I've now been driving for 16 years.
I got my 16th flat tire a few days ago. That's 14 on my old Taurus, 1 on Mom's minivan, now 1 on the Avalon. Quite the talent I have, eh? I'm pretty sure it's a curse.
Showing posts with label car troubles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label car troubles. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
number sixteen
Just for the record...
I've now been driving for 16 years.
I got my 16th flat tire a few days ago. That's 14 on my old Taurus, 1 on Mom's minivan, now 1 on the Avalon. Quite the talent I have, eh? I'm pretty sure it's a curse.
I've now been driving for 16 years.
I got my 16th flat tire a few days ago. That's 14 on my old Taurus, 1 on Mom's minivan, now 1 on the Avalon. Quite the talent I have, eh? I'm pretty sure it's a curse.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
San Diego sunshine
Christmas, to me, means going to San Diego. That's where many of my relatives live, and where I was born, and where I have been every Christmas except one. It's hectic and crazy and about 1000 miles of driving (and let me just say that driving up and down CA isn't nearly as enjoyable as getting out of CA!). My mom made a funny comment down there, she said something like it's really so wonderful to see everyone, but it's not a good Christmas experience. Perplexed and befuddled, I asked her what she meant by that. She said "well it's just so hectic and crazy." Well yes, I agreed, it is, but to me that IS Christmas, it's all I've ever known. What a revelation. It was especially insane this year though.
The drive home now ranks at the worst drive back from San Diego ever. (I remember when I was a kid the transmission on the old Suburban crapped out along the way, so that might have been the worst drive TO San Diego, but I'm not sure that counts, I was very young). 500 miles in 11.5 hours. Los Angeles was a parking lot. And then about 50 miles south of Los Banos (me driving, Mom passenger, in the minivan) the tire pressure warning light came on. Eh, no biggie, that light has been on the fritz for years and comes on for no reason at random times. Well, about 15 minutes later, hurtling down I-5 at 80mph the right front tire blew. Thankfully it didn't jerk the car around, and I felt it right away and since I seem to be the queen of flat tires I knew what was wrong and got over on the shoulder ASAP with no damage to the rim. There was no way I was going to try to limp home at 55mph on the spare "donut" tire, so about a half hour later the AAA tow truck arrived and we got towed to a Walmart tire store in Los Banos. They put on a new tire and we hit the road again. What an adventure.
Now, I thought I got rid of the tire curse when I sold the Taurus. I had 14 flats in the 15 years that I drove it, and probably 4 or 5 "goose eggs" on tires that I got fixed before they blew. I thought the curse was on the car but I have to wonder if it's on me. I hope not. I made it to Georgia and back in Jan's car with no problem, and I made it to Wyoming and back in the Avalon just fine. So I hope this was a fluke. But, it is now 15 flat tires in my life.
Anyway, here's a little sunshine for you, these are a few pics I took in San Diego.
Pacific Beach:
Crystal Pier, Pacific Beach:
A Willet:
Pacific Beach:
Okay, gull ID is not my strong point, but I think what we have here are Heermann's Gulls (the dark ones with the dark orange bills), a Western Gull (the light one with pink legs), and a California Gull (the light one with yellow legs). And yes I totally had to look that up, and I'd never heard of a Heermann's Gull before.
Brown Pelican. I took all these pics with the little pink camera. Not too shabby! Cropped photo, of course!
La Jolla:
Seals in La Jolla:
99.99% of the people there probably thought this was just another gull on the street light. It's actually an Osprey. :-)
The drive home now ranks at the worst drive back from San Diego ever. (I remember when I was a kid the transmission on the old Suburban crapped out along the way, so that might have been the worst drive TO San Diego, but I'm not sure that counts, I was very young). 500 miles in 11.5 hours. Los Angeles was a parking lot. And then about 50 miles south of Los Banos (me driving, Mom passenger, in the minivan) the tire pressure warning light came on. Eh, no biggie, that light has been on the fritz for years and comes on for no reason at random times. Well, about 15 minutes later, hurtling down I-5 at 80mph the right front tire blew. Thankfully it didn't jerk the car around, and I felt it right away and since I seem to be the queen of flat tires I knew what was wrong and got over on the shoulder ASAP with no damage to the rim. There was no way I was going to try to limp home at 55mph on the spare "donut" tire, so about a half hour later the AAA tow truck arrived and we got towed to a Walmart tire store in Los Banos. They put on a new tire and we hit the road again. What an adventure.
Now, I thought I got rid of the tire curse when I sold the Taurus. I had 14 flats in the 15 years that I drove it, and probably 4 or 5 "goose eggs" on tires that I got fixed before they blew. I thought the curse was on the car but I have to wonder if it's on me. I hope not. I made it to Georgia and back in Jan's car with no problem, and I made it to Wyoming and back in the Avalon just fine. So I hope this was a fluke. But, it is now 15 flat tires in my life.
Anyway, here's a little sunshine for you, these are a few pics I took in San Diego.
Pacific Beach:
Crystal Pier, Pacific Beach:
A Willet:
Pacific Beach:
Okay, gull ID is not my strong point, but I think what we have here are Heermann's Gulls (the dark ones with the dark orange bills), a Western Gull (the light one with pink legs), and a California Gull (the light one with yellow legs). And yes I totally had to look that up, and I'd never heard of a Heermann's Gull before.
Brown Pelican. I took all these pics with the little pink camera. Not too shabby! Cropped photo, of course!
La Jolla:
Seals in La Jolla:
99.99% of the people there probably thought this was just another gull on the street light. It's actually an Osprey. :-)
Thursday, March 11, 2010
oh snap
If it ain't one thing it's another one on the way...
And so goes the saga of my car, a 1994 candy apple red Ford Taurus that I've been driving since 1995. My first car... had it since high school. It's gotten to the point where it seems to have one pretty major crisis once a year, and lots of smaller crises in between. It's a money pit. But, well, let's just say I haven't managed to reach the level of fame and fortune where new-car-buying is quite within reach, hence I keep pouring money into the Taurus.
I took it to my mechanic earlier this week because my mileage had dropped. From 350 miles per tank to 250 miles per tank. Um, ouch? Turns out that's among its more minor problems, something about a leaking fuel pressure doodlybobber or something. More urgently, something thingamaginger broke off and the car is in urgent danger of losing it's frabblewonger belt. Or something. Plus there's a problem with the warp drive, or maybe it was the hyperdrive? Flux capacitor? I get my terminology mixed up.
What it all boils down to is that it would cost a crapload of money to fix it. And I kind of don't want to do that. There's a possibility of inheriting a used car from a relative in a couple months. Whether and when that'll pan out I don't really know, but I hate to spend zillions of dollars on my car if I might not have it for long. So, I decided just to get the belt fixed, because my mechanic pretty much told me I shouldn't drive it otherwise, and I would not feel right selling it if it's in that situation. And for the most part I'll probably be driving the little ranch pickup, due to the Taurus' new gas-guzzling tendencies. The little truck pretty much just goes to the feed store every few weeks, maybe it will enjoy a chance to stretch its legs, so to speak. But it's not a permanent solution, it's not mine and, well, it doesn't have air conditioning!
So, yeah. Crap.
Did I mention I'm going to be doing an art sale? Honestly, the art sale ball was already rolling before the car bit the dust!
And so goes the saga of my car, a 1994 candy apple red Ford Taurus that I've been driving since 1995. My first car... had it since high school. It's gotten to the point where it seems to have one pretty major crisis once a year, and lots of smaller crises in between. It's a money pit. But, well, let's just say I haven't managed to reach the level of fame and fortune where new-car-buying is quite within reach, hence I keep pouring money into the Taurus.
I took it to my mechanic earlier this week because my mileage had dropped. From 350 miles per tank to 250 miles per tank. Um, ouch? Turns out that's among its more minor problems, something about a leaking fuel pressure doodlybobber or something. More urgently, something thingamaginger broke off and the car is in urgent danger of losing it's frabblewonger belt. Or something. Plus there's a problem with the warp drive, or maybe it was the hyperdrive? Flux capacitor? I get my terminology mixed up.
What it all boils down to is that it would cost a crapload of money to fix it. And I kind of don't want to do that. There's a possibility of inheriting a used car from a relative in a couple months. Whether and when that'll pan out I don't really know, but I hate to spend zillions of dollars on my car if I might not have it for long. So, I decided just to get the belt fixed, because my mechanic pretty much told me I shouldn't drive it otherwise, and I would not feel right selling it if it's in that situation. And for the most part I'll probably be driving the little ranch pickup, due to the Taurus' new gas-guzzling tendencies. The little truck pretty much just goes to the feed store every few weeks, maybe it will enjoy a chance to stretch its legs, so to speak. But it's not a permanent solution, it's not mine and, well, it doesn't have air conditioning!
So, yeah. Crap.
Did I mention I'm going to be doing an art sale? Honestly, the art sale ball was already rolling before the car bit the dust!
Monday, October 17, 2005
Art Show, Poultry Show, and the Tire Curse
What a weekend! I'm still tired!
I left here Thursday late afternoon for the Auburn Art Walk. I had a few more things to set up (note cards, prints) and then I had to stick around for the 6-9pm reception. It didn't exactly go all that well (is there a theme to this lately??). Of course, I've never done that show before so I didn't know what to expect, but it sure didn't seem like that many people came through the shop, and most were just socializing or looking. Once again, thank goodness for note cards, although it didn't come close to covering expenses. The setup looks nice and I like the store a lot, but it was toward one end of the street where most of the shops were, and I think a lot of people just didn't venture that far, and I don't really expect much in the way of follow-up sales. The work is supposed to hang through mid December. Here are some pics from the show though:
Friday morning I took off with a carload of chickens for Paso Robles, which is about 4 hours away. The Central Coast Feather Fanciers is the first open show of the season, and one that I always enjoy. Well, then again I enjoy all of them! About a week ago, I'd taken my car in to get what I thought was the balance looked at. Turned out it had a bubble in one tire (how long had I been driving around with a bubble?!?! Ack!). It still had a little shake going on around 50, I don't think they had rebalanced it all that well after replacing the tire, but it's few and far between that anyone can really balance that car so I figured I could deal with this little vibration at least until this week, since I won't be so busy now. But the whole way down there on Friday it seemed to get worse, and after I got off I-5 and onto smaller highways (41 and 46, not exactly a lot of towns!) it was getting a bit scary. The shaking was a lot worse, and I just had all these visions of careening off the road, or the wheels falling off, blowing up, etc. By the time I was on 46 nearing Paso Robles, I could feel it bumping at slow speeds. Ah yes, I know that feeling, another bubble...
I was somewhat of a nervous wreck by the time I got there, I didn't stick around long to socialize, I just wanted to go sit down and let my brain air out.
Early Saturday morning, after getting the birds cleaned up, I bumped on over to a local tire shop just down the street from the fairgrounds, hoping there wasn't anything serious going on. The guys were super nice, took my car right in and had a look. Sure enough, it was a bubble. That now makes 5 bubbles and 13 flats on that car in the 10 years that I have been driving it. Could it be cheap tires? I think it's a curse. Anyhow, half hour and one new tire later, all was well with the world, and I must say those guys did a super job on balancing, it hasn't been that smooth for YEARS.
The rest of Saturday was spent looking at birds, schmoozing, watching the Welsh Pony show, and napping in the back seat of my car (hey, I was tired!). As always the RCCL (Rose Comb Clean Legged) class was judged last. I really hadn't expected to do more than Best of Breed at this show, since I hadn't had time to coop train the birds at all and they were a bunch of wild women. But amazingly I got Best RCCL, and that Black Rosecomb pullet moved to Champion Row. I wish I'd had time to work with these birds more. If handled, they calm down and relax at shows, and will "show" (spread tail, look alert, flirt) when approached. Otherwise, they tend to back into the corner and ruin their tails, or walk around looking pinchy-tailed the whole time.
Championship judging was Sunday morning. I get really nervous when I have a bird up on Champion Row. Other than cleaning the bird up beforehand, there's nothing I can do but stand around with my hands in my pockets and all my fingers crossed and think "pick the Rosecomb!"
Best in Show went to a very cute White Call duck, and Reserve of Show to an Egyptian goose...same owners on both.. Congratulations guys!! :-) Reserve Bantam was a Dutch. But since the American Poultry Association considers a duck to be waterfowl and not a bantam, the judges had to pick a "Reserve Bantam A.P.A" and that went to my bird. Yay!! So that's like 3rd best bantam. Works for me!
Unfortunately, looks like I won't be attending another poultry show until early January. The one I normally go to in November has been cancelled, and I don't attend the ones in southern CA because they are just too far away. However, I may reconsider that next year, because October to January is a long time to wait, and I usually have a lot of good looking birds in November.
I also don't have any art shows til January, and that's a good thing. I need a break from those. Time to duct tape my butt to the chair and spend the rest of the year drawing chickens.
I left here Thursday late afternoon for the Auburn Art Walk. I had a few more things to set up (note cards, prints) and then I had to stick around for the 6-9pm reception. It didn't exactly go all that well (is there a theme to this lately??). Of course, I've never done that show before so I didn't know what to expect, but it sure didn't seem like that many people came through the shop, and most were just socializing or looking. Once again, thank goodness for note cards, although it didn't come close to covering expenses. The setup looks nice and I like the store a lot, but it was toward one end of the street where most of the shops were, and I think a lot of people just didn't venture that far, and I don't really expect much in the way of follow-up sales. The work is supposed to hang through mid December. Here are some pics from the show though:
Friday morning I took off with a carload of chickens for Paso Robles, which is about 4 hours away. The Central Coast Feather Fanciers is the first open show of the season, and one that I always enjoy. Well, then again I enjoy all of them! About a week ago, I'd taken my car in to get what I thought was the balance looked at. Turned out it had a bubble in one tire (how long had I been driving around with a bubble?!?! Ack!). It still had a little shake going on around 50, I don't think they had rebalanced it all that well after replacing the tire, but it's few and far between that anyone can really balance that car so I figured I could deal with this little vibration at least until this week, since I won't be so busy now. But the whole way down there on Friday it seemed to get worse, and after I got off I-5 and onto smaller highways (41 and 46, not exactly a lot of towns!) it was getting a bit scary. The shaking was a lot worse, and I just had all these visions of careening off the road, or the wheels falling off, blowing up, etc. By the time I was on 46 nearing Paso Robles, I could feel it bumping at slow speeds. Ah yes, I know that feeling, another bubble...
I was somewhat of a nervous wreck by the time I got there, I didn't stick around long to socialize, I just wanted to go sit down and let my brain air out.
Early Saturday morning, after getting the birds cleaned up, I bumped on over to a local tire shop just down the street from the fairgrounds, hoping there wasn't anything serious going on. The guys were super nice, took my car right in and had a look. Sure enough, it was a bubble. That now makes 5 bubbles and 13 flats on that car in the 10 years that I have been driving it. Could it be cheap tires? I think it's a curse. Anyhow, half hour and one new tire later, all was well with the world, and I must say those guys did a super job on balancing, it hasn't been that smooth for YEARS.
The rest of Saturday was spent looking at birds, schmoozing, watching the Welsh Pony show, and napping in the back seat of my car (hey, I was tired!). As always the RCCL (Rose Comb Clean Legged) class was judged last. I really hadn't expected to do more than Best of Breed at this show, since I hadn't had time to coop train the birds at all and they were a bunch of wild women. But amazingly I got Best RCCL, and that Black Rosecomb pullet moved to Champion Row. I wish I'd had time to work with these birds more. If handled, they calm down and relax at shows, and will "show" (spread tail, look alert, flirt) when approached. Otherwise, they tend to back into the corner and ruin their tails, or walk around looking pinchy-tailed the whole time.
Championship judging was Sunday morning. I get really nervous when I have a bird up on Champion Row. Other than cleaning the bird up beforehand, there's nothing I can do but stand around with my hands in my pockets and all my fingers crossed and think "pick the Rosecomb!"
Best in Show went to a very cute White Call duck, and Reserve of Show to an Egyptian goose...same owners on both.. Congratulations guys!! :-) Reserve Bantam was a Dutch. But since the American Poultry Association considers a duck to be waterfowl and not a bantam, the judges had to pick a "Reserve Bantam A.P.A" and that went to my bird. Yay!! So that's like 3rd best bantam. Works for me!
Unfortunately, looks like I won't be attending another poultry show until early January. The one I normally go to in November has been cancelled, and I don't attend the ones in southern CA because they are just too far away. However, I may reconsider that next year, because October to January is a long time to wait, and I usually have a lot of good looking birds in November.
I also don't have any art shows til January, and that's a good thing. I need a break from those. Time to duct tape my butt to the chair and spend the rest of the year drawing chickens.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)