Monthly Archives: December 2013
Picky, Picky, Picky . . .
Jan and I headed up to Webster about 10am to pick up our truck from Brock’s Car Care after they finished the repairs. We wanted to do it early since we needed to get the rental car back to Enterprise before noon.
And I will be really glad to turn in this Hyundai Elantra. It is undoubtedly the most uncomfortable car I have ever driven. I like the handling and response, but the seats are sheer torture. The seat backs are curved so that you’re supposed to sit back into them. But my back is wider than the seat edges so that I’m either sitting across the front edges, or I’m sitting sideways half in and half out of the seat. On top of that, the seat backs don’t have a lot of padding so they’re not very comfortable anyway.
Plus there is a large bar code sticker on the bottom rear of the driver’s window that hovers right in my peripheral vision making me think there’s a car right beside me.
Yeah, I know, picky, picky, picky.
Like most trips to the mechanic they found some other things that needed fixing. So, all told, I got two new front hubs, new tie rods, a four wheel alignment, a rear brake job, including rotors and pads, a new battery, and of course, the obligatory lube and oil change.
Then after dropping off the rental car we headed up to King Food for a lunch of Chicken in Hot Garlic with Fresh Jalapenos. Mmmm Good!
After lunch we drove over to the car wash to get 3 months of encrusted caliche dust off the truck. We can actually see what color it is now. Then heading for home, we stopped off at Kroger’s for a few things, and a couple of lattes from the in-store Starbuck’s.
Getting back to the rig, I started to unpack some things from the truck. The main thing I wanted to get out was the fabric top for our Coleman canopy. It was raining when we packed it away in a large garbage bag for the trip back to Houston and I wanted to get it open and dried out before it mildewed. I draped it across the truck for a while and the wind dried it out pretty quickly. Then I did the same thing for the tarp that we used for a windbreak on the gate.
I wanted to get all this done because the weather is getting ready to turn crappy. Today’s high was 80 but tomorrow night’s low is supposed to be 47. Then Friday’s high is forecast to be 52 and rainy.
A big change.
Thought for the Day:
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers" – Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
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Nice while it lasted . . .
When we first started RV’ing back in 2008 we always heard about the fantastic support from Fantastic Vent (Fan), never charging people for replacement parts for their products, no matter how old. And this proved to be true for us when I needed a new cover lift motor for one of the fans in our 1999 American Eagle. Even though the fan was 10 years old there was no charge for the replacement, not even shipping.
Then in 2010 when Atwood, the RV water heater people, bought them out I remember commenting to Nick Russell, wondering if that level of support would continue.
Well, as it happens, it didn’t. The same motor I replaced in 2009 died while we were working the gate, but I waited until now to get it replaced. And the motor that was free in 2009 now costs $35.00 plus $12.95 shipping.
Well, it was nice while it lasted.
After a nice, quiet day we picked up Judy and Dick Mott at their RV where they’re parked down at Latitudes RV Park down in San Leon. Dick and Judy have been blog readers for a while, and as it turns out, were gate guarding for Gate Guard Services at the same time we were, and only a few miles away from us. But we all had to come back to this area to get together. We had dinner at Floyd’s Cajun Seafood, one of our favorite local restaurants, and spent about 3 hours talking and learning how many friends we have in common.
All in all, a great time was had by all.
Brock’s Car Care called this afternoon and said our truck is ready to go. Told them we’d pick it up tomorrow morning. They had called earlier and said my battery wasn’t holding a charge, and they had to jumpstart it every time they needed to move it. So I guess I’m getting a new battery along with a new front end.
Oh, well.
Thought for the Day:
"Freedom is not free. It is bought at a high price. It can be squandered cheaply."—Jerry Pournelle
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