I've come to the conclusion that the best way to find out if a car repair place is on the level is to refuse the service they suggest.  A few days ago I took the Pathfinder in to get the tires rotated and aligned (for the first time in almost 3 years, oops), and of course the mechanics found other problems.  1,200 bucks' worth of problems.  Turns ( Read more... )

After checking with three mechanics who all gave me dumbfounded looks, I decided to fix the broken latch on the back of the Pathfinder myself. And, half an hour later, armed only with WD-40, a Dremel tool, and a couple screwdrivers, the latch is working better than ever. I rule.

OK, who wants to hear a "stupid Californian" story?

For days now my car's windshield has been dirty but I can't get the windshield wiper fluid to squirt (the motor is either broken or the fluid is frozen somewhere in the engine compartment).  So today I got the bright idea of running the windshield wipers and pouring water over them from a cup to ( Read more... )

OK, I'll take a break from ridiculing, er, grading student papers for a few minutes and catch up on real-life stuff:


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And, just like that, the quarter is over.  Today was the last day of classes.  Of course, that does not mean that I get to relax and drink myself into a stupor.  I still get to grade sixty final exams, finish a seminar paper (which I hope to submit for publication somewhere), and start on the reading for my classes next quarter (yes, one class ( Read more... )

I decided to put central Ohio to the ultimate test today:  the Bureau of Motor Vehicles!  And I was shocked by the results.  I went to one of two central offices (kinda analogous to the one on Broadway, for you Sacto folks), and there was no waiting at all!  They sent me straight to a window, I finished the written test in about ten minutes, and ( Read more... )

I now know why the Motel 6 in Evanston, Wyoming, is so inexpensive, what with the sexual jumping-jacks in the room above us and the TV noises in the room next to us.

More progress made:  1,541 miles east of Sacramento, 361 songs played, countless rolling hills covered, and two more miserably large states in the rear-view mirror.  We left Evanston ( Read more... )

Well, today was the day I've been planning for all summer: heading out to Columbus, Ohio.  Stinky_monky and I have been so busy this summer, though, that neither of us really saw it coming so we were spared the long, tearful goodbye we were both afraid of (and the fact that she will meet me in Columbus this weekend helped).  Me and the kitties had a rather ( Read more... )

The buyer who dealt with the disintegrating thermostat just bought the car!  Bye bye, beloved, if slightly effeminate, Honda Civic!