Today's music?

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


Is a photo missing on an older entry? Click here to find it at Photogra!



The Other Links

Back Issues

Now

About Me

Notes Are Good!


Andrew's Baby

Favorites and Rings are now here!


The life you save might be mine!



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:

Antique - Futuristic


powered by SignMyGuestbook.com


Have You Read These?

A hot day for a wedding...9:26 p.m. - Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009

So bad - but so funny, too.10:33 p.m. - Saturday, Jun. 13, 2009

Evil Black Walnut Tree from Hell!- times up!6:41 a.m. - Thursday, Apr. 23, 2009

My next door neighbor was on the Today Show?8:57 p.m. - Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2009

This qualifies as a "oh crap!" moment:9:55 p.m. - Monday, Mar. 30, 2009

Back to top