Post #81,498
2/13/03 4:29:54 PM
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Should be feeling a little overwhelmed
What with:
- Teaching full-time
- Taking graduate courses part-time
- waiting on approval for a car loan (my former vehicle [84 Buick] needs $4K of engine work)
At any rate, I made an interesting discovery.
You can only sustain an emotion for a limited amount of time. As an example, I was very tense Saturday when I had to wait on loan approval for the (used) car but it's been dragging on so long that a couple of nights ago something inside of me just said "F*ck it" and I started feeling better.
So now I'm feeling surprisingly well. It's the end of my teaching week and I have a nice weekend to look forward to plus I just got paged by the auto loan company and it looks like that will be resolved before too much longer. In the meantime, the dealer has been letting me drive the car [94 Buick, total creampuff] as a sort of loaner.
So I'll catch up on my sleep tonight and try to figure out what to do for Valentine's Day. (Dinner? Go see 'Daredevil'?)
Tom Sinclair
"Everybody is someone else's weirdo."
- E. Dijkstra
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Post #81,556
2/13/03 9:55:51 PM
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Great minds..
I too 'settled for' a '94 $30K creampuff for a bit more than 1/4th price ('cause no one knows WTF that lo-production Model was..) Hope yours is as copacetic as mine (has been after 1 year, so far). I sprang for the repair manual(s) and.. some of that stuff looks positively scary.. pray to the MTBF God, often. Hints: Change that oil! when it gets dark.. and the brake fluid INside the ABS module too.. when flushing the regular brake reservoir every couple years. This is the word from folks who have 200-300K miles on one like mine.
Also, and partly thanks to yours and others' comments in Mac forum, my ex-Dell friend scoped out the new Apples yesterday -- and saw the cute ad with the er altitude-challenged guy + the altitude-enhanced guy on an airplane: with the 12" model and the 17" model. Apple's ads continually underscore the poverty of imagination of The Beast! Love.It.
Cheers,
Ashton
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Post #81,557
2/13/03 10:02:15 PM
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Looks like we got the car!
We got the "Thank you for your purchase" letter from the dealer today.
I'm really glad about this, even though I now have a nominal car payment every month. (Not bad, about $130). It's a LeSabre, like the last one, but it's in *much* better shape and very comfortable. Plus, it burns about half as much gas as the old one which is a plus when I'm going to Golden and back (about 20 mi. one way) three times a week.
Think we've figured out the V-Day thing... looks like a movie and dinner outing. (This is actually more special than it sounds. We haven't seen much of each other the past several weeks.)
Tom Sinclair
"Everybody is someone else's weirdo."
- E. Dijkstra
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Post #81,561
2/13/03 10:09:43 PM
2/13/03 11:18:27 PM
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Guess what...
No matter *WHAT* kind of 84 Buick is... I can put in a Re-Built motor for UNDER $1000. And so could you TOM...
edit = I wrote BOB and TOM.
b4k4^2
| [link|mailto:curley95@attbi.com|greg] - Grand-Master Artist in IT | | [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry/|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] [link|http://pascal.rockford.com:8888/SSK@kQMsmc74S0Tw3KHQiRQmDem0gAIPAgM/edcurry/1//|ED'S GHOST SPEAKS!] | | [link|http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,857673,00.asp|Writing on wall, Microsoft to develop apps for Linux by 2004] | Heimatland Geheime Staatspolizei reminds:
These [link|http://www.whitehouse.gov/pcipb/cyberstrategy-draft.html|Civilian General Orders], please memorize them.
"Questions" will be asked at safety checkpoints. |
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Post #81,578
2/13/03 11:08:05 PM
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Well, I can't
I will admit, though, that the estimate was for a "Brand New" engine plus labor and Lord-knows-what-else.
Any tips on finding a friendly, honest neighborhood mechanic? I've been asking around but the consensus seems to be that they don't exist any more.
Tom Sinclair
"Everybody is someone else's weirdo."
- E. Dijkstra
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Post #81,584
2/13/03 11:15:06 PM
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Yes you could... if you can put an application...
and/or server together... you can fix yer car...
Nope, those neighborhood mechanics... they are pretty much a thing of the past...
The tools required for "Minor maintenance" due to minimal clearnces is phenominal...
But Major stuff, still pretty much the same as it always was.
b4k4^2
| [link|mailto:curley95@attbi.com|greg] - Grand-Master Artist in IT | | [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry/|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] [link|http://pascal.rockford.com:8888/SSK@kQMsmc74S0Tw3KHQiRQmDem0gAIPAgM/edcurry/1//|ED'S GHOST SPEAKS!] | | [link|http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,857673,00.asp|Writing on wall, Microsoft to develop apps for Linux by 2004] | Heimatland Geheime Staatspolizei reminds:
These [link|http://www.whitehouse.gov/pcipb/cyberstrategy-draft.html|Civilian General Orders], please memorize them.
"Questions" will be asked at safety checkpoints. |
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Post #81,587
2/13/03 11:19:18 PM
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Friend of a friend. Or local rating agency.
That's about the only way I know. We've found a good mechanic at the local Shell store (highly rated in a local consumer survey), but they cost the same as the Buick dealer (they just do a much better job).
Of course, with an '84 there's probably more waiting to fail than just the engine. I know my '87 LeSabre is having lots of troubles (178,000 miles). The engine's fine except for the oil leaks, but the A/C leaks, it needs brakes, the passenger window comes out of its track, it's going to need an exhaust system (and catalyst) eventually, it's overdue for a timing chain and gears, it rattles a lot and the door seals are leaking, etc., etc. I plan on giving it to a charity in the next few months.
Unless the rest of the car (especially brakes, A/C, transmission) are in good shape, there comes a time in most cars lives when it's better to let it die and move on. It sounds like you made the right choice in getting a newer car.
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #81,588
2/13/03 11:20:31 PM
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In future for engine rebuilds and good mechanics
get ye to a stock car track, smaller the better. Get a pit pass and ask the guys under the hoods for recommendations. Cheap and good.
thanx.
bill
will work for cash and other incentives [link|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html|skill set]
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #81,788
2/14/03 8:47:43 PM
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Exc. *practical* suggestion, Box. Will pass it on.
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