Car-lita Lives!!!

Well... I have the 'time' thing figured out, and I am 'right on time' with my blog posts. Just the world and events have sped up around me, which explains losing 2 months here.

So... I have the '91 Dodge Shadow, not a bad little car but not a great little car. It had its own issues, like idling high when the engine was hot. I paid $80 to the shop to diagnose it, then had my mechanic (Shane) install a new 'intake manifold gasket'. This was after 3 new belts, thermostat, and some sensor by the thermostat. It still has a mind of its own on this, so may need to investigate the air-hose thing.

Right. One person recommended I squirt something like Carburetor Cleaner while it was running under the hood - which is flammable. Talking with Shane, he'd just had an engine fire in one vehicle while he was working on it, so I decided it would NOT be wise for me to randomly squirt flammable products under the hood unless, of course, I was to the point of maniacal permanent mechanical repair (i.e. 'toast').

Considering the Dodge came into my life around March 10, I have 4000 miles on it - and I've been driving the Acura again for the last week (about 400 'new' miles on it now). It's easy to see why MPG factors into my life; I could get between 26 - 28 mpg with the Dodge, but I'm averaging 32 with the Acura without even trying. Thanks to the handy-dandy invention called Calculator, I can even give a ball-park estimate on gallons and dollars for 4000 miles ... 148 gallons (at 27 mpg) at $3.85 is $570. At 32 mpg, it's 125 gallons or $481.

It made sense to try and fix Car-lita's timing belt. I couldn't find anyone interested in doing it and the general opinion (95 - 98%) was 'catastrophic engine damage'. The only saving grace was it snapped just as I idled through a stop sign to park. One person said "50-50 chance it might work" and that was the only glimmer of hope - and optimism.

So I bought a book.

Like the Hayne's manual on 1990's Acuras. Bought it on Sunday, May 15, and decided Terry wouldn't have given me a socket set for my birthday if he didn't expect me to take things apart. It seemed a good omen when the first socket actually fit the first bolt I tried! (I needed encouragement.) Joe's a friend I haven't seen in 3 years, but he called this spring; then he said he was looking for some work $...

Joe has had so many surgeries and spent 2 years in hospitals and assisted living, I didn't want him doing the work as much as being part of the brains and 'tool man'. He's never worked on an Acura before or did a timing belt, but he has torn engines out and such over the years - and has a massive amount of tools! (Sans 3/4 air gun thing that was needed to remove the crankshaft pulley belt - I snagged one temporarily.)

My intent was to video-tape each step, so that I could keep track if I needed to on the 'putting it back together again' part. However, Joe had stuff flying out from under the hood faster than I could register it on my brain. Between working under the driver's wheel, jacking up the engine, taking off all kinds of parts, etc. ...

Had to pick the brains of others, in that the book wasn't totally clear, but from Monday afternoon starting to Wednesday evening, we got her done. AND IT RAN!!!!!

I was quite nervous trying to start it, expecting anything including shooting flames and exploding parts. But Car-lita just needed a little coaxing to pop right over. Now how lucky is that??

Sure, it was parked in March when we had had so much salt and ice and snow on the roads, so the brakes were rusted up and jagged. I called 1) my insurance company and 2) Shane on Thursday morning; Shane had an opening in his schedule "if I got it out there", which I immediately did. Four new rotors and front brake pads, and 400 miles on it to date.

I still need to change the oil and can only leave it to the Universe as to Life Expectancy, since I am not that confident in my own repairs. I never took off a valve cover before, so this was a pretty intense experience. I tackled it because it was already broke - figured I couldn't break it then - and proving it sooner than later would be just as well. Either I had a $150 salvage vehicle (actually two, in that the other Acura is a parts car parked at Tom's) or a repairable one.

There is a sense of Home-coming for me to be back in my Acura, especially since it's the twin of the one I ran the last 6 years. It's beat up and doesn't look like much, but "it feels right". This is pretty much what I flew on for this challenge - intuition and stubbornness. I might be wrong, I might be right, but I was following my own instincts, however crazy it seemed.

The rest of life just fit in kind of around this, which means I am behind on everything. I have plants to get outside, the grass is a foot tall, I can no longer get into my tool shed because of trashing it and a door waiting to be cut in... But the sun is shining and I'm feeling pretty grateful to the Universe.

Now all I really need to do is wish Jim the best. I haven't written his way, but I've been sending thoughts of rapid-healing and hugs. This is also true for a couple other friends that have been having some challenges - you know who you are! Sending a hug to all who can use one.

I don't expect things will slown down anytime soon, but I wouldn't mind if it did a little bit!

Things Speeding Up?

I'm behind on this blog, and the strange thing is that I don't remember February. Pretty sure I was here, but it flew by in a haze. The world itself seemed to be 'major eventing' everywhere, from political news to weather to gas concerns. Since February seems long-gone already, I'll just try to catch up to March.

It's been a heck of start so far, hmm? Earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, riots and Wisconsin. I had a feeling of unease coming into this month, thought I was just being irrational. But before the 1st, I received notice from the census bureau to try to run cases hard by March 5th in case the budget wasn't extended in D.C. ... So I hit the roads hard & long in a massive rush. Then we were told the "two week extension" would give us some buffer.

Luckily... my 2nd Acura didn't spew its timing belt while out on the back roads, and chose instead to collapse Monday evening in Towne. Terry was with me on a way to drop off posters with the peace coalition, ended up riding in the tow truck home. Talking to the driver, he said their shop has had 4 times as many calls in a month than usual (January) and it wasn't letting up - he was pushing a 14-hour day and couldn't wait to dump us off and head for home.

Val ended February by getting her leg brace off just in time to fall on the steps and jar it again, missing a few days of school, before surrendering to the flu. Some of her friends started to think she'd moved because of her absence. She did share The Bug with Sera, who was on-call for dog-sitting at Christine's in the cities. Me, I planned on not being sick until after the 5th due to census, and then figured out I still didn't have time for it. Sometimes I think my physical defenses are due to nettle tea (home-dried, good for you) and possibly a caffeine/tobacco habit creating an unfriendly Bug environment.

Sunday, to make sure it wasn't getting too complacent around here, Val leaned a little too hard on the kitchen cabinet doors. It'd been pulling loose some, but this added to it. Luckily, it didn't fall down completely. I put a brace under it for the duration and we unloaded the food into baskets.

Terry came over as planned on Monday; I'd volunteered to make dinner with some ham he provided. Par for the course, I got it in the oven late so it wasn't finished by the time we left for Towne. Before we had dinner, the car had died.

Tuesday Terry fixed the cabinets while I went over the website for Lynne with Pete before we got on with trouble-shooting the car. Wednesday we went hunting for an affordable car - the Acura may be repairable, but it's not the season to crawling about in the snow and mud trying to do a major fix. 'Affordable' in my world was a cheap runner that wasn't bad on gas and wouldn't eat my entire tax refund that was slated for bill- and loan- catch-up.

Sigh, there seriously aren't any of these cars? The only thing we found in a day of searching (thanks to borrowing Sera's car while she was at work) was 1993 Dodge Shadow for $1500, 100,000 miles on it. Not a terrible price, but it put me back in debt to friend Bill, and the emotional roller coaster of financial punch put me in tears. I wasn't too stable anyway, not feeling great possibly to the last week's bug, and this put me over the edge.

On a sadder note, Jake-dog had a seizure Monday evening. Usually he snapped back from these, but he grew worse all week. The vet could see him Friday afternoon, and I planned on driving him there myself. But... I couldn't get him in the car. He was too heavy, and his stomach seemed bloated so I didn't want to try lifting him around his belly; I couldn't get him back on his feet even. Sera came home and drove him up with me. There wasn't anything much the vet could do but put him down gently.

This was an absolutely horrible ordeal. He was down on the cold pavement in a puddle and all I could do was cover him with a blanket and wait for help. He's been my furry companion for almost 4 years, the one that slept in my room and shared meals with me - you know how this is.

In hindsight, I wonder if Jake didn't get into raisins when the cupboard was unloaded. The food was stacked on a table, and he'd eat about anything given half a chance. The cats could have knocked a baggie out or he could have snuck one while we weren't home. They are toxic to dogs and it doesn't take a huge amount to poison them. I don't know what else could have taken a lively dog on Monday to a critically ill one on Friday, though it could have been an intestinal or heart thing that finally gave out.

He just seriously was the gentlest dog I've ever had, big old teddy-bear scared of shadows, mice in the walls, loud noises, and even the refractions off prisms. I'm glad he found us?

So that week winds down around here. The world in general is in massive crisis mode, and it's hard to find a region that isn't under severe stress. Yet I'd add a little quiet wisdom about the value of good friends. Human or furry, this is what will get us through no matter what happens, and this may be the key to surviving 2011.

I have a feeling it's not gonna get better real soon and we're all in a state of change. For everyone absorbing their own shifts in Life, I wish you the best - you know who you are.