It rained at yesterday's CNY autocross. It also rained at our first autocross. A friend of mine says he has done 7 autocrosses with the various NY SCCA regions this spring and it has rained at 5 of them. Enough with the berkeleying rain.
And I think my wideband sensor is dying on the Mazda, keeps throwing Error Code 8 on the Innovate gauge. And it has an annoying exhaust leak between the back of test pipe and the cat-back.
Depression/Grief. Oof. Was doing pretty good over the past few months, did pretty well yesterday. Had a great week last week and some good news on the health front recently. And then I got back to work today, and by noon, I'm ready to go home and go to bed again. Its not that I "can't do today". I can do it. But there is zero motivation to do it.
In reply to mtn :
You need a new job. And so do I.
In reply to mtn :
We all have those days at work. Tackle the easiest item on your to-do list, or the hardest. Or just clean up your desk/workspace. I always find even the smallest accomplishments result in forward momentum.
Javelin said:In reply to mtn :
You need a new job. And so do I.
Maybe. Told my boss, who is transferring to another position in the company, to let me know if he hears of anything I'd be a good fit for because I'm getting burned out in the current position. But really, we need another FTE on my team. And I have my own personal demons that I'm dealing with that make life in general really, really tough right now.
Last time I did the Focus A/C compressor I had no place to rant. Today I did the compressor again. Why Ford did you intertwine the Freon lines with the hard lines to the power steering pump? Why, You berking piece of E36m3's?!
YouTube's editing app sucks.
Whoever decided to advertise vynil siding as maintenance free needs beat to death with a tiny rock.
Also, pressure washing in 95 degree heat: sure you're getting wet. Its just means you're hot enough to boil your nuts in your shorts with the pressure washer water.
In an attempt to inspect and likely replace the suspected sheared key on the mower, I managed to snap the nose of the crankshaft. Fix it till it's broken!
Apparently fixing a bad tailgate on a 89 Marquis Wagon with a hasp and padlock makes the car a classic. Who knew?
Dusterbd13-michael said:Whoever decided to advertise vynil siding as maintenance free needs beat to death with a tiny rock.
My dad built a 2-story house in 1970 and the builder put white aluminum siding on the second level. Sure it might’ve gotten chalky over the years but it was up high and hard to see and when he sold the house in 2015 there was no reason to replace it.
In reply to Datsun310Guy :
Every few years im replacing some that failed due to sun damage. It never comes ckean, even with a pressure washer, and mine turns green within months. Maybe yhe stuff that they put on my house is just crap? Or is it location either way, definitely NOT berkeleying maintenance free.
I won my appeal against the VA, after suppling them with every medical record I have had since 1987 and getting a lawyer.
That was the regional appeals board, who sent my case back to the local VA saying, "Yes he is right, fix this"
This week I get home to a letter saying they (the local VA) need my permission for them (the local VA) to request my records from the LOCAL VA ITSELF and civilian medical facilities.
If I don't respond within 30 days they will decide my appeal amount without them (i.e. deny benefits even though a higher board told the it is justified) or I can supply them. What happened to them the first time?
The veterans service office I talked to today said they do that to put any decision off for 2 to 3 more years.
But I have the records. Roughly 1000 pages.
Im waiting for my printer to cool down, Im on my 2nd ream of paper.
Ok so here's the rant--
They want them in paper form so they can feed them into the system in pdf form but I can't send them a pdf. I dont dare send originals. Oh and they want my case number on the top of each submission, the case number is my social security number, which they print in the clear even though they are supposed to mask it. (i.e. XXX XX 6789 not 123 45 6789)
The VA is still berkleying broken.
The Infiniti has had a metallic grinding noise coming from the front right wheel for a while- I'd been assuming it was the wheel bearing but when I got into it found that it was a very unevenly worn brake pad, and on further inspection found that this was caused by the 'slider' pins on the caliper bracket not sliding. No amount of tricks I can come up with want to free the sliders- they seem to be solidly rusted into place.
So, I need a replacement bracket. There are no junkyards within an hour of me that are worth visiting, and while I know that the closest one has like 2 QX4s and 4 Pathfinders that should have the part, it will mean 3 hours time and half a tank of gas or so to go and get it (and they close at 5pm, so I can't go after work). Ignoring the value of my time, it would cost $12 for the bracket itself, $2 entry, and 7 x $2.8/gallon in gas- so about $34.
RA has remanned brackets- but they don't come with the guide pins or the boots for them- and even after returning the core it's about $10 more.
5, maybe 10 years ago there'd have been little doubt that I would be making a trip out to the junkyard this weekend to pull the part- and likely a spare in case the other side freezes up, and possibly some exhaust parts, and anything else that looked interesting... instead the parts should be showing up from RA on Thursday.
In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :
Any reman caliper should come with the bracket and pin.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
That's... weird. So I could have bought a new caliper and gotten the bracket & pins for about what I just ordered the bracket and pins for. But since the core charge is more than the base cost, it wouldn't be worth it to just use the brackets and hold on to the caliper for down the line so I didn't have to deal with replacing the and bleeding the caliper. Oh, well.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
Most of the ones I sold didn't have the bracket, coming with pins/bolts was standard though.
Daylan C said:In reply to Streetwiseguy :
Most of the ones I sold didn't have the bracket, coming with pins/bolts was standard though.
Any sliding caliper I've ever bought has the mount. Considering thats the reason most calipers get replaced here, it makes sense.
I know I'm just a know-nothing bozo who has owned and operated an auto repair shop since 1986, and I don't know E36 M3 from toothpaste.
However... I have a 03 Volvo xc90. It had a fuel leak, from somewhere on top of the fuel tank. To access the ports in the floor above the pump, you need to remove the entire interior behind the front seats. Irritating, but probably easier than dropping the rear suspension, exhaust and tank to do the same thing.
So, get the guts of the car spread all over the shop, pull the cover, and discover a crack in the fuel pump housing. Memory triggered, I check service bulletins, and then phone the local Volvo store to see whether my car is covered by a recall from 2004. Yes. Cool. I don't have to buy a $600 fuel pump module.
Send the car to the dealership, and get a call back that because of all the stuff laying around in the back, I'll have to pay money...That would be the interior of the car laying around so that you can get to the hole in the floor, dimwit.
It was very, very tempting to go get the car, reinstall the interior (including the third row seats) and deliver it to them, so they could then remove the interior, change the pump, then reinstall the interior. For the same money from Volvo that they will get anyway.
Hour two, count them, two of the tantrum my 3-year old has thrown because I asked her to get dressed.
Now she's laying in bed, throwing a fit and will likely wake up her baby brother sleeping next door.
I've never hit a child, but I came way too close today. I need to step away, but there's no one around to relieve me. So laying in her crib upstairs it is. I feel like such a failure right now.
In reply to Stefan :
Very similar situation at home, (almost)3 year old has started throwing endurance tantrums recently, usually waking the 8 month old. I like to think I am a patient person, and the mrs is a saint by comparison, but some days... You are not a failure. Kids are hard. Just take a breath, be patient, be kind.
Bent-Valve said:I won my appeal against the VA, after suppling them with every medical record I have had since 1987 and getting a lawyer.
That was the regional appeals board, who sent my case back to the local VA saying, "Yes he is right, fix this"
This week I get home to a letter saying they (the local VA) need my permission for them (the local VA) to request my records from the LOCAL VA ITSELF and civilian medical facilities.
If I don't respond within 30 days they will decide my appeal amount without them (i.e. deny benefits even though a higher board told the it is justified) or I can supply them. What happened to them the first time?
The veterans service office I talked to today said they do that to put any decision off for 2 to 3 more years.
But I have the records. Roughly 1000 pages.
Im waiting for my printer to cool down, Im on my 2nd ream of paper.
Ok so here's the rant--
They want them in paper form so they can feed them into the system in pdf form but I can't send them a pdf. I dont dare send originals. Oh and they want my case number on the top of each submission, the case number is my social security number, which they print in the clear even though they are supposed to mask it. (i.e. XXX XX 6789 not 123 45 6789)
The VA is still berkleying broken.
The VA has been broken for a LONG time. My father is 100% disabled from his time in the Navy from 65 to 75. I remember growing up every time there was a change in administration, they would cut us off of the benefits so he could be "re-evaluated". I guess they wanted to make sure his hips hadn't grown back
Dog promptly puked all over my back seat after jumping in the car this afternoon, of course managing to completely miss the seat cover. Little bastard is lucky he's cute.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
Best explanation of the difference between service tech and service writer ever.
I hate people that drive on the HOV lane by themselves doing 5 under the speed limit. I wish I could give tickets.
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