Jeep CJ66 Retro Wrangler

Just saw an article (here while it lasts) about Jeep showing a retro Wrangler concept vehicle to celebrate their 50^th birthday.

In the photo, it looks like a Hot Wheels die cast toy.

All I can say is, "I want!!"

I miss my 1990 Jeep Wrangler. I should have never sold it.

I still don't know why I did.

Stupid.

That's why.

Broken driver side mirror

So the street I live on is bound and determined to make my vehicle-owning life a living hell. First, my CRV was rear ended and then my Grand Caravan driver-side mirror was sideswiped. I don't see other cars on the block or along the street having this problem but it happened to me within a few months time for both my vehicles.

I have a two-car drive way but sometimes my wife's family stops by while I'm at work. I come home and one of my vehicles and an in-laws' vehicle is in my driveway so I have to park my second vehicle at curb of the street. The in-laws leave and I end up leaving my vehicle parked at the curb for whatever reason like laziness or I'm already in bed. Then some idiot comes by and hits my vehicle(s) and doesn't own up to it because they're probably some stupid drunk assholes!

I looked all over the world wide web and local auto parts shops like O'Reilly's or Pep Boys for a cheaply priced replacement mirror. I didn't want to buy from a dealership because of dealership pricing. I almost had to because my particular model seems to be rare for some damn reason. It seems my mirror is in-between the two models that are widely offered from various vendors and dealerships. Either, I can find a replacement manual mirror or mirror with remote and heat. My mirror is remote with no heat. I have no problem having a manual mirror as I hardly adjust my van mirrors but I didn't want to order online and then the damn thing not fit/work like I thought. Then I'd have to go through the process of returning and probably getting screwed out of some of my money that I thought I was saving. Since I couldn't find my particular model on the Internet or in retail auto parts stores and surely didn't want to go to a dealership, I had an epiphany and thought of looking at a junkyard.

Hell, I haven't been to a junkyard in something like twenty five years! I didn't even know if they still existed...for pulling parts, anyway. I figured there were ones around where they just crushed, stacked and stored cars for scrap metal but what the hell do I know these days. I don't work on my own vehicle much at all these days since I'm busy and they have all these new technologies and shit that only "smart mechanics" know how to fix. Anyway, I googled 'junkyard' and found a few in my general vicinity. The closest was about fifteen minutes away. It closed at 6 p.m. and I get off of work at 5 p.m. but with rush-hour traffic happening at that time AND going the direction I'd need to go, I'd have to either leave work early or wait for the weekend. The weekend timing won.

I made my first trip towards the junkyard and got about three quarters of the way before I realized that I did not bring ANY tools for removing the mirror if I found a replacement. I went ahead and drove the rest of the way to know for sure the location and to be sure it actually existed. I mean it did have a website and all but I just wanted to be doubly sure.

It took me a couple of more weeks before I was able to head to the junkyard again. This time I was prepared. I brought the old mirror as well as my tool box of which I really only needed a couple of tools.

I walked all over this junkyard. It was much bigger than I imagined. The area where most of the vehicles that would contain my mirror was the farthest distance in the farthest corner of the junkyard from the entrance. It was a hot, dry day with a slight breeze and this place was very dusty. After about fifteen minutes, my eyes were watering from the dirt, my nose was running from the dust and I think I was getting a farmer's tan from the sunshine.

So long story completed, I finally got my driver-side mirror replaced.

compared to

Diet Coke Mobile

Turtle Wax T-240KT Headlight Lens Restorer Kit

This weekend I had the chance to purchase and test out a headlight restoration kit. I've looked into doing this before but I'm cheap and don't want to pay too much for a kit as well as I don't have a lot of time to spare these days in my daily routine. I saw somewhere on the Internet that said to try toothpaste. About a month after reading that, I finally got to try it. I didn't know if it was a specific kind but I just grabbed what I had. At first, it looked like it did an okay job. The headlight was more clear than it had been but not like I was expecting or wanting. After 24 hours, it the headlight returned to its original hazy state. I don't know why. I just know my toothpaste didn't work.

So, a few weeks later, I get the bug to checkout kits online again. I also saw the commercial for Fast Brite Lens Restorer and it peaked my interest. I doubted the Fast Brite claim of not having to use any sandpaper or such but what did I know. Hence, my research for more information and reviews. After seeing the commercial, I was talking to a friend of mine that mentioned looking into getting his headlights cleaned. I told him about he commercial and some other research I found online but didn't know if it was really worth it. He said if you could get something under $50 and it worked that it was worth it. He said the dealership quoted him $175 and he just laughed. My thought is you are paying for the labor more than the product they use.

My friend and I also recalled that we NEVER got oxidization on headlights when they were made of GLASS! I had a 1974 Chevy Luv pickup and in 1989 the headlights were just as clear as they were brand new. Why? Because the entire piece was replaced and the lights were made of glass. Granted these plastic headlights cut down on costs but to the manufacturer. To the owner, it will cost them more if they get the dealer and any auto repair place to do it.

Anyway, I've been looking into restoring my headlights on my 1999 Grand Caravan. They were pretty foggy and occasionally I felt like the high beams were the low beams and the low beams were just..scary.

I Googled up some research and found this website (here) that compared many products and ranked them by their (the website's) tests as well as reviews across the web from sites like Amazon and other online retailers...I think. I looked at their top four to compare price and ranking. For my 1999 vehicle, I could give up a half or even full star for a better cost benefit. I then weighed in the time it would take to get something (all their product links go to the product listing on Amazon) and the cost of shipping for a "grand total cost" of the product. Looking at the 3 of the top four (#1, #2 and #4 because I thought #3 was the same product as #2) I found that I could get #2-3M 39008 and #4-Turtle Wax T-240KT at Walmart. There are a few Walmarts withing a 5-10 mile radius of my house so that helped decide against purchasing through Amazon. The 3M product was showing at my local Walmart as 'limited supply' which means it could or could not be in stock. The Turtle Wax was the same. I had to make a Walmart run for other things so it wasn't really out of my way to check on the store stock.

On Friday, January 13, 2012, I ended up getting the Turtle Wax T-240KT Headlight Lens Restorer Kit (online at Amazon or at Walmart w/no price) because the 3M 39008 was not in stock. In fact, they had at least six boxes of the T-240KT. That in itself made me a little leery about getting it but with the 4 1/2 stars and costing like $8.97, I thought 10 bucks was worth a test.

I made a point to try this out on Monday the 16th before the weather changed for the worst. The picture below is of my right headlight (left side in the photo) after I did the restoration and the left headlight before restoration. Both headlights were about the same in level of haze. I didn't realize the picture was little dark upon taking it but it was like 11am with overcast skies. I think it still captures the difference.
.

In my opinion, it was well worth the $8.97+tax! Many of the reviews said it took them about 45 minutes per light. I don't know if it would have made much of a difference but I did mine in about 30 minutes. The second one always goes faster because you're reading the directions while doing the first one. I don't know if 15 minutes of hand sanding would have made a difference but maybe with drill torque it could. I just don't know. I think it turned out well.

So, a few things I noticed from my project.

• There is a plastic glove in the box for the T-240KT. Not a big deal, it's not shown in any of the pictures on the Internet but it's there. It's recommended or instructed to use only for the last step when applying the lens protectorant.
• It's slightly messy. The spray lubricant will run no matter what you do. You can see that I taped off the area around the headlight. They probably say to tape the surrounding area for protection from an errant stroke of the sandpaper pads. I never had that issue. The liquids just liked to run a bit and got past the taped area. The spray lubricant doesn't have much of a 'lube' feel as it does just plain old water. Luckily, all areas were able to be cleaned without issue after the process was completed.
• After all the work on the right headlight and before applying the lens protectorant/sealant, I was disappointed. Initially, the headlight didn't look much different than when I started. I could definitely feel grime on the headlight while sanding but it just wasn't that initial shine and luster when I applied and wiped off the final application of the lens clarifying compound. Not until I applied the handy dandy secret lens protectorant/sealant did the headlight look like I expected. Which is what you see as the final product in the photo.

I guess that's about it. My thoughts are if you could find out what grade of sandpaper each is, then you could get an 8x11 sheet at Home Depot of each. Then get some cheap plastic polisher and some kind of sealant, both similar to the products listed, a person could have a longer supply of the headlight restoring kit for close to the same cost.

You can see a decent How-To video of the Turtle Wax T-240KT product here.

Honda CR-Z and Crosstour

Saturday, I had a long day. I played tennis in the morning and then went to lunch with my tennis buds. I didn't need to go and really didn't want to go, initially, but I did. That's the kind of friend I am. I didn't want to go (to tennis or even lunch) because I had honey-do things to do as well as studying for a test on Monday—today.

I got back into my area about 2pm. I had to get the CRV oil changed and then an inspection because it expires the end of this month. I had a coupon for the dealership oil change for $24.95. I think it's like a $8-$10 savings. That's why I wanted to see how backed up the dealership "express" service was. I pulled into the bay and a service guy, Lamont, approached my vehicle. I asked how long for an oil change. He said about an hour. Damn! I told him that I am going to need an inspection, either there or somewhere else, but I wanted to see what they thought about my tires. They looked center-bald.

Anyway after all the back-and-forth chatter and making a longer story shorter, I was at the dearlship "express" service for a little over three hours. I got oil changed, tire changed, tire rotationed/balanced, and inspected. All for the low price of $948.

While I was waiting during my hour that turned to three hours, I got some studying done for my test which I probably wouldn't have done otherwise, especially with the decent albeit windy weather. During my breaks fro study, I walked around the outside near the dealership and saw a few vehicles that were pretty interesting.

The first I saw was the CR-Z. I saw this one from the side-rear view. It reminded me of a Prius but somewhate sportier, to me anyway. I really liked the way the CR-Z looked in comparison. The wife was talking about a Prius as our next vehicle or something similar in the hybrid option. Funny that I should see this the day after we talked about it. I asked the service guy, Lamont, to compare the CR-Z to the Prius. The main thing I got out of his babbling was that the CR-Z has three different driving modes: sport, economy and something else. I could be wrong on the first two. I guess that's why Lamont is the service guy and not the sales guy but they really should give the service guy more knowledge on the vehicles to help start a sale or whatever. Know what I mean?

Anyway, it might be something worth looking into when we decided to get a new vehicle down road. You can find Google images here.

The 2^nd vehicle I saw ws the Crosstour. It caught my eye from its rear end. I thought it was similar to that of a type of BMW—I don't remember exactly what model. I looked inside to see what the interior was like. It was pretty nice and it has wood-grain dash and such. It looked pretty "luxurious" as well as somewhat sporty. To me, it was eye-catching and I had to know more about. Once again, asking the service guy, Lamont, wasn't much help other than, "Your oil changes in the CRZ-Z or Crosstour will most definitely not have a couple of $24.95. The oil is zero weight and the change is $55." Helpful but not the help for which I was looking.

I found a pretty decent write up here. Of course, it turns out to be written by a dealership but it gives you the gist of the vehicle with some images. You can find other images by Googling or click here since I've already done it.

The Crosstour seems like a pretty nice vehicle. I think the price tag is around $34k and I'm sure that goes up or down with whatever package is chosen.

Neither is in my immediate (or even distant) future but it's nice to see different...new...vehicles and dream.

You have a pink hummer

And I'm not talking about that kind of hummer.

The wife and I saw this pull into the parking lot at Rusty Taco the other evening. It was a cross between bubble gum pink and Pepto Bismol pink. The guy that exited the vehicle wasn't a big guy nor was he feminine-looking. Maybe he just liked the color or it has something do with his career or maybe it's a Mary Kay car (hopefully from his lady friend's career and not his but I guess men can sell Mary Kay too).

Anyway, it was interesting to see this color on such a "masculine" vehicle and not have obvious advertisements to sort of explain the coloring. Not that it needed explaining, it just...okay, it needs explaining to me.

On a side note, I think I saw a picture on a funny blog that had a picture of the back of a Hummer. The rear bumper of a Hummer has "Hummer" on it and the person's license plate said, "GIMEE A" which I thought was funny.

So, now I move on...oh, and by the way, yes it's a busy day at work today...NOT!

Failure of a supposed universal symbol

Is this a rendering of the lower area of a man...you know a penis and rectum?

Is this a rendering of a woman with a very large vagina and rectum?

Okay, that's all I got in the dirty-minded section of my brain.

There was a story the other day on the home/main page of Yahoo! Link to it here while it lasts. Apparently this is a required thing that started with 2008 models...before I got my 2010 (or is it 2009?) Honda CRV, I had/still have a 2000 (or is it 1999?) Dodge Grand Caravan...so when I saw this symbol on my CRV instrument panel my first thought was, "WTF? I just got this damn vehicle and now there is something majorly wrong with it?" It seems like a major problem because of the exclamation point! I mean that's even more scary looking than seeing the engine/emissions light come on. The engine light seemed more like a warning whereas this symbol says, "Get the hell out of the vehicle to avoid a catastrophic event!"

Okay, that's a little over the top but you get the point.

So, a quote from the article:

The issue here seems to be that the public hasn’t been properly educated on the warning symbol, which is supposed to be “idiot proof” and understandable across a wide variety of cultures and languages. Yet 46% of drivers couldn’t figure out that the icon represents a tire and 14% thought the symbol represented another problem with the vehicle entirely...

When I saw the warning, I couldn't remember where I put my vehicle manual so I had to Google for one to find out what the symbol meant. I'm sure you "smart" people, or those who can afford new cars every couple of years, figured it out or are familiar with it by now but if not, it's is the low tire pressure warning. That's right! This frightful symbol is just to warn you that your tire has gone 25% below the recommended tire pressure.

So, adding the statistics from the quote, we can proudly say that 60% (46% + 14%) of people surveyed are idiots. I like them odds!

The Trinity River Project

I went to lunch with my niece last Friday. We hadn't seen each other in some time even though she works less than a block away from me in another campus building.

Yeah, that's the kind of family I have. I help them out. They move on. I don't hear from them again until they need help again. Luckily for this niece, the help I've provided her has not been monetary and she hasn't been ungrateful. Although she hasn't called or come by in a few months, she didn't expect anything from me other than what I provided, she was totally embarrassed by her situation and she was thanking and thankful for us on a daily basis. That's what I expect. I would like a little more than sporadic contact but that's something I can overlook since she was trying to work on her situation.

Anyway, we were driving to Chipotle and she made the comment about driving across the bridge over the Trinity River near downtown Dallas (on I35, I think). I think her exact comment was, "I could smell the water while I was driving over it and it smelled like shit!"

I responded, "And they want to 'beautify' this area into a park and shit!? WTF ever!"

Anyway, I thought it was funny to once again hear the "public-at-large's" opinion on what the city of Dallas think is a necessary thing. It almost is like Dallas is trying to be like Fort Worth's area of I30 and University. I don't think that's going to happen though.

Chevy Volt

Saw an article about the Chevy Volt. A plug-in electric car.

It's a novel concept but isn't plugging in the car going to tax the house power which in turn will make the power plants churn more which in turn will cause more air pollution? So is that still considered a 'clean' automobile?

I'm not an engineer but it seems like a logical theory to me.

I hate stupid drivers

I may have mentioned that before.

Here's one more to share with the world.


Sent on the Super Jay Network from Super Jay's BlackBerry®

789 Chevy

789 Chevy

1957, 1958 & 1959 All Rolled Into One!

This car was built by N2A motors (No Two Alike). Unbelievable! The company is planning a production run of about 100 vehicles. It sits on a Corvette C6 chassis, front styled like a '57 Chevy, side like a '58, rear like a '59. Hence the designation "789".

I miss my 90' Jeep Wrangler

This is was my 1990 Jeep Wrangler. Got it in 1992 with 4,000 miles on it. I put approx. 130,000 miles on it.

I sold it in 2008 or 2007. I forget which as it was traumatic so I blocked out the actual event.

How much is that doggy in the window?

I don't understand why people bring their dogs to a tennis court when they can't bring them into the courts OR why they think this is of any enjoyment to the dogs. Now granted, they could run around the courts as long as they didn't affect the play but what really would be the point?

This is a picture of a guy's truck who "plays"* tennis at the same place I do. He used to have just one dog (you might be able to see its ear in the passenger-side window. It's a pit bull mix breed and is sweet as can be and seemingly decently behaved. He would bring her to the courts and she would stay along the fence line mainly lying down. She would switch sides every time he would switch (you know, on the odd numbered games like 1-0, 1-2, 2-3, etc.). Anyway, the one in the window is some Chihuahua mix. I thought it was funny, cute...cruel to see it standing on the seat.

The campus where we play put up signs "ABSOLUTELY NO DOGS ALLOWED" on bright, laminated, florescent yellow paper. They posted four signs on the only two entry gates (2 per gate) and then another couple over each sitting area on the courts closest to the entry gates (only two). The reason for this is someone let their dog shit on the courts in a few different places. These weren't little dogs either because the shit piles were the size of a Chihuahua!

Anyway, this guy's dogs now spend anywhere from one hour to three hours in this little truck while their ignorant and thoughtless "master" hits the tennis ball. They bark and howl just wanting attention and to get out and run around but they can't. He does take them out when he's done and allows them to run around and stretch but for those hours they are stuck, yearning to be able to roam...something they could do in their home if they were left there. They aren't suffocating, yet, as it is the winter and they are probably just slightly cold. I may have to make a secret call to animal control or whoever if he maintains this m.o. in the summertime.

So, to all you dog owners out there, I will speak ill of you if you do this with your pets. I know you are afraid....vailwy, vailwy afraid!

Hummer H3

Was behind this person at the Whataburger drive thru on Freeport Pkwy and Hwy 114 in North Irving and thought to myself, "Self, this does not look like a Hummer." From this angle it could be any kind of SUV. It makes me wonder if anything has changed other than the girth of the vehicle.

Oh well!


Sent on the Super Jay Network from Super Jay's BlackBerry®

"Dexter" Hello, Dexter Morgan

Just finished watching season 4 episode 11 of Dexter and now about 10 minutes in to season 4 episode 12 (The Getaway). Yes, these are fictional shows and, as such, a lot of fictional situations occur. That being said, it pisses me off when they fuck up the realness of a show.

Now, Dexter is a serial killer. He gets away with a lot of things that probably wouldn't happen in the real world. He works in a police station and even though the killing may be over-the-top there should still be a realness to the actual workings of a police station.

My rant is to the part where the Trinity Killer (played by John Lithgow) enters the Miami police station and pretty much has access to the entire facility when he swipes a visitor badge from an old lady's purse strap which I'm sure there is a regulation on where the visitor's badge should be place (if not, the PDs of America should take note.

The second part that was stupidly written is when Dexter is following the Trinity Killer after he leaves the station. Dexter is in a hurry to catch up and stay with the pursuit that he sideswipes a vehicle's driver's side mirror, knocking it off. This vehicle's owner was on his way to the vehicle and saw it happen. Cut to the pursuit again and Dexter comes to a stop and park's his vehicle out front of a bank while the Trinity Killer parks his inside the bank's parking garage. Dexter jumps out and watches the T-Killer walk into the bank. Dexter decides to wait for T-Killer by T-Killer's van. Camera changes to view Dexter's vehicle and we see another vehicle pull up behind it. Turns out it's the owner and vehicle of the sideswiped mirror who just happened to know/find Dexter's vehicle after about ten minutes after the accident. Not to mention that Dexter's vehicle looks like hundreds of others that could have been on the road at that time.

I don't know what else will irritate me because I'm just starting the final episode (12) of season four.

If you see her...

A few weeks or so ago, this person pulls in front of me to go around another car. Not a huge deal, except for the fact that I'm in the fast lane trotting at about 67 mph when she pulls basically right in front of me where I almost tapped her into next year! She was in the middle lane behind a car going 55 mph while she was going about 58 mph. She couldn't wait until I flew by her or slowed by 3 mph for a bit.

I hate asshole drivers like this. Needless to say, I had my digital camera with me and snapped a photo of her ass for all the blogosphere to know she's "estupida."

So, if you see her, don't physically harm but do mentally anguish by driving by her while honking and flipping the bird.

For point of reference, this is heading west on Highway 183 aka Airport Freeway in Bedford, Texas. The overpass you see is the Euless Westpark Way/Murphy Drive and the exit to the right is the 183 to Hwy 121 ramp. See map.

The World's 18 Strangest Roadways

From a post at the Frontburner to Popular Mechanics?

Dallas' High-Five is 16th. Little do they know that this interchange is still shit. All they did was make congestion, stupid merges, and unrelenting traffic look cooler. It's really cool to drive up the high ramps (the young-uns will find it fascinating) but it didn't really relieve any of the problems that Dallasites thought it was to fix.

Whether you are heading north or south on 75 and you are looking to go East or West (which is worse) on 635, you will still slow down for the stupidest reason: the road goes from two lanes from 75S to two lanes on 75N merging together into two lanes on 635W which then merges into 1-2 lanes on 635W depending on if you are exiting or staying on 635W. The merge from 635E to 75S is almost as bad. I would assume that 635E to 75N is similar but I don't go that way often if I have at all.

Is the Ford Flex tailored to a specific demographic?

I was driving down the road the other day and I saw the Ford Flex. I've seen it before as one of my tennis buddies bought one some months back. I Googled pics of it and to me it seems like an 'ese' vehicle...ya know, mainly driven by Mexicans/Latinos.

C'mon, just tell me it doesn't give you that vibe. Even the pics on the Ford website make it look like it should be driven by some homies. I think it's something about the shape, the trim and the tires. I guess almost the whole package.

It's not just my perception, honest. My tennis buddy that drives one admitted that it looked that way to him too. He just happens to be Mexican.

How are people so blatantly stupid?

I'm waiting at the middle school to pick up my oldest from all-region auditions. I dropped off my kid early this morning at 7:15 a.m. just like I'm sure most of these other people did. The buses (2) were parked in a particular area along a street curb outside of the school.

My assumption is that the buses will return to the same spot for pickup. I must be the only one as these other parental fucks have parked in the spaces where the buses were this morning and should be upon return.

--6:45 p.m. - Buses have arrived and yes, they wanted to park where the ignorant parental folks roam!

Stupid people!


Sent on the Super Jay Network from Super Jay's BlackBerry®

In the news 11/11/2009

From Yahoo! News the headline reads:

Man distracted by bird drives Bugatti into marsh

Article here for as long as it lasts.

Only thing(s) I can say is, "How the hell can a Lufkin, Texas man afford a Bugatti?" and "What the fuck was this guy doing that a bird distracted him AND he dropped his cell phone?" I bet the rich bastard was speeding as well. Who the hell wouldn't be in a Bugatti?

I'm not bitter that he had a Bugatti to trash. Honestly. I guess I'm old school and a '69 Camaro Convertible SS is way cooler! Image here courtesy of Dixie Dream Cars.