The car, the Ranchero, and the power outage
Yep, still alive, despite many attempts by the heat to melt me into a puddle.
Car update: They fixed the distributor which was causing our car to do that lovely "I don't think I want to start now" thing, also the drive belt that was making those funky noises. When they went to test all this stuff to make sure it worked okay, they noticed that some harmonic thing which holds the belt in place was wobbling. The mechanic told my mother we could just keep wearing out belts...or he could replace the harmonic thingy. So we're replacing it, but they have to order the part from the dealer, which means we have to cross our fingers they'll have it and get it put in today and we can (please GODS) get our car back.
State of the loaner: I love my uncle very much. He's a nice guy, and it was awesome of him to loan us a car, even if it is one of his fixer-upers. However. There was a moment yesterday when Mom and I both wanted to strangle him.
That's because our power went out during the hottest part of the day (and it was out for FOUR FREAKING HOURS, but anyway) and we decied to leave Hell's own apartment for a bit. We went out to dinner at an all you can eat buffet place where they let you hang out forever. We kept calling home to see if the answering machine picked up, because it was easier than calling PG&E's hotline and playing touch-tone twister on a cell phone. ("Please input the seven-billion-digit code from your utility bill now") We figured when the answering machine picked up again, the power was back.
Finished dinner. Called home. No dice. Sooo... We went out to the library, the fancy new one on the north end of town. Yes, we went to Yuppieville in the bigass Ranchero, because we have no fear. Funny as hell, all these yuppies in their SUVs doing double-takes at the stoplights.
Anyway, when we went to head to the library, the engine almost didn't turn over. When we finally went to leave the library about two hours later- not because the power was back yet, just because we were so tired we wanted to be home even if the power was out- we were pretty sure the car was dead. It would start to turn over, chug its way towards full power as it does- and then kind of sputter out.
There was much facepalming and swearing and "He's dead, he's SO dead!" We finally got it started, after about fifteen minutes sweltering in the damn car, and drove home. Still no power. It sounded like the whole apartment complex was down at the pool, which was where I was going as soon as I dropped my stuff, changed clothes, and grabbed a towel. A PG&E truck was down the block, but I figured he'd be camped half the night, since their estimate for when it'd be back was between 10pm and 12pm Friday.
And as we were walking up the stairs- when we were on the porch unlocking the door, I kid you not, we heard the air conditioners kick in in the buildings, and lights started to come on, and the gang downstairs at the pool started cheering. I admit, I did a little dance on the porch and some yelling myself.
Is that timing, or what?
But oh god, that car- It has no air conditioning, no dashboard lights except an alternator one we've been ignoring because it never goes out, sometimes the turn signals don't work (which is okay, really, as no one else in town uses them either) and the other day as we were coming home Mom went to touch something on the dashboard, and the front cover plate tried to fall off. The bigass heavy one that runs the whole length of the front end? Anyway, I got to hold it on for the last mile or so home, and it was heavy. My poor little hands... Anyway, we wedged it back in place using the duct tape that had probably been keeping it there before, and have tried not to breathe on it since.
It has no backseat, and the truckbed in the back is useless because there's no tailgate. We had visions of our groceries scattered on the street- not good.
All in all? I miss our Toyota very much, and I may hug it when I see it again.
Oh yeah, and that's it- two power outages in one week. I'm buying a new battery for the laptop today. *grumble, curse* Bloody Gateway... "removable parts not covered by warrenty..." They suck.
Car update: They fixed the distributor which was causing our car to do that lovely "I don't think I want to start now" thing, also the drive belt that was making those funky noises. When they went to test all this stuff to make sure it worked okay, they noticed that some harmonic thing which holds the belt in place was wobbling. The mechanic told my mother we could just keep wearing out belts...or he could replace the harmonic thingy. So we're replacing it, but they have to order the part from the dealer, which means we have to cross our fingers they'll have it and get it put in today and we can (please GODS) get our car back.
State of the loaner: I love my uncle very much. He's a nice guy, and it was awesome of him to loan us a car, even if it is one of his fixer-upers. However. There was a moment yesterday when Mom and I both wanted to strangle him.
That's because our power went out during the hottest part of the day (and it was out for FOUR FREAKING HOURS, but anyway) and we decied to leave Hell's own apartment for a bit. We went out to dinner at an all you can eat buffet place where they let you hang out forever. We kept calling home to see if the answering machine picked up, because it was easier than calling PG&E's hotline and playing touch-tone twister on a cell phone. ("Please input the seven-billion-digit code from your utility bill now") We figured when the answering machine picked up again, the power was back.
Finished dinner. Called home. No dice. Sooo... We went out to the library, the fancy new one on the north end of town. Yes, we went to Yuppieville in the bigass Ranchero, because we have no fear. Funny as hell, all these yuppies in their SUVs doing double-takes at the stoplights.
Anyway, when we went to head to the library, the engine almost didn't turn over. When we finally went to leave the library about two hours later- not because the power was back yet, just because we were so tired we wanted to be home even if the power was out- we were pretty sure the car was dead. It would start to turn over, chug its way towards full power as it does- and then kind of sputter out.
There was much facepalming and swearing and "He's dead, he's SO dead!" We finally got it started, after about fifteen minutes sweltering in the damn car, and drove home. Still no power. It sounded like the whole apartment complex was down at the pool, which was where I was going as soon as I dropped my stuff, changed clothes, and grabbed a towel. A PG&E truck was down the block, but I figured he'd be camped half the night, since their estimate for when it'd be back was between 10pm and 12pm Friday.
And as we were walking up the stairs- when we were on the porch unlocking the door, I kid you not, we heard the air conditioners kick in in the buildings, and lights started to come on, and the gang downstairs at the pool started cheering. I admit, I did a little dance on the porch and some yelling myself.
Is that timing, or what?
But oh god, that car- It has no air conditioning, no dashboard lights except an alternator one we've been ignoring because it never goes out, sometimes the turn signals don't work (which is okay, really, as no one else in town uses them either) and the other day as we were coming home Mom went to touch something on the dashboard, and the front cover plate tried to fall off. The bigass heavy one that runs the whole length of the front end? Anyway, I got to hold it on for the last mile or so home, and it was heavy. My poor little hands... Anyway, we wedged it back in place using the duct tape that had probably been keeping it there before, and have tried not to breathe on it since.
It has no backseat, and the truckbed in the back is useless because there's no tailgate. We had visions of our groceries scattered on the street- not good.
All in all? I miss our Toyota very much, and I may hug it when I see it again.
Oh yeah, and that's it- two power outages in one week. I'm buying a new battery for the laptop today. *grumble, curse* Bloody Gateway... "removable parts not covered by warrenty..." They suck.