Prologue: Meari braves the cold weather on her lunch hour to go to the post office and then get the oil changed in her car. Following is her first hand account of what happened over the course of an hour:
As I went to leave the post office on Friday, my car acted a little funny when I started it. Since the weather was SO cold, I thought it had something to do with it. My mind wandered over my various financial situations and I thought to myself: “Nothing major has happened to my car lately, I wonder when the next thing will be?” I continued on my merry way to the oil/lube place to get my oil changed.
Cute Lube Guy: “Do you know something is chewing up your belt?”
Me: “Uh, no.”
He showed me belt shrapnel all over my battery, pointed out a shiny thing down in the motor, and showed me how loose the serpentine belt was. (Yeah, the same belt I had replaced last year!) While this was going on, we heard something fall in the engine. A plastic pulley melted and fell off the side of the supercharger (Not good!).
CLG: “You’re lucky you stopped in when you did.”
Me: “Yeah, no kidding. Can I drive it to my shop downtown?”
CLG: “I wouldn’t recommend you drive it anywhere.”
Me: (thinking to myself) “Crap!”
CLG: “Do you still want us to do the oil change?”
Me: “Yeah, you’ve already got it in there, you may as well.”
I called the shop and they said to have it towed down there. Me, not ever having had to call a tow truck, came across as soooo ignorant and actually asked him what I should say to the towing company. LOL
I then called the towing company. Meanwhile the shop called back.
Mechanic Dude: “How soon do you need your car?”
Me: (thinking -- Oh, this is not sounding good.) “As soon as possible. It’s my only vehicle.”
MD: “Well, we can’t get to it until Monday. We’re open tomorrow and might be able to look at it but we’re only open 4 hours and already have 5 cars ahead of yours.”
Me: “I guess if that’s the soonest, that’s what it’ll have to be.”
Then I called my coworker to come pick me up. Oh, btw, there are *some* good Samaritans out there. The guy who was having his oil changed in the next bay offered to give me a ride to wherever I wanted to go.
CLG: “That’ll be $47.02”
Me: (laughing) “That’s one expensive oil change.... “ (Referring of course, to the additional repairs required)
My coworker came and picked me up, and after I explained what happened, she asked: “Do you have towing insurance?”’
Me: “Heck if I know. I’ve never had to call a tow truck.”
When we got back to the office, I called my insurance company. Guess what? I have towing coverage!!
One bright spot... and here I thought it was going to be the fact the sun was shining... in my otherwise pitiful lunch hour.
Epilogue: Meari catches a ride home with her coworker, and will spend an entire weekend stranded at home until Sunday. That’s when her Dad agreed to lend her his car for Monday.
Jan 16, 2009
Jan 12, 2009
Marvelous Monday Update 1/12/09
I know I haven't said this lately... But, aren't Mondays just mahhhvelous??! *cough cough* Now that I've gotten that out of the way, on with the show!
Just so you know.... Since I had no takers... none... nadda... zip... for cleaning my bathroom, I did it myself! LOL, it *really* wasn't that bad. Mostly dust and paint chips from sanding.
Weather
Over the weekend, we got ANOTHER 8-10" of snow. Snowblower. Best investment a girl could make if she has a freakin' long driveway (Whatever possessed her? LOL) Roads were nasty messy, and I almost had a pickup truck fishtail his back end right into my front end (He was coming from the opposite direction). I saw a car balancing precariously on a guard rail, on the wrong side of the guard rail no less. I can't even imagine how it got that way or what that person must've felt when the car came to a skidding stop on top. Talk about scary! Is it spring yet???
Food!
I had some potatoes I wanted to use up, so I searched online for a recipe for an entree. I looked at several recipes for Shepherd's Pie and decided I could make my own version. What a hearty dish!
I seasoned and browned ground turkey. Added minced garlic and chopped onion. Then added frozen mixed vegetables (peas, broccoli, red pepper, corn). Added a bit of gravy seasoning and drizzled with a bit of catsup. While the meat/vegetable mixture cooked in a frying pan, I made mashed potatoes with some butter, sour cream, salt and pepper. I put the meat mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 oven-safe pan. On top of that, I spread the mashed potatoes. Baked for 20 minutes at 375F, and then turned on the broiler for about 3 minutes to brown the top. Basically, I winged it based on several different recipes I read, and used ingredients I had on hand. If I had shredded cheddar cheese, I would've topped it with that right before broiling. It turned out pretty darn good!
Stitchy Stuff
I had my first 2009 finish on Sunday! At Christmas, Lynn in TX sent me a card along with a skein of DMC Color Variations floss and the chart.
Snowflake
Time: 4 hours
Fabric: 14ct white aida
Fiber: DMC Color Variations 4235
Edited: Linda thinks she printed the snowflake chart from The Floss Box. There's an entire snowflake series there!
Just so you know.... Since I had no takers... none... nadda... zip... for cleaning my bathroom, I did it myself! LOL, it *really* wasn't that bad. Mostly dust and paint chips from sanding.
Weather
Over the weekend, we got ANOTHER 8-10" of snow. Snowblower. Best investment a girl could make if she has a freakin' long driveway (Whatever possessed her? LOL) Roads were nasty messy, and I almost had a pickup truck fishtail his back end right into my front end (He was coming from the opposite direction). I saw a car balancing precariously on a guard rail, on the wrong side of the guard rail no less. I can't even imagine how it got that way or what that person must've felt when the car came to a skidding stop on top. Talk about scary! Is it spring yet???
Food!
I had some potatoes I wanted to use up, so I searched online for a recipe for an entree. I looked at several recipes for Shepherd's Pie and decided I could make my own version. What a hearty dish!
I seasoned and browned ground turkey. Added minced garlic and chopped onion. Then added frozen mixed vegetables (peas, broccoli, red pepper, corn). Added a bit of gravy seasoning and drizzled with a bit of catsup. While the meat/vegetable mixture cooked in a frying pan, I made mashed potatoes with some butter, sour cream, salt and pepper. I put the meat mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 oven-safe pan. On top of that, I spread the mashed potatoes. Baked for 20 minutes at 375F, and then turned on the broiler for about 3 minutes to brown the top. Basically, I winged it based on several different recipes I read, and used ingredients I had on hand. If I had shredded cheddar cheese, I would've topped it with that right before broiling. It turned out pretty darn good!
Stitchy Stuff
I had my first 2009 finish on Sunday! At Christmas, Lynn in TX sent me a card along with a skein of DMC Color Variations floss and the chart.
Time: 4 hours
Fabric: 14ct white aida
Fiber: DMC Color Variations 4235
Edited: Linda thinks she printed the snowflake chart from The Floss Box. There's an entire snowflake series there!
Jan 6, 2009
Finally Finished!
After 4 days of sanding, primering, and painting... The bathroom cabinets and trim are done!
This isn't the bathroom door, but it *is* what the trim looked like before I painted. Whoever stained the hardwood floors, got stain on ALL the door trim.... and it looks horrible.
This is just one small glimpse of the gold and yellow "polka-dots" I mentioned in my last post. Just imagine these all around the perimeter of the door. Lovely, isn't it?
These are the hinges I set out to replace. Nasty!
Here are some "after" shots:
Now all I need to do is clean the bathroom and I'm good to go!! Anyone want to clean my bathroom???
This isn't the bathroom door, but it *is* what the trim looked like before I painted. Whoever stained the hardwood floors, got stain on ALL the door trim.... and it looks horrible.
This is just one small glimpse of the gold and yellow "polka-dots" I mentioned in my last post. Just imagine these all around the perimeter of the door. Lovely, isn't it?
These are the hinges I set out to replace. Nasty!
Here are some "after" shots:
Now all I need to do is clean the bathroom and I'm good to go!! Anyone want to clean my bathroom???
Jan 5, 2009
Marvelous Monday Update 1/5/09
Dating
OK, OK... Since both Nancy and Chiloe are chomping at the bit for some news on my latest dating adventure, here goes:
Due to the holidays and weather, it'd been about three weeks since C and I had our second date. 3 weeks! In all that time, he texted and/or called almost every day. That impressed me since most men would've lost interest early on.
Finally we had our 3rd date. Both of us were looking forward to it. :) He invited me out to dinner on New Year's Eve... to a restaurant he'd gotten a gift certificate at Christmas. It was an awesome restaurant located in a small mall and you'd never guess it was as nice as it was from the outside. The food was a bit pricey (IMO) and definitely not big portions, if you're a hearty eater like C is. Poor guy was still hungry afterwards! Reminded me of the mastercard "priceless" commercial where the couple waited weeks to get into a swanky restaurant only to find elf-sized portions and then went to a convenience mart afterwards! LOL OK, our food wasn't elf-sized... but when he said he was still hungry, that commercial popped into my head. Me? I had plenty to eat, and couldn't finish it all. Conversation was light and fun... although, I think the guy is addicted to football. Is there a 12-step program? ;-)
Again, he opened car and restaurant doors for me and offered assistance when I was trying to walk through the snow (in heels!). I had a conversation with my BFF and she told me she's offended when men do this for her. She will actually tell them: "I can get the door myself, thank you!" Personally, I see it as gentlemanly and I LOVE it. How about you ladies out there? Do you get offended, or do you like it?
I made it an early night because we both worked that day. He worked 10 hours I think, and had plans to work the next day. Neither of us made it to midnight, LOL. I do find it curiously odd that he hasn't asked my last name. What do ya'll think?
I've come to the conclusion after the 3rd date that he's lost interest. Why do I think that? He went from calling and texting practically every day to not. Add to it, he said he would call on two different occassions and didn't.
Here's another question my BFF and I have pondered: Why do the ones we like disappear, and the ones we want to go away hang on like a bad disease?
Stitchy Stuff
Amazed. Flattered. Proud. Surprised. Yeah, I'm all of those things whenever someone makes a random posting and I find out that my "stuff" is being featured on websites I'd never heard of. I recently found out that my tutorials are being featured on the Designers Forum! How cool is that??
I put in a few hours of stitching on JG (Hey Nancy, are you listening?!). Right now I'm working on one of four stork motifs that are stitched over-one. Talk about tedious!! I even took some pics of my progress. My last update, it looked like THIS. Here's what it looks like now, after 122½ hours:
School
This is the last week of my free-wheeling vacation from school. Classes start back up next week. :( It was fun while it lasted, though!
Present For Me!
Since I have no SO in my life, I bought myself a Christmas/early Birthday present. :) It's a 320GB Western Digital My Passport (gloss cobalt blue) portable hard drive. I'm going to use it to backup my files (mostly photos), organize them, and then burn them to CD's or DVD's.
This thing is so tiny, it's amazing... It fits into a pocket!
Height: 6/10"
Length: 5"
Width: 3"
Weight: less than 1/2 lb.
Very sleek and it contains data encryption software. :D Can you tell I'm a techno geek, as well?
More Bathroom "Stuff"
With a heading like that, I bet you're wondering: "What's she going to talk about now?!" LOL What started out as a simple task, turned into SO much more. I decided to re-caulk the shower surround and tub on Friday night. Then I decided since I was already caulking, I might as well remove the old, nasty stuff on the outside of the tub by the linoleum on the floor. Suffice to say that whoever put in the linoleum did a crappy job and in some places there's a gap of 1/2" that needed to be filled with caulk. Even so, it looks 100 times better than it did before.
On Saturday, I got the "bright" idea to replace the painted over and starting to rust hinges of the bathroom cabinet. I bought new hinges and took the cabinet doors off. Then decided I couldn't put the doors back on without repainting them (everything in my house needs repainted!). I primered them.
Did I mention the window in the tub/shower area? No??? Well, it needed re-caulking too. So yes, I caulked... and primered the trim and ledge for it also.
The paint on the trim around the bathroom door has been peeling since I moved here. In some places it was showing off the harvest gold color underneath. Ahh, yes... "beautiful". However, the polka-dot yellow and white just wasn't doing *it* for me. What could I do but to primer THAT, too?!? I have one piece of trim to do behind the door where the hinges are, and then I can do the actual painting.
Stay tuned for the next installment of the Homestead Chronicles!
OK, OK... Since both Nancy and Chiloe are chomping at the bit for some news on my latest dating adventure, here goes:
Due to the holidays and weather, it'd been about three weeks since C and I had our second date. 3 weeks! In all that time, he texted and/or called almost every day. That impressed me since most men would've lost interest early on.
Finally we had our 3rd date. Both of us were looking forward to it. :) He invited me out to dinner on New Year's Eve... to a restaurant he'd gotten a gift certificate at Christmas. It was an awesome restaurant located in a small mall and you'd never guess it was as nice as it was from the outside. The food was a bit pricey (IMO) and definitely not big portions, if you're a hearty eater like C is. Poor guy was still hungry afterwards! Reminded me of the mastercard "priceless" commercial where the couple waited weeks to get into a swanky restaurant only to find elf-sized portions and then went to a convenience mart afterwards! LOL OK, our food wasn't elf-sized... but when he said he was still hungry, that commercial popped into my head. Me? I had plenty to eat, and couldn't finish it all. Conversation was light and fun... although, I think the guy is addicted to football. Is there a 12-step program? ;-)
Again, he opened car and restaurant doors for me and offered assistance when I was trying to walk through the snow (in heels!). I had a conversation with my BFF and she told me she's offended when men do this for her. She will actually tell them: "I can get the door myself, thank you!" Personally, I see it as gentlemanly and I LOVE it. How about you ladies out there? Do you get offended, or do you like it?
I made it an early night because we both worked that day. He worked 10 hours I think, and had plans to work the next day. Neither of us made it to midnight, LOL. I do find it curiously odd that he hasn't asked my last name. What do ya'll think?
I've come to the conclusion after the 3rd date that he's lost interest. Why do I think that? He went from calling and texting practically every day to not. Add to it, he said he would call on two different occassions and didn't.
Here's another question my BFF and I have pondered: Why do the ones we like disappear, and the ones we want to go away hang on like a bad disease?
Stitchy Stuff
Amazed. Flattered. Proud. Surprised. Yeah, I'm all of those things whenever someone makes a random posting and I find out that my "stuff" is being featured on websites I'd never heard of. I recently found out that my tutorials are being featured on the Designers Forum! How cool is that??
I put in a few hours of stitching on JG (Hey Nancy, are you listening?!). Right now I'm working on one of four stork motifs that are stitched over-one. Talk about tedious!! I even took some pics of my progress. My last update, it looked like THIS. Here's what it looks like now, after 122½ hours:
School
This is the last week of my free-wheeling vacation from school. Classes start back up next week. :( It was fun while it lasted, though!
Present For Me!
Since I have no SO in my life, I bought myself a Christmas/early Birthday present. :) It's a 320GB Western Digital My Passport (gloss cobalt blue) portable hard drive. I'm going to use it to backup my files (mostly photos), organize them, and then burn them to CD's or DVD's.
This thing is so tiny, it's amazing... It fits into a pocket!
Height: 6/10"
Length: 5"
Width: 3"
Weight: less than 1/2 lb.
Very sleek and it contains data encryption software. :D Can you tell I'm a techno geek, as well?
More Bathroom "Stuff"
With a heading like that, I bet you're wondering: "What's she going to talk about now?!" LOL What started out as a simple task, turned into SO much more. I decided to re-caulk the shower surround and tub on Friday night. Then I decided since I was already caulking, I might as well remove the old, nasty stuff on the outside of the tub by the linoleum on the floor. Suffice to say that whoever put in the linoleum did a crappy job and in some places there's a gap of 1/2" that needed to be filled with caulk. Even so, it looks 100 times better than it did before.On Saturday, I got the "bright" idea to replace the painted over and starting to rust hinges of the bathroom cabinet. I bought new hinges and took the cabinet doors off. Then decided I couldn't put the doors back on without repainting them (everything in my house needs repainted!). I primered them.
Did I mention the window in the tub/shower area? No??? Well, it needed re-caulking too. So yes, I caulked... and primered the trim and ledge for it also.
The paint on the trim around the bathroom door has been peeling since I moved here. In some places it was showing off the harvest gold color underneath. Ahh, yes... "beautiful". However, the polka-dot yellow and white just wasn't doing *it* for me. What could I do but to primer THAT, too?!? I have one piece of trim to do behind the door where the hinges are, and then I can do the actual painting.
Stay tuned for the next installment of the Homestead Chronicles!
Jan 1, 2009
New Year, Ongoing Appreciation
I'm taking a moment to express my appreciation to all of you out there who've I gotten to know through the online community, and to those I've been blessed to have met in person. I just want to say: You all are GREAT! Thanks for the words of encouragement and empathy during the trials and triumphs of my life. :)
Here's to a prosperous 2009!
Here's to a prosperous 2009!
