo the old seat and then rachet the new one down so the next sucker stuck with removing it will have to swear, grumble and seek alternate tools.  Vicious circle.

*****

AND THEN... I would have posted this mess sometime on Friday but I made the mistake of getting my eye exam (another trip to Walmart).  I love those wonky eye drops where I can't read shit.  Of course they wait until after your eyes are all doped up before they ask you for payment and signing the payment slip.  I'm pretty sure I've mortgaged off one of my children.  Sorry kids. 

Then, before we got home there was a panic call from my brother, back in town less than 24 hours and sitting roadside with a flat.  We ended up sitting with my brother as he waited for a tow truck and then at the tire shop.

*****

I've had three days off work, which I had been wanting, just not like this.  And now I need to get back to work so I can relax!  :)

A New Game! POS Car Points

Based on yesterday's post about Piece Of Shit let's make a game out of it.  How many points can you earn based on your past experiences with crappy cars?  Increase your points by adding to the list (email or comment)!


One point for each item that you have ever experienced with a car you owned:

1    Stalling out at stop lights
2    Broken gas gauge
3    Carry a gas can because of broken gas gauge
4    Continuously stop to put another $5 of gas into car because of broken gas gauge
5    Running out of gas 2 blocks away from any gas station
6    Roll into gas station, completely out of fuel
7    You describe your car color as "rust", "technicolor", "tri" or "quad" color
8    Locking your car is unnecessary, sometimes impossible
9    You have perfected the Dukes of Hazard move of jumping through a window because doors don't properly open
10    Opening a car door by sticking your hand out the window because the inside knob is missing or jammed
11    Windows that don't roll down
12    Driver's door is jammed meaning you have to enter and exit via passenger side door
13    Mystery smell every time you use the heater (mine smelled exactly like stale hamburgers)
14    Inoperable A/C
15    Looks of pity when you drive through a "bad" neighborhood
16    Broken horn
17    Cars that whiz past you include little old ladies who can barely see over their steering wheels
18    Can only access the trunk by removing a rear seat
19    Broken radio or radio stuck on one station, usually a religious station, talk radio, or dueling accordions
20    Drooping roof liner
21    Do-it-yourself repair job on drooping roof liner (rivets, staples, chicken wire….)
21    Duct tape and wire hangers are holding on important parts like muffler, fenders, and hood
22    Starting up the vehicle on cold mornings sounds like waking up a grumpy giant
23    You have sliced open your thigh on jagged seat vinyl
24    Opening/closing a window involves forcing the glass up or down with your hands
25    You've ducked from gunshots... only to find out it was your car backfiring
26    Car in the driveway and you ride the bus to work
27    Other people don't park close to you
28    You find yourself standing in a junkyard looking for parts
29    While standing in a junkyard you spot a vehicle you once owned!
30    Strong arms from broken power steering
31    Oil stains mark your parking spot
32    Front window only defrosts on passenger side (actually I think that's standard on ALL vehicles)
33    Mirror cannot be adjusted as it has been repaired with super glue and bubble gum
34    You carry extra oil
35    You know how to add extra oil
36    You've experienced a roll-over birthday is (when your car has reached 100,000 miles for the 3rd or 4th time)
37    A screwdriver serves as your gear shift
38    You're convinced the previous owner didn't understand the concept of ashtrays
39    Bullet holes
40    Bullet still lodged in car
41    Before the petrified hamburger and fries science project made news you knew the results based on food left on your backseat.
42    You're fairly certain your car sat submerged in a body of water for more than a few days.
43    Seats don't adjust
44    You have to turn off the A/C to have enough power to go up a hill
45     Experience five flat tires (yes even the spare) in the same trip only to return home with tires that are worth more than the car
46    Bumper sticker concealing a crack in the bumper
47    Inaccessible glove compartment (and speculations about a hidden gun)
48    Detachable mirrors
49    Cracked windshield
50    Missing side or rear windows
51    Using a trashbag as a replacement for broken window
52    Hitchhikers run when they see you coming
53    You can see the road pass underneath as you drive due to a giant hole in the floor of the car
54    You've hung out of the driver's side window while driving down the highway with a squeegee because your windshield wipers no longer work
55    The words Gremlin or Pacer anywhere on your vehicle
56    There is a hole in the dashboard where a radio used to be but have filled it with a battery operated clock radio
57    Every time you hit a bump in the road, the station changes
58    People can see your exhaust fumes coming from a mile away.
59    Hood screwed on requiring screwdriver to check/change any fluids
60    Car fire!
61    No registration because that's admitting you actually own it.
62    No insurance because no one would cover it.
63    Children are too embarrassed to ride in it.


Post your point total in the comment section.

POS Car Blues

Things you are likely to experience driving a POS (piece of shit) car:

 1.  Stalling out at stop lights
 2.  Broken gas gauge meaning you either
      a. Carry a gas can
      b. Continuously stop to put another $5 of gas into car
      c. Running out of gas 2 blocks away from any gas station (or as you roll into gas station)  ...a lot
 3.  You describe your car color as "rust", "technicolor", "tri" or "quad" color
 4.  Locking your car is unnecessary, sometimes impossible
 5.  You have perfected the Dukes of Hazard move of jumping through a window because doors don't properly open
 6.  Opening a car door by sticking your hand out the window because the inside knob is missing or jammed
 7.  Windows that don't roll down
 8.  Driver's door is jammed meaning you have to enter and exit via passenger side door
 9.  Mystery smell every time you use the heater (mine smelled exactly like stale hamburgers)
10. Inoperable A/C
11. Looks of pity when you drive through a "bad" neighborhood
12. Broken horn
13. Cars that whiz past you include little old ladies who can barely see over their steering wheels
14. Can only access the trunk by removing a rear seat
15. Broken radio or radio stuck on one station, usually a religious station, talk radio, or dueling accordions
16. Drooping roof liner.  People have told me about a guy who used chicken wire to repair one, many have used staple guns, and my step-dad repaired mine with RIVETS.  It was sort of pretty in a starry night sort of way.
17. Duct tape and wire hangers are holding on important parts like muffler, fenders, and hood
18. Starting up the vehicle on cold mornings sounds like waking up a grumpy giant
19. You have sliced open your thigh on jagged seat vinyl
20. Opening/closing a window involves forcing the glass up or down with your hands
21. You've ducked from gunshots... only to find out it was your car backfiring
22. Car in the driveway and you ride the bus to work
23. Other people don't park close to you
24. You find yourself standing in a junkyard looking for parts
25. While standing in a junkyard you spot a vehicle you once owned!
26. Strong arms from broken power steering
27. Oil stains mark your parking spot
28. Front window only defrosts on passenger side (actually I think that's standard on ALL vehicles)
29. Mirror cannot be adjusted as it has been repaired with super glue and bubble gum
30. You carry extra oil... and know how to add it
31. You know what a roll-over birthday is (when your car has reached 100,000 miles for the 3rd or 4th time)
32. A screwdriver serves as your gear shift
33. You're convinced the previous owner didn't understand the concept of ashtrays
34. Bullet holes (bonus points if bullet is still lodged in vehicle)
35. Before the petrified hamburger and fries science project made news you knew the results based on food left on your backseat.
36. You're fairly certain your car sat submerged in a body of water for more than a few days.
37. Seats don't adjust
38. You have to turn off the A/C to have enough power to go up a hill
39. Experience five flat tires (yes even the spare) in the same trip only to return home with tires that are worth more than the car
40. Bumper sticker concealing a crack in the bumper
41. Inaccessible glove compartment (and speculations about a hidden gun)
42. Detachable mirrors
43. Cracked windshield
44. Missing side or rear windows (extra points for using a trashbag as a replacement)


Any three of these should qualify your car as a POS.  By the way, I have experienced each and every one of these points, many of them with the same car.  I have a long history of POS car ownership, something I only recently overcame.  Do you KNOW how happy I am to own a vehicle that doesn't need to have the A/C turned off so I can go UP a hill?

Please comment if you can think of other things to add to the list.  50 items would be great, but I really want to get up to 100.

Friday Fragments - January... wait... February 10, 2012

I just walked through the house with an empty cup and a bowl of dry cereal.  Last night we moved everything out of the kitchen fridge into the spare refrigerator in the back sunroom so we can defrost and give it a thorough scrub down.  It's amazing how gross a refrigerator can get.  That meant my milk and fruit juice were in a different part of the house this morning.  It just felt funny walking around with dishes like that.

******

I had another good laugh this morning as my brother and I joked around about the benefits of driving around in a piece-of-shit car.  His clunky van does not like the cold and has problems getting up hills so driving to work yesterday was a slow, tortuous process where he was sure old ladies was flipping him off.  Maybe one day I will list the perks of POS cars.  I certainly have plenty of experience with them, that's for sure!

Please feel free to share your experiences with driving crappy cars.  I'll try to make that my Monday post (so come back and see what I whip up, okay?)

******

There is another post coming together.  A former co-worker promises to send me her email exchange with a guy from online dating.  She knows of my really cool talent where I can take a man's email and dice it to pieces, pulling out what the phrases REALLY mean.  This was about the only thing I gained from my dating years.  For example, "I am bilingual" means "I frequently speak bullshit."

Well, her email hasn't arrived yet so maybe I'll just need a friendly reader to share dating posts they've come across.

******

A very scary thing happened this week, the kids' house had a fire!  I've joked that only my daughter could manage to catch a kitchen sink on fire, but actually the garbage disposal shorted out and started an electrical fire.

This seriously could have had horrible consequences. 

Fortunately it happened in the early evening when everyone was awake, not in the middle of the night.  The fire was caught very early and they were able to call 911 so that the damage was contained to only the kitchen.  The house has been declared uninhabitable, but my daughter had the foresight to get renter's insurance.  All of their stuff is getting cleaned and will be packed and moved to their new residence.  Oh yeah, that had already been arranged too because they were all planning on moving out by the end of the month anyway.

This might be a good thing for my former mother-in-law, the owner of the house, as the insurance money she gets from the fire might be enough to make other repairs so she can prepare the house for sale.

Well, like I said, they were very lucky.

******

The Headrest

So we bought a new car a couple of weeks ago (a cute little SUV).  I've been having an issue with my hair.  You know this is not a male problem and I'm sure no one thought about the stuff us women have sticking off the back of our heads - ponytails, clips...

Even with nothing in my hair I was still bashing the back of my head on the headrest no matter how far up or down I adjusted the thing.  I got fed up and just yanked the entire headrest out of the chair.  Well, that was fine and dandy, but if I was ever in an accident I was going to suffer a BADASS case of whiplash if my head wasn't completely lopped off.

So I pulled the car over again - uh, yeah, this all transpired while going to the store, at least I pulled over when I removed the headrest.  I decided driving around without the headrest was a bad idea and pulled into a parking lot.  Instead of replacing the headrest with top pointing forward (standard installation) I turned it around and had the pointy part facing the rear of the car.

PURE GENIUS!

The headrest is still able to pad my noggin in a wreck, but the rest of the time it isn't bouncing off my various hairstyles.

This serves as a Public Service Announcement - flip that headrest around if it's uncomfortable.  TA DA!

Friday Fragments - June 24, 2011

Oh my my, what a fragmented week it's been!

So we left off last week with a database crash and rebuild Thursday night and grandma going to the hospital. 

Grandma was released on Sunday night and mom reports that she perked up when she got home.   That's good because my mom is babysitting her boyfriend who had a knee replacement last Thursday.  Too many irons in the fire to be dealing with her mother in the hospital, you know?

I came into work Monday to find that the database had crashed again.  Oh joy.  Worse yet, the entire server had seized up.  Bigger joy.  I spent most of the day trying to resurrect it.  What I should have been doing was running a back up because the bitch up and died.  Dead.  VERY DEAD.

Oh, and backups?  From the chick that spends endless time reminding others to backup?  Yeah, our routine backup failed.  Big time.  Of course on a major file.  The suckage factor here is sitting at maximum.

Tuesday morning I trotted the hard drive to a recovery dude.  He spent all day working on it.  Late Wednesday morning he called with the bad news - no resurrection possible.  On the upside, they waved the $250 bench fee and $125 per hour service fee.  They took pity on our sorry asses.

The rest of Wednesday was spent trying to upload a supervisor copy to our programmer.  Yesterday was prepping the replacement server (sometimes being a packrat pays off - spare equipment!)

Today?  Getting the programmer files loaded and hopefully restore order to our fretful little office.

Next week, we will be fixing our backup systems and looking into a second layer of backup.  I haven't read up too much about cloud technology, but I'm leaning that direction.  Time to educate myself - woo.  Like I have time for that!  ugh.

On top of everything The Husband is stressed out over the opening of a new business venture (yeah the pizza thing died back in January).  So marital bliss at my house.  Envy me.

He did manage a sweet deal on a new car, so yes, I am now tooling around town in a shiny new Ford Edge.   We traded in our Nissan Maxima only to have our car payments go up 49¢, our insurance go down and the extended warrantee refund will more than cover the tags tax and title.  Never in a million years would I ever be able to swing these types of deal.  The man is a wizard at this type of stuff.  So even though he pisses me off, I might keep him around.

My son was snapping a million pictures the other night when we took the car in for a bug shield.  So no pictures of our car, but how about a Ford Mustang?  The rest of his pictures will be worthy of Sunday's post so come back for something completely different (and awesome)

Check out everyone else sharing their week and fragments from their lives.  Hopefully none of them as horrible and dramatic and whiny as mine.

And The Repair Estimates Are In

Remember last year when I ran over an entire tire in the middle of the highway?  And how it cost over $5,000 to repair?

Wellllll.... had to drag the car back in for more repairs.  Wanna guess how much?

Oh, you want to know what happened first?

Friday night we discovered that our car had been backed into while we were trying to sell pizzas.  We had heard a big bang, like some one dropped something metallic and heavy.  Husband thought someone ran into our generator, I thought the door of the trailer slammed shut.  We were both wrong but couldn't figure out what it was.  There were some people milling around a pick up truck but not once did either one of us think about the fact that our car was on the other side of the commotion.

An hour later the lot is mysteriously vacant and there sat our very dented car.  It tore off the passenger side mirror, and dented the door and front fender.  Yeah, no one came forward about the damage so we had to call the cops.  Fortunately the perp returned the following day - turned out to be a neighboring business owner.  To say he was hung over is doubtful because he was probably STILL drunk.

yeah

So what did you think was the grand total for damage?

Four thousand dollars

That's right.

At least it's not dinging my insurance or coming out of my pocket.  WHEW!

Add it up with what I did last year and it's nearly half of what we paid for the stupid thing.  There's not even 8,000 miles on it yet.

Having a lovely funky week over here in St. Louis.  Amazingly I'm still in a good mood.  I'm pretty sure by Sunday I'm going to slip into full-on hermit mode.

How I Love the Man Who Invented HEAT

I do so love that the heater in my car works. I have owned cars where the heater was of questionable reliability. The most memorable car was the 1972 VW Squareback. I dearly loved that car, but it was regularly COLD during the winter and there was no A/C whatsoever - just roll down the window. But when the heater got going then a lovely smell wafted throughout the car that was rather similar to old White Castle burgers.

And I detest the smell of White Castle burgers.

But I still loved that car.

Now that I own vehicles made in the current decade I finally get to enjoy the pleasures of heat and A/C. Cars that properly warm up or cool down before I leave the neighborhood. And on days like today, bitterly cold... ahhhhh sweet sweet heat.