Grand Drive - "Grand Drive" (2003 - BMG Music) Country-fied rock from Englishmen? Yeah, somewhat like Wilco or Nineteen Wh My Photographs You like photos? I love taking them. Click here, if you wanna see some of my work
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Tuesday, Mar. 16, 2004 - 9:04 p.m. Strange couple of days, but that�s what March weather is good for, right?...p.s. Bunch of photos at the end of this one�. The dealer found our Vibe yesterday. Had to drive about 100 miles to another dealer to trade for it (with one of their own Vibes), but for a sale they did it. I told them that I wouldn�t be able to trade with them until today, and that was �weather permitting�. See, it has snowed here since the first weekend of February. The dry, somewhat above average temperatures had lulled us into a state of complacency. Never a good thing, when it comes to winter weather here in North Dakota. They sent the night crew home early, figuring the snow wasn�t to arrive until around 8 pm. They only missed it by 8 full hours. But before that happened, another strange thing happened to yours truly. I hopped into the Hillbilly truck at 4, ready to leave work. One problem- for some reason, my key wouldn�t turn the tumblers. You know, the ignition thing. Whatever you (or they) call it. No amount of twisting, tapping, or pounding on the steering wheel caused it to budge. I had noticed something seemed wrong with the key start (is that the term?) lately. Sometimes, I had to turn the key a couple of times before it would turn all they way to the �start� position. But it always started, sooner than later. Not yesterday. It took me 15 minutes until I decided to force it to turn. I used my Leatherman� pliers (the ones I carry on my belt 7 days a week), and something snapped, causing the key to turn far enough to start the truck. Knowing that I probably messed something seriously up, I didn�t shut the truck off until I was home. Once there, I couldn�t turn the key at all. This meant I had to replace the tumbler assembly (getting any closer to the right terminology?). I bought the proper part at a local auto parts store, but I had to make a second trip to by some special Trox� bits that are made for tamper-resistant fasteners. After all that, I still couldn�t get the old tumbler out. I didn�t have the right tools at home to remove the stripped lockscrew on the assembly. SO I figured I would just take it to work today, and work on it at lunchtime (when I wasn�t on the clock). Lease lined a ride up, so I could take the Grand Am to work (in case it snowed on my shift). It did. The phone rang at 4 am. Good and bad. Good, because I could pick up the new car today. I had the option of burning a little p.b. time (which I did), or going home once I had put in my 8 hours of credited time (and pass up the overtime, which I didn�t). We knew the snow would quickly melt, with a high forecasted at 40�. Bad, because that meant I had a LOOOONNNNNGGGGGG day. With a slight amount of sleep deprivation. The snow fell heavy, but it was very wet. Normal snow is usually 10-1, meaning 10� of snow melt down to 1� of liquid. This snow was close to being 2-1. REAL wet, and eager to melt. It all fell by 7 am, and was completely off of the roadways (with the help of a little salt) by 9. That�s quick, folks. During lunch, I fixed my key assembly problem in about 5 minutes. Amazing what having the right tool can do for you (and at no cost to the state- all I did was use an easy-out stripped screw remover). Left at 2, went home and had the truck back in running shape by 2:15. Called the dealer, and found out the Vibe was ready. Since today was the last day of service for our trusty Grand Am, I thought I should shoot some photos. The last car we owned (the last Dodge I will ever buy, too- a 1995 Avenger coupe that served us poorly) never ended up in the viewfinder of my camera. I don�t know why- I think it was subliminal (because I ended up hating that piece of junk). I couldn�t remember ever taking any of our Grand Am, so I shot a couple dozen different views of it today. Rather than plaster a bunch of photos of the Vibe here today, and as a tribute to a fine family friend, I will let you see our former four door-but-sporty piece of American engineering. Damn, that was about hokey, wasn�t it? Anyway�. One generic shot: And several not-so-generic: And one of the future:
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