Turns out it went to my photo blog instead of this one. I'm stupid but I have recovered. Here's the post...
I had to take the day off today to get some car maintenance done on my van and Jeep. Not only did it cost me a vacation day but it cost me a pretty penny.
The van has had it's series of problems. About a month ago, we had to get a dealership part replaced. It runs the air conditioner, rear window wiper and wash and rear window defrost. Luckily with the hot ass weather in Texas, the air conditioner still ran and it was fairly cold so the kids could remain cool and comfortable while riding. Anyway, that part was around $450.
We also had to get the brake master cylinder replaced which was $150. Sucks! Today, I took it to Midas Brakes. They did some work on my van about a year ago but it seemed like 3-4 months ago. The damn brakes kept squeaking. A high-pitched squeal. It was friggin' annoying. I pushed it off as long as I could because it wasn't squealing all the time. Some days it would happen every time we drove it and others it would happen half the time. We had the mechanic who did the electrical part and master cylinder take a look at them so I could go back to Midas and tell them they suck because I have a lifetime warranty on my brakes from them. The mechanic said we had plenty of pad but sometimes certain pads just don't like or work well with certain rotors. So, I finally couldn't take the squeal anymore and took the day off to run around a get things fixed.
We took the kids to school and then dropped the van off at Midas. We decided to get breakfast at this little place called Bread Winners Cafe and Bakery. It was a decent meal and it had been a while since the wife and I had a meal out together, alone.
Afterwards, we decided to drive to see if I could get my Jeep inspected. That was half of what I needed to do to my Jeep. The other half was to get an oil change before the inspection. They say the vehicle will run cleaner if you change the oil before it get's inspected. So, we're driving down East Mockingbird Lane and I don't see the place I took my Jeep to get the oil changed and inspected last year. Oh by the way, inspection was out yesterday - 8/31/05. Anyhoo, it turns out that the place I got inspected at last time changed companies and looks. I think it was a Penzoil place before and now it's Mobil. I had to make a u-turn to get back to the place because initially I passed it. Luckily they weren't busy. They changed the oil and turns out that I've been driving for a year without an air filter. I was wondering why my Jeep smelled funny occasionally - like it was leaking gasoline. They replaced that and then we moved onto the inspection.
While I was waiting on the inspection, Midas called to quote me the charges. They figure that the cheap pads I had on the van needed to be upgraded to newer, better ones. They do a 45-point vehicle check and he said that my battery needed to be replaced. He quoted me $269 for brakes (front only), replace rotors and the battery. I told him to forgo the battery and give me the costs. He said it would be $159. Hell yeah! That's much cheaper so we went without the battery. I can get a cheaper one from Wal-Mart or something. Fucking $120 car battery? Will it launch the space shuttle for that price? He told me he'd call when he had it done.
Back to the Jeep inspection. All passed but it idled high. They phenagled it a bit to make it run lower by putting it in 1st gear and running the test. That was cool thing number one the guy did. Next thing was my gas cap. The gasket around the cap was frail and cracking. The guy asked his wife, who just happened to work there too, to get a new cap. They couldn't find one to replace my old one so the guy took the gasket off one cap and put it on mine. That worked to let it pass and he let me keep the gasket. Pretty cool guy, huh?!
We went home after that and sat in the air conditioning because I have none in my Jeep.
Around 2pm, Midas called to say the van was done. We went to get it about 2:20 p.m. and were back home by 2:35 p.m.
I went to get the second child by 3 p.m. We sat in the library until child number one got out at 3:30 p.m.
We went home afterwards and I helped child number one with math homework. I already helped child number two with homework in the library.
Around 6pm, the wife had to go to the school for meet the parent night while I watched the kids. I grilled chicken and hot dogs on the grill for dinner. The kids took their bath and went to bed because they weren't completely behaving.
Wife came home around 8:45 p.m. and gave the still-awake children hugs, kisses and prayers for bedtime.
I've been watching tennis while typing this. It's over now. James Blake beat Igor Andreev. That's about all to watch so it's bed time for me. I have work to return to and class at 9 a.m. with a quiz. I haven't studied. Hopefully, it won't be that hard. So, I'm outta here!
I had to take the day off today to get some car maintenance done on my van and Jeep. Not only did it cost me a vacation day but it cost me a pretty penny.
The van has had it's series of problems. About a month ago, we had to get a dealership part replaced. It runs the air conditioner, rear window wiper and wash and rear window defrost. Luckily with the hot ass weather in Texas, the air conditioner still ran and it was fairly cold so the kids could remain cool and comfortable while riding. Anyway, that part was around $450.
We also had to get the brake master cylinder replaced which was $150. Sucks! Today, I took it to Midas Brakes. They did some work on my van about a year ago but it seemed like 3-4 months ago. The damn brakes kept squeaking. A high-pitched squeal. It was friggin' annoying. I pushed it off as long as I could because it wasn't squealing all the time. Some days it would happen every time we drove it and others it would happen half the time. We had the mechanic who did the electrical part and master cylinder take a look at them so I could go back to Midas and tell them they suck because I have a lifetime warranty on my brakes from them. The mechanic said we had plenty of pad but sometimes certain pads just don't like or work well with certain rotors. So, I finally couldn't take the squeal anymore and took the day off to run around a get things fixed.
We took the kids to school and then dropped the van off at Midas. We decided to get breakfast at this little place called Bread Winners Cafe and Bakery. It was a decent meal and it had been a while since the wife and I had a meal out together, alone.
Afterwards, we decided to drive to see if I could get my Jeep inspected. That was half of what I needed to do to my Jeep. The other half was to get an oil change before the inspection. They say the vehicle will run cleaner if you change the oil before it get's inspected. So, we're driving down East Mockingbird Lane and I don't see the place I took my Jeep to get the oil changed and inspected last year. Oh by the way, inspection was out yesterday - 8/31/05. Anyhoo, it turns out that the place I got inspected at last time changed companies and looks. I think it was a Penzoil place before and now it's Mobil. I had to make a u-turn to get back to the place because initially I passed it. Luckily they weren't busy. They changed the oil and turns out that I've been driving for a year without an air filter. I was wondering why my Jeep smelled funny occasionally - like it was leaking gasoline. They replaced that and then we moved onto the inspection.
While I was waiting on the inspection, Midas called to quote me the charges. They figure that the cheap pads I had on the van needed to be upgraded to newer, better ones. They do a 45-point vehicle check and he said that my battery needed to be replaced. He quoted me $269 for brakes (front only), replace rotors and the battery. I told him to forgo the battery and give me the costs. He said it would be $159. Hell yeah! That's much cheaper so we went without the battery. I can get a cheaper one from Wal-Mart or something. Fucking $120 car battery? Will it launch the space shuttle for that price? He told me he'd call when he had it done.
Back to the Jeep inspection. All passed but it idled high. They phenagled it a bit to make it run lower by putting it in 1st gear and running the test. That was cool thing number one the guy did. Next thing was my gas cap. The gasket around the cap was frail and cracking. The guy asked his wife, who just happened to work there too, to get a new cap. They couldn't find one to replace my old one so the guy took the gasket off one cap and put it on mine. That worked to let it pass and he let me keep the gasket. Pretty cool guy, huh?!
We went home after that and sat in the air conditioning because I have none in my Jeep.
Around 2pm, Midas called to say the van was done. We went to get it about 2:20 p.m. and were back home by 2:35 p.m.
I went to get the second child by 3 p.m. We sat in the library until child number one got out at 3:30 p.m.
We went home afterwards and I helped child number one with math homework. I already helped child number two with homework in the library.
Around 6pm, the wife had to go to the school for meet the parent night while I watched the kids. I grilled chicken and hot dogs on the grill for dinner. The kids took their bath and went to bed because they weren't completely behaving.
Wife came home around 8:45 p.m. and gave the still-awake children hugs, kisses and prayers for bedtime.
I've been watching tennis while typing this. It's over now. James Blake beat Igor Andreev. That's about all to watch so it's bed time for me. I have work to return to and class at 9 a.m. with a quiz. I haven't studied. Hopefully, it won't be that hard. So, I'm outta here!
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