How's life treating ya?

It is the 8 legs, Bekah. Six legs get the pass (ants, beetles, caterpillars (have 6 true legs), etc). More than 6? Fucking terrible: spiders, centipedes, other nasty shit from the bowels of hell, etc.

The once exception to the six legged pass: cockroaches. Talk about bowels of hell. *shudders*    Texas and Hawaii have some of the worst in the States-- about the size of your thumb, no joke.

Yay Aidan! If I had beer I'd have one for you!

Well, I had an experience yesterday afternoon/evening that I don't care to repeat.

On my way home from work I noticed my battery light has come on and the gauge is lower than normal.  So (yes, I know you're not suppose to talk while driving but I had to let him know what was going on) I call my man to tell him and he tells me to go to AutoZone.  Sure.  Well, a few miles later all of my 'hey, your shit isn't working' lights start coming on.  And I'm watching my voltage gauge get lower and lower...  Few miles after that, all the gauges on my dash display die.  ALL of them.  All at once.  EEEEK!  So I call again because I am freaking out at this point.  

Now, you can puff your chest out and say it wouldn't bother you all you want to... I call bullshit.  If all of the systems in your vehicle are shutting down one by one, you WILL panic.

Anyway, tell him what's happening but the truck is still running so I try to make it to Pep Boys.  The AC shuts off a few miles later.  Not 300 feet from the shop my engine starts to cough.  I had enough time to get into the left hand turning lane, out of the flow of traffic, before it goes tits up.  Couple minutes after the man shows up behind me.  Mind you, this is the main highway through town, two lanes on either side of us.

We go to Pep Boys to see if they have a jumper so we can at least get it there.  The damn thing didn't have enough juice for us to even unlock the steering column and get it out of park.  -_-  So we waited and sweat for an hour and a half (because I was NOT leaving my vehicle - Shame someone didn't plow into it though...  Coulda gotten a new one!) for a tow truck to show up, get it out of park and tow it a few hundred feet - If that.

Watching people pull up behind a truck with the hood up wanting to turn was amusing...  One of the local PD ended up stopping behind us with his lights on and kept us company on the side of the road until the truck was loaded.  Turns out we went to HS with him.  So that was nice.  Truck is now getting diagnosed as I type.  Let's hope it doesn't cost me my first born child to fix.

Once the initial OMFG WHAT IS GOING ON! was over...  I was good.  XD

[/rant]

Your main highway only has 4 lanes?

Is strange tho, you don't typically need electricity to unlock your steering column on most vehicles. Just need the key turned in the ignition and foot on the brake pedal- sometimes not even that. Never heard of not being able to get a vehicle out of park, was it keyless ignition?

I had my alternator die on me before, was 40 miles from home and made it back. Had no power brakes or steering (no power anything obv), just can't cut the wheel unless you are moving. Least I didn't have power windows....
If it dies at night, well, no headlights...

Worst case, could be the alternator on your truck. Alternators for trucks are bigger and more expensive than cars. Probably going to run you about 200 bucks. Is easy to change out if you know how to get the belt on and off, need a torque bar or just something to take the pressure off the belt to get it out. Did you jump start anyone else vehicle recently? Jumping cars kills your alternator.

If it's not the alternator, could be either the belt snapped (20 bucks) or the battery crapped out. Good luck with Pep Boys. They suck.

Actually, on my Saturn, there is this "security sensor" on the steering wheel that locks it up if faulty attempts were made to start it up. Unfortunately, it is common for the sensor's to go out on my make/model/year. My sensor went out first when I was in a graveyard right before closing.  I finally shelled out the cash to fix it when it started sporadically not working, thus leaving me with a car that wouldn't start whenever it didn't feel like it. Grr!

In other news, I had a systemic reaction to my allergy shot yesterday. It wasn't too bad, except when three nurses descended upon me, tossing the word "emergency" around...it is kind of like when you get a cut and think it isn't that bad, then you look and get all woozy and freaked out? It was like that.

sheesh, that is rough toasti

never heard of a security sensor either. newer vehicles are just getting more and more complicated to fix, its all a big racket for the industry. are you sure someone didn't just make it up and fleece you?

meh, just looked it up. saturn does have that, and it is a big racket. *sigh*

if technology was suppose to make things easier, why are cars getting more and more difficult and expensive to fix?

anto_capone wrote:

Never heard of not being able to get a vehicle out of park, was it keyless ignition?

Me neither until now. And no it's not. It's all the electronics in vehicles these days. Once we had a different jumper pack on with enough power it worked. Luckily I have AAA so the tow didn't cost. If I still had my old Camero I'd have been able to drive it wherever it needed to go.

anto_capone wrote:

Did you jump start anyone else vehicle recently?

Nope. The truck is 7 years old with 82K miles. It happens.

We did hear back from them (and we've been using these guys since before they were Pep Boys, smarty pants. They've always been good to us. ). Unfortunately I have an '06 F150 SuperCrew, which translates to: Expensive to fix if anything goes wrong.

The alternator, which we figured, is toast. And it took the battery with it. Parts and labor = $600. We have a friend who could've done the work for us but schedules don't allow for it. Needs to be fixed TODAY. Which means I have to bite the bullet and get it done.

What else can yah do? Fix and move on.

@Toastini - In a graveyard? O_O No thank you!

I'm looking forward to having all of your car troubles because public transport here is too fucking expensive for the absolute hassle that is involved.

350 bucks worth of parts, 250 bucks for labor for an hour of work..... Nice racket they got there. I bet you are one of their favorite customers..

Kidding aside, sorry it happened to you. Think you got ripped off, but hey, what can ya do if you can't fix it yourself I guess? Good luck!

I know it's absurdly overpriced but don't have another option at the moment.  All mechanic shops are like that. I just needed to rant.  No use crying over spilled milk tho.  Thank yah, Anto.  I feel the love!  XD

Ugh, Bekah! When I read ur post I got the heebie jeebies lol Tried camping out in the fort in our yard this past Friday night, had my lappie with me, everyone was talking about bugs, ended up making kiddo come in at like 3am cause I couldn't sleep thinking about it haha!

That sucks Toasti! I have this tendency to hit the floor at the sight of my own blood, no one else's, just mine. Filet'd my thumb open straight to the bone once opening a can of cat food years ago, thankfully my mom caught me before I hit the floor, too bad she didn't before I hit the counter and the table, ahem. LOL!

Congratz Aidan! Huggsss Ahlia!

That really sucks Morgan >.< You had a camaro? hehe, me too, loved that damn car! Miss it terribly too! Was an 85' stock, nothing special, pretty blue color, and it ran like a dream and could even work on it myself if needed.

My Camero was a '79 'first car' piece of crap.  And I absolutely loved it!  I miss working on cars...  These days I don't even want to touch them for fear of screwing something with the computer up.  Sheesh.

Did you really bring your son in for all that talk we were having?  ROFL.  My job is done!  In light of that...

hahaha! burn it down! lol, i swear i go crazy with shoes flying, newspaper rolls etc when i find a spider lol, nah i kept the screen turned from him!! LOL he was so tired I had to put him down the slide sleeping bag and all lol.

Went out to get some coffee, stopped at a Dollar store >.< now I'm broke lol, damn those stores! On a side note, the cashier, sweetest girl I've come across in a long time, all smiles and just so nice, but you know how that saying goes, 'the eyes are the window to the soul?' she was so sad and I could tell, enough so it made my eyes water up. I hope I made her day, sounded off a few of my quirky remarks about life in general etc. and the upside of things. Wanted to hop the counter and hug her but I'm sure she'd have found me absolutely insane lol. Bless her heart. I probably should have anyway.

Speaking of auto mechanics, here is a business plan that I think would be quite lucrative:

I would open a auto repair shop that is open from Thursday through Monday at first (till the business started rolling in, then 7 days a week). The hours are 2-10pm. Do you see the difference? A repair shop actually open AFTER most workplaces close AND open on the weekends. Right out of the gate, business would roll in.

Second piece: It would be advertised as woman-owned and fair-priced. Knowing how it is to get dicked over because I am a chick and I must not know what is actually wrong with my car, this business would advertise fair and reasonable pricing.

Third piece: the office would be downstairs with a comfortable waiting area and TV. Nothing different, really. It would also feature quality coffee. On the second floor above the office and waiting area? A nail salon. So while you are getting your car serviced, you can get a mani-pedi.

I think it is a really solid business idea. Can you guess where I dreamed it up? While I sat in the car repair shop mid-day, taking vacation hours from work cuz they are NEVER FUCKING OPEN after hours all while realizing I could really use a pedicure, but there were no places within walking distance. What is it that they say? Necessity is the key to innovation? And yes, the pedicure was totally a necessity.

lol idk about the salon part, but thats some really good ideas toasti

am i the only person that likes spiders? they are a valuable part of the ecosystem!

I like spiders, they fascinate me and I have seen spiders that bring down pigeons!  I just. Don't. Like. Them. On. Me.  

And Toasti, great idea - I think you are on to a winner with that one

I think that's a great idea too, Toasti. Well thought out. I would go!

Bekah wrote:

I like spiders, they fascinate me and I have seen spiders that bring down pigeons!  I just. Don't. Like. Them. On. Me.  

I don't like them on me either, but I don't go after them. I hate flies worse than spiders. I go genocide on flies....  

One thing about the auto shop: why advertise as 'woman owned'? I know plenty of ruthless, heartless women.

Thinking more about it, maybe the salon thing wouldn't be a bad idea, but I am mens so I have no idea what that even entails. Just keep it separated or something, otherwise you cut out half your business. I've never been in a salon, and the smell of hair spray offends me...

Well, it certainly wouldn't be advertised as "your ex owns this place". It would be advertised as "fair and reasonably priced." The woman-owned part would be a little more subversive. And ya, I know we can be heartless and we pretty much have the corner on manipulation- but...we also like a good bargain!

Also, I am kinda with Bekah. Spiders are fascinating creatures....as long as they are not in my house or on my person.

Toasti Jen wrote:

Also, I am kinda with Bekah. Spiders are fascinating creatures....as long as they are not in my house or on my person.

This is what I was trying to explain to Donnor earlier! Apparently he's a spider lover too...geesh. As long as they do not creep up on me in the bathroom, via around toilet or in the shower, or in my shoes...or anywhere in my house for that matter, they're safe! I've been bitten enough times to know that if they're that close, they're gonna eat me, period. So it's either them or me. There's a really cool green/black, and pretty large, garden spider on my kitchen window OUTSIDE and I leave him be, he eats the beatles.  

So I did this today.

Spoiler tags for image size.:

I'm excited and nervous. It's just the reserves, but! It's something!

+100!

I am excited for you!

Cool!

Right on!