I got 36 miles per gallon driving on the open road today with my 10 gallon gas tank car for 200 miles. How much gas did I use?
Just thought I'd share a link to an image of my little burn-blister from the other day.
The burn is mostly healed now. It's to the point that it is very sensitive and flaking the dead skin off. Lovely imagery, I know.
Ever since we moved into this house, there has been a problem with mice dying in the basement ceiling and walls. It usually happens once in the spring, once in the summer, and a few times in the fall.
Right now is the "once in the summer" time.
I have both of my windows open and a fan in one, and the smell of dead mouse is just filling my room. If you've smelled a dead animal before, up close or from afar, you know what smell I'm talking about.
Let's just hope I'll be able to sleep tonight.
So I finally went to the doctor today about my ingrown/infected toenail. The nurse looked at it and basically said "Antibiotics." The doctor came in, asked what I did, and said "Antibiotics and remove the nail."
What the doctor said shortly afterwards earned him a lot of respect, in my eyes.
He explained that there were a couple different procedures that could take place to solve the ingrown issue. The first issue he described was to remove the side of the nail and the nail bed itself, thus preventing the side of the nail from ever growing back. He said that he didn't recommend this procedure because it isn't fool-proof and it is expensive, nearly five times as much as the alternative.
He then went on to describe a simpler method: Just remove the entire nail and let it grow back. This method has a 50% chance of becoming deformed, whereas the other method has a 100% chance of becoming deformed. Also, for the majority of the time, the nail grows back completely normal and not ingrown.
After explaining the two procedures, he said that he was going to suggest the nail removal and leave it up to me, but it would be in my best interest to go ahead with it.
So now I have a new doctor which I respect much more than my previous doctor, just after this one situation. Also, I have an appointment, tenetively scheduled for June 29 at 4:00PM to have the nail removed. Come Monday, that date might be rescheduled to sooner or later, depending on what happens.
And for the curious, have some reading material, including pictures, of this little matter. :P
Resolving www.kernel.org... 204.152.191.37, 204.152.191.5
Connecting to www.kernel.org|204.152.191.37|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 206 Partial Content
Length: 4,344,862,720 (4.0G), 4,338,719,990 (4.0G) remaining [application/x-iso9660-image]
0% [ ] 8,703,050 178.10K/s ETA 6:55:35
I can smile again.
I just found out that my ISP has changed from Sprint to Embarq, and with that, an upgrade from 256Kbit to 1.5Mbit for $4 less per month is coming my way!
The switch is supposed to take place 6/16/06, so when I get home from work I will reboot my modem and smile again. :D
Okay, that title made absolutely no sense. Why? Because I ran out of catchy titles.
Anyhow... Check out these numbers from work:
Friday: 35 cars Saturday: 13 cars Monday: 33 cars Tuesday: 20 cars
Ten cars may not seem like a lot, but that's an hour's worth of work. We average about 10 minutes per car doing the full-service oil changes, and we do it from 8:00AM until 6:00PM. Yesterday and today we had our first cars well before 8:00AM. Why? Because the shop is mainly windows, and it's hard to get that early morning sit-and-relax time in with a car sitting there right at the door.
Today, we got to the shop at about 7:35. Did the usual walk in, sit down, chit chat bit for about 3 minutes, then a car pulled up. I was hoping to get the dead skin from my burn (see the post below) cut off my hand, as it was getting very uncomfortable and was looking really nasty. But no, this car pulled up just as I was reaching for a new razor blade. I didn't even have time to peel the cardboard wrap off or grab an alcohol wipe out of the first aid kit, and the car pulled up. I wasn't too pleased with it, and I couldn't ignore the car or ask them to wait for me to sit on my butt and cut away at my hand.
So yeah, today started early, and it stayed busy all the way up until about 10:30, which was when Boss Dude showed up. Then we had a hand full of cars, then Boss Lady showed up, we had no cars, and Boss Dude and Boss Lady decided to pack up and leave. When they did leave, around 1:30, I think we maybe had 5 cars afterwards.
At work today, I was the guy working in the pit. One of the last few cars that came in was very very hot, apparently from just getting off the Interstate (freeway, whatever you call it...). This particular car was a newer Cavalier with the 2.2L 4 cylinder engine in it. In GM's infinite wisdom, they ran the exhaust pipe right below the oil filter, but left just enough room for you to get your arm through to the filter.
As I usually would, I grabbed the Kevlar burn-sleeve that we have, so that I wouldn't get my hand and arm burned on that nearly cherry-red exhaust pipe. I got the filter broken loose, and tried to pull the filter wrench back out of the tight space, and something gave way. When it did, my whole arm fell down, as did the burn sleeve, leaving my hand exposed. Where it all stopped, my hand was trapped against that hot exhaust pipe for what seemed like hours, but probably was no more than 10 seconds.
This burn was worse than any burn I've had before. I mean, I slipped and put my hand in a deep fryer that was boiling water at about 300°F, and walked away without even warm skin. This burn today, however, burned deep, and I felt it almost as deep as the bone.
After regaining my composition from nearly passing out and almost urinating myself (literally), and wiping the tears from my eyes, I finished the car out. When the car left, I headed straight for the bathroom, held my hand under cold running water for about 5 or 10 minutes, then sprayed it with some first-aid spray for burns.
Luckily, the skin didn't break (yet), but it has formed a nice blister about the size of a nickel. Tomorrow, after I get home from work, I'll take some pictures of it to show everyone. I'm just thankful that the burn is in a place that still allows me to function as I normally would.
Today, June 6, 2006 (6/6/06), I went to purchase license plates for my new car. When the lady at the BMV pulled the new plate off the stack, I saw the number: 37A6661
When I got this computer (when it was an eMachines-brand), it came with a copy of Microsoft Money 2002. Seeing as how I've got a monthly car payment of nearly $300, I figured I had better get a sort of a budget put together so I could see where my money was going.
After importing my bank register for the last 3 years and getting the transactions assigned properly, I got the budget put together.
It's funny, looking back, how I seem to never really have any extra money. But now that I've actually analyzed the income and expenses, and seeing the difference between the two, I see that I really had a lot more money left over than I thought! Granted, there are a few things that really aren't recorded, but pfft... I've got a margin of almost $200 left over each month, even with this $300 car payment!
...and surrounded by several rings and moons, lies the planet Saturn.
Next door to a 1988 Chevrolet S10 lies a 2002 Saturn SC2. Yes, I bought a used car.
I have some minor issues to take care of on it, but for the most part it is in very good shape for a 2002 with 81000 miles.
Also, I am now the owner of a 42 month/8% interest loan.
Well that was odd. I just found that my browser's cache was disabled for some reason. That would explain why surfing the web is so sluggish here lately. I still maintain that eBay is one of the slowest sites on the web, though.
The paperwork is starting to fly for the car loan. I just hope everything works out so I can get it yet this weekend. I NEED a reliable car and I need it soon.
So today I got this e-mail, supposedly from the CEO of eBay. Keep in mind, eBay happens to be one of the slowest sites on the internet.
eBay sent this message to Tim Garrison. Your registered name is included to show this message originated from eBay. Learn more. Net Neutrality and the eBay Community: A Call to Action Dear Tim, As you know, I almost never reach out to you personally with a request to get involved in a debate in the U.S. Congress. However, today I feel I must. Right now, the telephone and cable companies in control of Internet access are trying to use their enormous political muscle to dramatically change the Internet. It might be hard to believe, but lawmakers in Washington are seriously debating whether consumers should be free to use the Internet as they want in the future. The phone and cable companies now control more than 95% of all Internet access. These large corporations are spending millions of dollars to promote legislation that would divide the Internet into a two-tiered system. The top tier would be a "Pay-to-Play" high-speed toll-road restricted to only the largest companies that can afford to pay high fees for preferential access to the Net. The bottom tier -- the slow lane -- would be what is left for everyone else. If the fast lane is the information "super-highway," the slow lane will operate more like a dirt road. Today's Internet is an incredible open marketplace for goods, services, information and ideas. We can't give that up. A two lane system will restrict innovation because start-ups and small companies -- the companies that can't afford the high fees -- will be unable to succeed, and we'll lose out on the jobs, creativity and inspiration that come with them. The power belongs with Internet users, not the big phone and cable companies. Let's use that power to send as many messages as possible to our elected officials in Washington. Please join me by clicking here right now to send a message to your representatives in Congress before it is too late. You can make the difference. Thank you for reading this note. I hope you'll make your voice heard today. Sincerely, Meg Whitman President and CEO eBay Inc. P.S. If you have any questions about this issue, please contact us at government_relations@ebay.com.
Appparently the Wildebeest is down. My guess is that the IP changed.
Apparently my truck does.
For about the last 10 months or so, I've been having issues with the engine misfiring. Turns out, the one fuel injector that my truck has is bad. I figured that out after about $100 of ignition repairs.
For a couple of years, and through 2 different sets of wheels and tires, I've had an issue with a vibration. Turns out, one of the universal joints, which I replaced about 2 years ago, is bad.
For the last year I've known about an issue with a brake line being almost completely rotted through. It wouldn't be such a big deal if it wasn't the left front brake line.
A couple years ago I had to replace segments of the fuel line with rubber hose. While I was looking at that u-joint today, I noticed the rubber is getting really cracked out.
And as I've probably mentioned before, the front cab mounts are completely rotted through, and the cab has dropped down onto the frame, rather than being suspended by the mounts as intended by General Motors.
The other day, I noticed the seal around the driver's side window is starting to fall apart. It's a common problem, but it just adds to the issues.
Today, I went to the gas station for a minute. When I was leaving I tried to close my door and it wouldn't latch. I tried again with the same results. I ended up driving home with my door hanging open. Turns out, the pillar where the door hinges are mounted is starting to rot out, and has done so to the degree that the door doesn't sit right in the hole, and thus prevents the latch mechanism from lining up properly with the striker pin, causing the door to not latch.
I went to talk to one of the local dealers (also my former employer) about a used car, and he gave me a decent quote on a decent car. I called the bank and got a likewise decent quote on a loan. If a call to the insurance office and the BMV yields the same results, I'll likely be driving a new(ish) car by the end of the week.
I'm not at all thrilled about it, primarily because I didn't want to have this hassle yet. I knew it was coming and that I'd be puting the truck to rest sooner or later, but I was hoping for it to be later, rather than sooner.