OMG LA!!!!!!!!
HOLY CRAP WHAT A LONG 43 HOURS!
Well, I'm certainly not going to cover everything in detail here about my recent excursion to LA, but I'll cover the basics:
So I went over to Laurie's house-sitting place to meet her and Ted around midnightish on 1/24. We ended up leaving at 2AM, but she made us brownines so it was all good. We (I) started driving the usual way to LA (Richmond Bridge, 580, I-5), and almost took a wrong turn and exploding us in the process after we got into the East Bay (the East Bay sucks for navigating/finding where you are), but we straightened things out and proceeded. Ted fell asleep pretty much instantly.
After we got to the outskirts of the Bay Area, it got REALLY foggy REALLY fast. At one point I swear I couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of the car. It probably wasn't helping/smart that I was going....well, I'll just say fast. Really fast. I-5 was boring as usual, just a straight line, pretty much. About 385 miles total to the shop from my house to DeLorean One.
As we entered the "Grapevine" mountains before LA, that's when the fog finally cleared and I could actually still see snow on top of some of the mountains...so...close to LA too...weird. There was just a little traffic in the mountains because of road work that was being done, but the morning LA traffic wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. We got there 9 minutes late (8:39am)...not bad
Ed Bernstein immediately greeted us at the front entrance to D1. Soooo many DeLoreans there (about 15 or so)!! It's always nice to see Ds in worse shape than mine, :P. After taking some pictures and exploring the shop a bit, Ed dropped us off at the local mall 'cuz he didn't want us to get bored. I dunno about Ted, but there was no WAY I would get bored with all the cool DeLorean stuff that was about.
One o'clock we called. He told us to call back at 3. At 3 we called/met Ted's mom for lunch. Ed said the car would be ready by 5:30...it wasn't. We got back there right about then. Problems with the door, getting a broken peice out etc. had to get some local tool guy get a special tap for Ed (that he would inevitably buy from him since this was the first EXACT case of this he'd seen....lucky me.) So all of us (Me, Ted, Ed, Millie (Ed's wife who works with him at D1, and Ted's mom) wernt out for dinner/coffee stuff. Came back an hour later. The driver's door was fixed, but we then discovered that the PASSENGER's door had a similar problem that would get worse. He kinda made the analogy of having two broken legs and only putting one of them in a cast. I was sold. Naturally, with this problem, there was no way we'd get out of there that day largely due to this special epoxy drying. So we decided to spend the night in a hotel, despite Ted's mom's objections of wanting to take us to her house 60 miles away. Um, no.
Ed and Millie drove us to a near-by hotel, only to have their truck NOT start after dropping us off. Some battery issue, resulting in poor charging. He's going to replace his alternator...yay. We stayed at a Comfort Inn. Ya know, I guess you really can't expect much for 2 people for $80 a night. LOW, short shower nozzel, small towels, basic cable...kinda, and a clogged toilet would prevent me from ever writing a good review of that hotel should I ever need to or recommend someone to it. :P
We finally got out of bed kinda late the next morning (11:30). Called Ed and he picked us up. Apparently fixed his car trouble, but he's probably going to replace that alternator from the dealership just to be safe...so it's done correctly. That's his main selling/marketing point for fixing/refurbishing DeLoreans.
Waited around a bit and paid the bill which was surprisingly less than I thought. And I know why. I guess it pays (literally) to have nice friends in high place. Ed must really like me because he took a grand total of $600 off the final bill because 1) it was my birthday and 2) it was already a lot more than he originally quoted me on.
On a side note, not having any toiletries with me when I stay unexpectantly overnight in a hotel is not fun. It may not have bothered Ted, but it did me. No deoderant + 80s + 2 days = not happy/smelling good 80s, despite the fact that I've been told I have good smelling B.O. It still stinks. Jeffrey, I hope you take showers often. Most people don't think they have bad B.O. until someone passes out but still doesn't say anything.
So just as we were about ready to leave the window wouldn't roll up on the driver's side. Well, it was hitting the door paneling. So they "quickly" fixed the problem pro-bono since it wasn't that way when I dropped it off/is my birthday. And we were off!
I made pretty good time, only stopped once or twice for gas/quick food. Funny how my car was clean when it left LA and now it's wet and dirty. So they fixed the doors, the engine cover's ability to stay up, adjusted the idle speed, and fixed a gas smell. Well, and took a look at my trunk light, but it's still not really working that well. My car's better now than when it left. That's what I haveta keep telling myself. I almost "can't wait to go back again" for more repairs when I have the money and it's more of a DeLorean-specific repair in order to get my car in better shape so I can start attending DeLorean owners/enthusiasts meetings without feeling as much shame for the condition of my D. These guys at DeLorean One really are the best around. And, trust me, they're not the ONLY ones around either.
So, my mom ended up paying a little over half of the bill as part of my birthday present. Thanks, mom! Oh, and I also got a coffee mug. Yay? Going out to dinner tomorrow too, which should be nice.
I'd probably post the pics I took of LA, but I'll either do that later or not...'cuz, yeah, they're not developed yet. But y'all know what a DeLorean looks like...I hope...otherwise, uh, I'll...show...you? But it's so nice and refreshing to see and have a DeLorean that has doors that open easilly and "like a DeLorean should." Yeah, I'm sure there's a ton more I could easilly say in here, but I doubt any of you have even finished reading this.
BY THE WAY: Is there anyone who would like to accompany me on my NEXT adventure down to LA whenever it might be? It probably won't even be this summer, but ya never know. I'd accomodate this person's schedule a bit more if necessary. Corie? Bobert? Anyone?
Well, I'm certainly not going to cover everything in detail here about my recent excursion to LA, but I'll cover the basics:
So I went over to Laurie's house-sitting place to meet her and Ted around midnightish on 1/24. We ended up leaving at 2AM, but she made us brownines so it was all good. We (I) started driving the usual way to LA (Richmond Bridge, 580, I-5), and almost took a wrong turn and exploding us in the process after we got into the East Bay (the East Bay sucks for navigating/finding where you are), but we straightened things out and proceeded. Ted fell asleep pretty much instantly.
After we got to the outskirts of the Bay Area, it got REALLY foggy REALLY fast. At one point I swear I couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of the car. It probably wasn't helping/smart that I was going....well, I'll just say fast. Really fast. I-5 was boring as usual, just a straight line, pretty much. About 385 miles total to the shop from my house to DeLorean One.
As we entered the "Grapevine" mountains before LA, that's when the fog finally cleared and I could actually still see snow on top of some of the mountains...so...close to LA too...weird. There was just a little traffic in the mountains because of road work that was being done, but the morning LA traffic wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. We got there 9 minutes late (8:39am)...not bad
Ed Bernstein immediately greeted us at the front entrance to D1. Soooo many DeLoreans there (about 15 or so)!! It's always nice to see Ds in worse shape than mine, :P. After taking some pictures and exploring the shop a bit, Ed dropped us off at the local mall 'cuz he didn't want us to get bored. I dunno about Ted, but there was no WAY I would get bored with all the cool DeLorean stuff that was about.
One o'clock we called. He told us to call back at 3. At 3 we called/met Ted's mom for lunch. Ed said the car would be ready by 5:30...it wasn't. We got back there right about then. Problems with the door, getting a broken peice out etc. had to get some local tool guy get a special tap for Ed (that he would inevitably buy from him since this was the first EXACT case of this he'd seen....lucky me.) So all of us (Me, Ted, Ed, Millie (Ed's wife who works with him at D1, and Ted's mom) wernt out for dinner/coffee stuff. Came back an hour later. The driver's door was fixed, but we then discovered that the PASSENGER's door had a similar problem that would get worse. He kinda made the analogy of having two broken legs and only putting one of them in a cast. I was sold. Naturally, with this problem, there was no way we'd get out of there that day largely due to this special epoxy drying. So we decided to spend the night in a hotel, despite Ted's mom's objections of wanting to take us to her house 60 miles away. Um, no.
Ed and Millie drove us to a near-by hotel, only to have their truck NOT start after dropping us off. Some battery issue, resulting in poor charging. He's going to replace his alternator...yay. We stayed at a Comfort Inn. Ya know, I guess you really can't expect much for 2 people for $80 a night. LOW, short shower nozzel, small towels, basic cable...kinda, and a clogged toilet would prevent me from ever writing a good review of that hotel should I ever need to or recommend someone to it. :P
We finally got out of bed kinda late the next morning (11:30). Called Ed and he picked us up. Apparently fixed his car trouble, but he's probably going to replace that alternator from the dealership just to be safe...so it's done correctly. That's his main selling/marketing point for fixing/refurbishing DeLoreans.
Waited around a bit and paid the bill which was surprisingly less than I thought. And I know why. I guess it pays (literally) to have nice friends in high place. Ed must really like me because he took a grand total of $600 off the final bill because 1) it was my birthday and 2) it was already a lot more than he originally quoted me on.
On a side note, not having any toiletries with me when I stay unexpectantly overnight in a hotel is not fun. It may not have bothered Ted, but it did me. No deoderant + 80s + 2 days = not happy/smelling good 80s, despite the fact that I've been told I have good smelling B.O. It still stinks. Jeffrey, I hope you take showers often. Most people don't think they have bad B.O. until someone passes out but still doesn't say anything.
So just as we were about ready to leave the window wouldn't roll up on the driver's side. Well, it was hitting the door paneling. So they "quickly" fixed the problem pro-bono since it wasn't that way when I dropped it off/is my birthday. And we were off!
I made pretty good time, only stopped once or twice for gas/quick food. Funny how my car was clean when it left LA and now it's wet and dirty. So they fixed the doors, the engine cover's ability to stay up, adjusted the idle speed, and fixed a gas smell. Well, and took a look at my trunk light, but it's still not really working that well. My car's better now than when it left. That's what I haveta keep telling myself. I almost "can't wait to go back again" for more repairs when I have the money and it's more of a DeLorean-specific repair in order to get my car in better shape so I can start attending DeLorean owners/enthusiasts meetings without feeling as much shame for the condition of my D. These guys at DeLorean One really are the best around. And, trust me, they're not the ONLY ones around either.
So, my mom ended up paying a little over half of the bill as part of my birthday present. Thanks, mom! Oh, and I also got a coffee mug. Yay? Going out to dinner tomorrow too, which should be nice.
I'd probably post the pics I took of LA, but I'll either do that later or not...'cuz, yeah, they're not developed yet. But y'all know what a DeLorean looks like...I hope...otherwise, uh, I'll...show...you? But it's so nice and refreshing to see and have a DeLorean that has doors that open easilly and "like a DeLorean should." Yeah, I'm sure there's a ton more I could easilly say in here, but I doubt any of you have even finished reading this.
BY THE WAY: Is there anyone who would like to accompany me on my NEXT adventure down to LA whenever it might be? It probably won't even be this summer, but ya never know. I'd accomodate this person's schedule a bit more if necessary. Corie? Bobert? Anyone?