Thing-A-Day Day 6 I’m really liking this project simply because it makes me loosen up on my heavy self-critique. No time for that! Of course, I still do some…but it’s nice to start finish and let something go in a very small period of time. I think that I have always looked too far ahead. Regarding most things. I think of something I want to do, then I think of everything I have to do to get to the end, and I am tired already! Now, it’s almost as if I cut out the envisioning stage…I mean, I envision the thing in my mind…thing being anyTHING that I want to do but now don’t take as much time doing it once in my mind, just act. It’s quite liberating.
In case you don’t want to look at the thing-a-day site, here’s what I made today:
Padparadash Swarovski Drops - the hard part was making the other side!
Yesterday was kind of rough since I had to go to Honda AGAIN… This little click clack bang bang sound in my car when I started it and hit the accelerator…that was very annoying and not very little even though I said that first. I have been to Honday 4+ times in the past 12 months and spent altogether too much money on my Nick (Nick got his name because within 24 hours of getting him, I had nicked the back bumper putting Jeannie’s new bike in and then gotten a rogue rock ding on the windshield on Wolfe Grade which is still there). So when I went in yesterday for the blinking oil light and the very annoying rattle, I was PISSED. And I was as much of a heartless bitch as I could muster…which means not much. But I did manage to say this: “When I came in the last 3 times there were valid problems that were addressed, but the rattle never went away, so I don’t think I should have to pay a diagnosis fee for something I paid you to diagnose 3 times prior. “ Whew! I felt so mean saying that!
So the guys were afraid of me and my wrath (NOT) and said they’d try to figure out the rattle in the morning (I told them it was worst in the am when the car was cold) but also noted that in the past year I had not gotten an oil change (!!). I guess I’d been to the shop so many times, in my brain I thought there was oil changing and basic maintenance happening… So I got a call this morning: definitely oil and filter change needed, and they found what they are presuming to be the cause of my knock knock who the bleep is there rattle. Here it is:
I got a rock
Really? A rock? Here’s a pic for size reference:
THIS?!?
I am taking bets. Who thinks this was the problem all year…under or on top of my heat shield. They replace my exhaust manifold and an oxygen sensor…where exactly is my heat shield? I’ll let you know if the clacking is gone tomorrow morning. Keep in mind: There was a definite rattle for exactly 1 second on my way home from the rock-ectomy. Well, at least I got my oil changed.
OH! Did I mention: I was going to check my own oil when the light started flashing…Reached down, pulled lever and:
I think it's not good when this is sitting on your passenger seat
Not good.
They wanted $200 to restring the cable since you can’t just glue this back on…when he told me that on the phone I busted an F-bomb and he cracked up. He apologized for laughing but said it was unexpected. He showed me how to use pliers and pull the cable without the lever…yeah me. Have pliers will travel.
On my way home from the shop, some dude in a truck honked at me and said “I can fix those dents on your car” and I was in a well populated area that I knew so I pulled over in the Wells Fargo Parking lot and let him look at the dentage on poor Nick that I refuse to get fixed because each dent “incident” is considered COLLISION and therefore would raise my rates and cost $250 deductable EACH minimum (if Allstate was nice it would be $250, otherwise it would be comprehensive and $500 deductable each). I think that’s how it goes. In any case, I had 2 major dents on the passenger side of Nick from parking lot FAILS. None of them mine directly…indirectly my fault because I had the stupidity to park my car.
The first one happened in a school parking lot while I was chapperoning a Great America event for Jeannie when Nick was still a baby. The second one happened when I pulled into a spot and some old jerk in a huge SUV backed out of the spot to my right with his wheels curved to the right and kept going even as Nick crumpled with a sound similar to crushing a can until he (the jerk) couldn’t move any more. Then had the nerve to look at my car and say it wasn’t that bad and look at his and there was no damage so we should be ok…I was speechless. I got his name and # on a post it…and lost it.  And a certain boyfriend of mine has been disappointed in me ever since… Long story…but you’re used to that aren’t you?
The dude in the truck (the truck was labeled something like Dent Doctor) said he’d fix both big dents on the spot for $300. I really don’t want to know if I got ripped off. I just know it didn’t cost me $500-$1000 and I didn’t want a perfect looking door (since I park at Yahoo! where the spaces are so small even motorcycles have to worry about getting dinged) because I would only be hugely depressed the next time I parked at work and got another ding. So I did it. And there’s turtle wax on it right now so I can’t see HOW lovely Nick is minus dents, but when he’s clean, I’ll look and be happy. So there. 
