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of Cars & Cacti
15 years ago
General
Kyoo no tema wa kore desu....
1) Them's the Brakes
GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
It's my car again.
I've been aggravated, frustrated, teary-eyed, relieved, and thankful over this. And penniless.
For about a month or so the brakes have been grinding--not a good sign. I was loathe to get to a brakes shop, because I knew they'd do a number on both my car & my pocketbook.
fluffydemon666 came to the rescue with a cousin/friend Chris. Two weeks ago, Chris replaced the car's front brake pads. The right front brake pad was practically down to nothing thanks to a malfunctioning bracket/holder/thingy (I has a uterus, so I don't do car stuff so good). All I had to do was buy the parts & give a pittance to Chris for the labor.
Hooray, right? Sort of...Chris was unable to remove the left rear tire to check it out. Last week, the left rear started hemorrhaging brake fluid.
Away I went to Chris's. Remember how he couldn't take off the brake? Well, neither could his father, nor the auto-expert across the street who runs his own car-shop. I think it took 3 hours to get that thing off. The rear brake pad was seriously non-existent; it had ground into the outer brake part (remember: uterus) which almost sealed the damned thing over the rest of the brake stuffs. Frustration & tempers were high, as was my dread.
Happily, the thing came free. A lot of stuff needed to be replaced. I got to ride in Chris's jeep (and required a stepladder to get into it). The car was rendered drive-able and safe by around 11:00pm, a far cry from the dire "this will take an entire weekend" forecast.
I consider myself very, very lucky that Fluffy recommended Chris, that Chris is so even-tempered, and that Chris's father & the car expert forgave my ignorance. It's safe again to drive my mess of a car! I am so relieved I can't even adequately express it.
But after all that, it was impossible to make rent. I took an extended auto-title loan, with ass-raping interest, to cover the rent (& upcoming U-Haul expenses). Gah.
The car isn't out of the woods yet. I foresee more expenses in the future, although likely not as dire or dear as the brakes--mostly tubes/hoses, heater, and a frame-thingy. Let's hope they don't all give out at once.
2) Scrounging for Cacti
For my trip back to Ohio, I wanted to bring some items of interest from Tucson to amuse my family. I really wanted a cholla (kind of cactus) skeleton. The cholla skeletons were already taken at public parks, and you're not supposed to remove stuff from government-owned land or private. Sad Kwan! :(
bwarroo (aka Torry) knew the exact spot to go cactus-hunting. I hauled tail over to his digs in the outskirts of southwest Tucson. We found several jumping cholla, with skeletons, hooray! Torry was foresighted enough to supply leather gloves, a big box, a big switchblade-saw-thingy (used to scrape off the dead & dried-up cactus flash & needles), and a kid sister to serve as pack-mule. He suggested I take a few fragrant branches of what he called 'rain-bush.' Then he gave me some fruit from a barrel cactus in his yard. I now have plenty of interesting things to show to the folks at home!
...And maybe there was something else to be found that I got excited over, but I'll wisely refrain from not mentioning here what it may or may not be, other than if there was something else to be excited over, it was long dead & just going to waste out there in the desert (and no, it was not the big veiny purple dildo-vibe that Torry's grandmother keeps on her comfy chair).
If anyone else has any suggestions on free or cheap bits of Tucson/Arizona nature that can handle being thrown in a suitcase, let me know!
GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
It's my car again.
I've been aggravated, frustrated, teary-eyed, relieved, and thankful over this. And penniless.
For about a month or so the brakes have been grinding--not a good sign. I was loathe to get to a brakes shop, because I knew they'd do a number on both my car & my pocketbook.
fluffydemon666 came to the rescue with a cousin/friend Chris. Two weeks ago, Chris replaced the car's front brake pads. The right front brake pad was practically down to nothing thanks to a malfunctioning bracket/holder/thingy (I has a uterus, so I don't do car stuff so good). All I had to do was buy the parts & give a pittance to Chris for the labor.Hooray, right? Sort of...Chris was unable to remove the left rear tire to check it out. Last week, the left rear started hemorrhaging brake fluid.
Away I went to Chris's. Remember how he couldn't take off the brake? Well, neither could his father, nor the auto-expert across the street who runs his own car-shop. I think it took 3 hours to get that thing off. The rear brake pad was seriously non-existent; it had ground into the outer brake part (remember: uterus) which almost sealed the damned thing over the rest of the brake stuffs. Frustration & tempers were high, as was my dread.
Happily, the thing came free. A lot of stuff needed to be replaced. I got to ride in Chris's jeep (and required a stepladder to get into it). The car was rendered drive-able and safe by around 11:00pm, a far cry from the dire "this will take an entire weekend" forecast.
I consider myself very, very lucky that Fluffy recommended Chris, that Chris is so even-tempered, and that Chris's father & the car expert forgave my ignorance. It's safe again to drive my mess of a car! I am so relieved I can't even adequately express it.
But after all that, it was impossible to make rent. I took an extended auto-title loan, with ass-raping interest, to cover the rent (& upcoming U-Haul expenses). Gah.
The car isn't out of the woods yet. I foresee more expenses in the future, although likely not as dire or dear as the brakes--mostly tubes/hoses, heater, and a frame-thingy. Let's hope they don't all give out at once.
2) Scrounging for Cacti
For my trip back to Ohio, I wanted to bring some items of interest from Tucson to amuse my family. I really wanted a cholla (kind of cactus) skeleton. The cholla skeletons were already taken at public parks, and you're not supposed to remove stuff from government-owned land or private. Sad Kwan! :(
bwarroo (aka Torry) knew the exact spot to go cactus-hunting. I hauled tail over to his digs in the outskirts of southwest Tucson. We found several jumping cholla, with skeletons, hooray! Torry was foresighted enough to supply leather gloves, a big box, a big switchblade-saw-thingy (used to scrape off the dead & dried-up cactus flash & needles), and a kid sister to serve as pack-mule. He suggested I take a few fragrant branches of what he called 'rain-bush.' Then he gave me some fruit from a barrel cactus in his yard. I now have plenty of interesting things to show to the folks at home! ...And maybe there was something else to be found that I got excited over, but I'll wisely refrain from not mentioning here what it may or may not be, other than if there was something else to be excited over, it was long dead & just going to waste out there in the desert (and no, it was not the big veiny purple dildo-vibe that Torry's grandmother keeps on her comfy chair).
If anyone else has any suggestions on free or cheap bits of Tucson/Arizona nature that can handle being thrown in a suitcase, let me know!
Take Bryantfox and leave him somewhere......else..... while yer at it!
L'Chaim!
And, for the record, I WANNTID TA GOOOOOOOOO! But I can't take anymore time off of work! Crap!
...okay, I'll get over it.
As tempting as it is to take Bryant & leave him elsewhere, that's a big NO--because it does involve traveling with Bryant in the first place, and I refuse to do so by myself on the grounds that it would make me batshit insaner.
Hmmmm, how's about rocks with animal bones inside them? Is there a local place where I can go fossil-scrounging?
Ohio is lousy with crinoid rings & broken shellfish, but---Ooo, trilobites! That would be interesting. ::files this away for laters::
"Oh, that there is a 1944 Rotating Procto-missile-- very effective, but banned by the Geneva Convention so only 57 were ever made."
Also, we were gonna do some Conservative Baiting.
"Socialized medicine!"
And really the "definition" of furry is somewhat debatable. *laugh* The community's culture, in general, is certainly quite - Open? Permissive? Ahh hell, whatever. ;p Though generalities are not universal truths and at its core, furry is still based around what amounts to being merely an interest.
Loans are a bitch. This is worrisome, though certainly a sign of the times.
It is awesome you got your car back into shape though. Hopefully it will STAY in shape now, at least long enough to make the expense worth the investment.
Can't wait for you to be here. I'll be calling soon to talk. ^^
My parent's solution? get a new used car! ::facepalm:: As I keep telling my parents: I'd rather have to put in $500 once or twice a year & only pay minimal insurance, than get a new used car with new problems, monthly payments, full coverage, and much-greater debt. I'm in the land of hardly any rust -- the car will of a certainty live many more years than if it had stayed in Ohio.
YAY Ohio is eminent! WWOOOHOOOOOOOO
..what'd I say?