1795.25

one thousand seven hundred ninety five dollars and twenty five cents. that's how much it costs to fix yellow 2001 escapes with worn out transmissions.
well, it's been eight days and i finally have the old gal back home. which means that i get to actually go back home! lady's been letting me use her car so i can go back and forth to work, but since burdder's car got keyed at our apartment, her car stayed in ravenna (when it wasn't with me at work), which meant that the temporary driver did as well.
it's kind of a funny story. i was told that the car would be ready monday or tuesday. tuesday it was done but they wanted to put some miles on it to make sure everything was okay. i could pick it up wednesday morning. wednesday morning they told me that it was going into reverse just fine, but it was slipping between gears two and three, and needed more work. wednesday afternoon they found that the problem was a bad part sent from the manufacturer and it would be ready thursday morning. thursday morning they said that they replaced the part but it was having the same problem ...and maybe it was electrical (now his entire crew is working on this round the clock, which is amusing because they're only open nine and a half hours a day) friday morning i get the wonderful call that it's fixed. apparently this "bad" (something that begins with an "s"... or a "p" ... but i'm pretty sure it was and "s") was installed incorrectly.
kudos to max (my uncles transmission guy) and his team.... even if it was a few days late. she's happy to be home!

197,030

one hundred ninety-seven thousand thirty miles is about how long the transmission on yellow 2001 ford escapes last.

so... i went to my parents house yesterday before the balloon a-fair meeting, and when i went to pull out of the driveway nothing happened. i just kind of rolled down the hill until i got to the end of the drive. when the ground leveled out i stopped rolling. i put the car in drive and go forward a bit and try this backing-out thing again. same results. forward isn't a problem. hmmmm

so... my dad pushes me out and i take off. i call my uncle (the car guy) and he tells me to bring it there in the morning. it's great to have a car guy.

so... i head off at 7:15 in the morning to meet my uncle. i pass a transmission shop along the way and contemplate stopping, but he's not my car guy and my uncle's expecting me. well, when i get there, and park against the fence, because i can't pull into a spot anywhere, i walk in the office and he makes a phone call... to the transmission shop i just passed. apparently my car guy has a transmission guy. i'm supposed to talk to max because it's his shop and he may be able to give me a better deal then the $1795 quote.

so... off to the transmission shop. as soon as i hit route 8 my car does that whole, hey-i-know-this-is-an-automatic-but-feels-like-a-manual-and-you're-not-shifting-gears-you-crazy-moron thing. "please God, just let me make it 2.9 more miles..." finally i see the jim and son's shop sign. Amen.

so... i walk in the front door and ask for max. this twelve year old little boy walks out and shakes my hand. okay, he may have been closer to twenty two or twenty three, but not what i was expecting. he even makes a comment about my "spyder" jacket and snowboarding. then conversation then turns to 4-wheeling. again, not what i really expected from my car guys transmission guy. according to my uncle, though, he's the best! my dad picks me up and takes me to ravenna to pick up my mom's car.

so... today is february 19th. that would be the exact one month anniversary of my paying the vehicle off. yep. january 19th i walked into the bank and said "i'm here for installment 60 on my 60 month loan. i got a letter saying i have to do this in person so you can tell me the exact dollar amount and close the account." i have to admit, i would rather pay the $284/mo bill than the $1800 repair cost, but i guess that's what happens when you make that last payment.

so... max calls me and says during the test drive they couldn't get it to go into anything but the second gear. i wont' have my car back till monday or tuesday, but it'll be better than new. ...and i get a warranty on the transmission!

i guess 197030 miles is a good long life for a transmission. i happened to find the one month anniversary amusing, after i calmed down and decided that being upset by the situation wasn't going to help anything.

but bon-voyage for that wii that i was saving up for!

(it's like a) heat wave!

i know i promised all of my GA friends pictures of the snow, but due to the sixty degree weather i'll have to take some later. here's an older one. imagine about ten inches on top of that. now that's it's starting to melt i've found that the only great thing about having small icy piles of meltdown... it's great to clean off the yard candy left by neighbors that don't know how to clean up after their pets. that snow-cone-like substance works better than the garden hose or grass. riley just likes flailing around in this mess . he starts off by burying his head in a mound of the slush and then he throws his whole body to the ground and wiggles around on his back. what a mutt!

happy birthday, tara!

today is tara's birthday! tara is one of my balloon a-fair friends whose friendship has extended beyond that of the group that puts together our town fair in the fall. she's celebrating by going to florida for a few days for (insert drum roll here) the daytona 500! i'm totally jealous, by the way! anyway, i sent her a "very colorful" e-mail earlier, and no, there's no hidden innuendo there, i changed the colors of each letter. i hope to see her tomorrow at the *four legged animal that you hunt* club!!!

well, i caved in!

so, after yet another defensive conversation as to why i'm not on myspace, i remembered that my great friend helen has a blog site here! i guess starting a blog isn't really a compromise, because i was never against it, but because of the aforementioned conversation, i'm finally going to have my own web page to let all of my friends in on my day to day adventures. now i'm going to have to start charging my camera on a regular basis! and to all of my friends in georgia, the first picture i'm going to post will be of the two and a half feet of snow that has me practically barricaded in! i miss you guys, too!