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Old cars!

While it is oh-so-niiiiice to not have a car payment and to get cheap tags, it really sucks out loud when the damn things need repairs!

Today, I go out to start the car and take it for an oil change and to fix the passenger window that died about 2 years ago. Well, I pull out of the carport and see about 1/2 cup of fluid on the floor… I got out and saw that it was coolant. FUCK! I knew what that meant: dead water pump. So, I limp it over to RH and they confirm that yes, I do have a dead water pump, which means that I now get to pay for ANOTHER timing belt (the one in there has only about 30k on it), a new water pump and to fix the oil seepage, I’ll need a new valve cover gasket (which I knew). All that adds up to about $700 in parts and labour. FINE. I am also getting the frelling window fixed now, too, although I’m certain I won’t get off with a $75 switch, I’m sure it’ll be a $300 motor for the goddam thing.

FRELL.

I really, truly want a newer car, but after all this, what’s the point? Hell, the Honda will be good as new other than the pesky noisy transmission. I may get rid of it now and save myself the next expense of clutch/transmission work.

Dunno. It’s such a pain in the ass to deal with cars! I could sell this one outright and then look for another, I suppose. Feh. I guess I should get something else before I really do have to chunk another coupla grand into this one. It’s value is about $4500 I think. Something to contemplate.

[Never did replace her! She’s still running great at 160k miles! 30mpg in the city! Never gonna get rid of this 1994 Honda Civic EX until she dies. -A 2015]

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Catch up entry

Ok, I’ve got a ton to post about today! Lessee, where to start…

First: Missed birthdays! Happy Birthday to Allen (Jan 15) and my brother Ricky (Jan 17). Sorry guys! The anniversary of Dickens’ death was the 15th, so I was a little distracted that day and we ended up getting a new breaker box installed yesterday the 17th, so I had no power all day. They are sucky excuses, but the best I got! Happy birthday!!!

Second: The first anniversary of Dickens’ death. It really wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. I guess I cried myself out in the first 6 months. I find that I am left with really nice memories of my very favourite cat and that’s just fine. I did discover, however, that I’m not ready to scatter his ashes yet. We’ll see if I can do it next year.

Third: Home improvements are going well. Since the insulation install, we’ve gotten the ugly cedar trees removed, gotten a new breaker box installed so we won’t electrocute our silly selves when we add circuits and today the stump grinder guy came and took out the cedar stumps. FAB! He had the coolest stump grinder EVER! It was remote controlled and bright red and really awesome.

Lastly: Caroline and Christa, I’m mulling over ways to do a booklist. I could do another MT blog (like this one) or a bulletin board. Which do you think would work better? A blog would probably keep things organized better, but a bulletin board is easier to install. Give me your opinions. Oh, and the REST of you need to pick up a book and read something fer chrissakes! Geeze!

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2005 Book List

Ok, I’m going to try and keep a running list of the books I read this year. I’m starting the count with How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci, which I’m still reading. I’m not counting periodicals or comics, just full length books. Everything I read will be counted, even if it’s a re-read such as Atlas Shrugged. If anyone else is interested in joining this endeavor, please let me know and perhaps I can do something like a bulletin board or something.

I finished The Time Traveler’s Wife last night and lemme tell ya, it’s a GREAT read. Yes, it’s a love story, but it’s also all about how someone can become a time traveler via some genetic mistake. This is NOT a scifi book. I don’t want to get into a review or anything to avoid spoilers. Trust me: get it, read it, pass it along. :-)

I don’t have a place for the book list yet, so I’ll post when I figure out what I’m going to do about that. Again, if you’re interested in doing a board or some other list with me, shoot me an email or comment here.

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Happy 2005!

Well, we did end up going to Twains Private Party last night. We had a blast! Saw everyone that we’ve been missing due to hanging out at Thinking Man Tavern all the time. Not that there’s anything wrong with TM, but it’s just not as much fun as Twains.

Ethan got up and made a toast and we cheered Twains’ 9 years in Decatur. Midnight rolled around and I got to be the Kissing Wench as usual. There’s something SO FUN about running around grabbing strangers and kissing them! Teehee!

We cabbed it home and got here around 2am, but stayed up watching Twilight Zone until 4am so Nick could sober up before bed. I wasn’t that toasted, but definitely drunk enough to not drive.

We crawled out of bed at noon today and stumbled around here for a couple of hours then headed out to L5P to join the party at Criminal Records. Everything in the store was 30% off and we once again raided the 25¢ bins for unusual stuff. We hung out there for a couple of hours (it was PACKED!) then had burgers at the Vortex. Mmmmm, cow! We blew off everything we were gonna do today and hung out together instead. It was a good choice!

On the way back, we stopped at Twains to pick up the Ford. We also skipped Kroger again.

Now, we must work on our intention knots and focus our goals for the coming year. Hope Nick is up to it! Poor boy was pretty hung over today!

Happy New Year everyone!