Kratzen vom Rathaus

Am I That Behind the Times?

I admit, I've never been much for spelling but COME ON. That sign must
have cost fifteen hundred bucks or so to produce. They could have saved
at least a hundred by learning to spell.

Give Me Liberty or Give Me... OK, Take The Jeep

So, our Jeep Libby hasn't fared too well this year. Those of you who have been reading for a while might remember us raiding a fru-fru neighborhood's fountain to limp the car home when the water pump failed this summer. That was irksome, more so because Chrysler was not thrilled to pay for the water-pump even though it was under warranty.  The company went on to claim zero responsibility for all the things the water-pump took out when it went, leaving us on the hook for 3/4 of the cost of fixing their initial incompetence. Way to stand behind your products, guys. Is it any wonder the import market has you running to the government for hand-outs and protection? Had that same thing happened with a Honda, I've no doubt they would have sent a VP to commit sepukku on my doorstep in penance.

But enough of that irritation, it's ancient history at almost six months old. And, after all, we have a new Chrysler calamity to deal with now. A couple weeks ago our check engine light came on. So I took it in, but it was a transmission code and their 'transmission guy' was already working on someone else's car. Fine, whatever.  Tony and I had discovered the battery was leaking at the negative terminal when we initially checked under the hood to see if we could diagnose the light. So they replaced that since I was there, ordered a new battery harness, and made appointment number two for a couple days later when Mr. Transmission didn't have anything better to do.

Appointment two came and went with them keeping the Jeep all day but returning it unrepaired because changing the battery destroyed the record of what caused the transmission to light up the instrument panel. What?? Are Laurel and Hardy my service guys? If this was something they knew about, why didn't they wait to change the battery? Ok, i was mildly irked at the inconvenience, but whatever. We had the replacement battery harness still on order and tech recommended a long drive to get the light to go on again anyway. Actually, he recommended he have one of his guys take it and run around in our Jeep all week, but I declined. If anyone is driving the car we paid for, it's us. The tech can go to Avis like everyone else. Anyway, the day the harness came in the light came on again. Bingo, we get appointment three made.

Appointment three seemed to start out uneventful. Then the shuttle driver scampered off leaving me sitting at the dealer's for an hour. I got grumpy. Nervous tech produced a Buick 300 from some nether region and gave it to me as a loaner, without so much as a check of my license. I guess he could tell I was pretty much done at that point. But I dutifully trundled off in the thing, assuming we would get the call later that day. Nope. Next day, as I running around on the Triumph because I just didn't want to deal with that beast of a loaner, the Tech called Tony at home explaining how the entire transmission was shot and that Chrysler wouldn't pay for any of it because we were 306 miles out of the drive-train warranty. WTF? What a surprise, since they tried to refuse payment on what was completely covered only a few months prior. But I was still astounded by the absolute unwillingness to take any responsibility for their product. Tony, however, was just pissed. He had already started hitting import car sites and asked what I thought of the Honda Element. The image of James May cheering that there was a possibly cool Honda in the world sprang to mind, but I wasn't in any shape to have a coherent answer. So I told him we'd talk about it later.

On the way home, I decided to pop by the dealer in full (SWAT) riding gear and have a discussion with the tech. After a coming to an understanding that taking care of a completely failing transmission three hundred and six miles out of warranty was not indeed 'slippery slope syndrome that would have customers with half a million miles on their cars trying to get free service', Tech realized making the phone calls again was probably the least unpleasant option for him. So he swore to call Chrysler as well as division manager again and do everything possible to get them to honor the warranty- which I assumed meant we'd get a 50/50 split offer at some point just to make me go away. Which, frankly, I don't think is good enough for as little as we've done with the car and as well as we've maintained it.

But now, I don't even know if I want to push the deal. While surfing our options last night, I came across the VW Tiguan, which is a dumb name, but i'm enough of an science-fiction geek I would just call it Tegan and be done with it. For the GTi engine, I can overlook a lot of silliness. Tony is also intrigued by them, and we're deciding if it's worth spending money in one big chunk for a shiny new import or a few grand at a time the way Chrysler expects us to. Meanwhile, I'm stuck in limbo with that giant Sherman tank named for dead Spartans and wondering just what it is Washington wants to save about these companies anyway.

Putting a Little Spin on Things

Those of you who tend to shop, might have seen these signs up in front of TJMaxx and Marshall's stores today all around the nation. Odd isn't it, that they would choose to hold their 'Customer Appreciation Day' in the middle of the week and with no advertising to speak of? Well, the answer to the those mysteries most likely lies in the answer to why they're having this 'one time only event' in the first place.

See, the special sale was held today because it was TJX's initial settlement offer to give 15% off all merchandise sold for one day. What settlement, you ask? The one for their negligent care of charge card information. So I guess what they're really appreciating about their customers today is that they don't have to fork over much more in the lawsuit. Personally, I had a similar thing happen and had to cancel my card last year. I was only mildly inconvenienced because my fraud protection was actually alert and on the case immediately for the first time in our seventeen year relationship, so no hard feelings. But I understand just how frustrating the situation can be. So, if you were one of those hit with false charges or destroyed credit out of the TJMaxx credit fiasco- thanks. I got a decent price on a pair of Naturalizers and a mini-Twix bar out of it...

Obligatory Inaugural Patriotic Post

Well, I suppose I should gush and talk about all the change that's going to be happening and how happy I am. But that's not really true. Don't get me wrong, I love Obama. And the coming of Camelot the second is a wondrous thing. But some part of me feels sorry for the man. Our country is in for a rough ride, because for the past eight years our failures and problems were shoved out of sight rather than dealt with. Bodies were literally hidden. Entitlement and luxury were hoisted up like golden calves to divert us with more and more people, companies, and financial institutions shaping those calves out of borrowed gold.
Now the financial sector has begun its correction, most people are finally realizing there are some fundamental problems with our country. Fortunately, we have elected a man mature enough to be separate patriotism from pragmatism, who can point out America's faults without loving her less. But we seem to be looking to our new president as some sort of messiah to lift us out of this mess. Sorry. Like everyone else, Obama is just a man and no amount of superstition or wishful thinking will change that. He's a very smart man, a realist and the best of all possible leaders to have at such a crisis in our history. But he's still a man. So if you want him to dig us out of the hole this country is in, put down your Obama swag and grab a shovel, because he won't be able to do it alone.

My Boys

Hey, guess who got a new camera? (Thanks, TonyDad!) So the first picture out of the box was of course of Tony, who was in the process of mentioning to me that the cameras usually come with a little juice in their batteries. I think he thought I was going to look at the manual first or something silly like that. There's a reason I wanted a simple camera- if there's any fancy secret tricks to this thing, it's going to be a waste of machinery unless Tony needs to use the camera for some reason. Then he'll show me. But I should probably try learn how to take pictures with a flash now that I have one, or y'all are going to think everyone I know is possessed. (Although it's entirely possible that is true.)
Anyway, here are my boys: one of Tony and one of Bayliss. They're both so cute. I'll let you figure out who is who.

Collateral Damage in the War on Drugs

So, I've been sick this past week bad enough to sideline me a bit, and Tony has had it enough to interrupt his schedule if not to put him completely down on the couch, which was already crowded what with me, two cats and the rat. We seem to be coming though it now (much to the displeasure of the cats who enjoy having having the monkeys home and down all week) but it does mean our cold medicine supplies have been nearly depleted. My remedy of choice is psuedoephedrine, most notably Advil cold and sinus because it's the only one that truly works when I get congested. Well, that's not entirely true, I have no idea if dextromethorphan actually works or not because the stuff knocks me on my tail-bone every time I've taken it. Seriously, it's icky, I don't know how druggies do it. Speaking of addicts, they're the bane of my existence when it comes to cold medicine, because evidently they can do something to pseudoephedrine that makes it like meth. I don't know, I don't care to know and I still remember a few years ago when I found out because they'd pulled the stuff from the shelf just when I was in the middle of a raging summer cold. Nowadays, you can get psuedoephedrine out here, but only if you give more information than is required to pick up a prescription. Seriously. I've done both. It's easier to get the prescription. For the Over the counter Advil, you literally have to get it over the counter at the pharmacy desk after they check your license. I keep waiting for someone to propose a three-day waiting limit on the stuff, too.
Anyway, this all boils down to today. We went out shopping, and I knew I had to get meds while we're out because there's two sick adults and one Advil left in the box. But we were more involved with getting the camera, and then food and then we decided to go home because the 'check engine' light came on in the Jeep and we wanted to give it a once over to see if anything obvious was wrong. There wasn't. So I went upstairs to to try to get an appointment ASAP. And so on and so forth- things got delayed. So it was evening before I carefully drove the Jeep to Walgreen's, after all, no sense overdoing the car when we didn't know what was wrong.
Just an FYI if you're thinking of visiting the area: I found out tonight that every single pharmacy near my house closes at 6 on Saturday .I spent the next hour running around to make sure of this- well, tiptoeing is a closer term because of the dummy light. Which, when I finally gave up and headed back to the house empty-handed, turned off. Grrrrr. I'm so glad I have the government out there protecting me from myself and my wanton desire to breathe. I got back to the house to find Tony napping on the couch. At least I hope he's just napping and hasn't come down with a bigger dose of this crud. Because if he did, I'm going to feel really guilty when I pinch the last Advil while he sleeps... ;)

Doing Our Part for The Economy

Today, we went out shopping to get rid of those Christmas gift certificates before they could burn holes in our pockets and we'd have to buy new pants as well. Inevitably, that means Best Buy because everyone knows Tony's appreciation for the electronic things in life. Plus, I am thinking of finally breaking down and getting a camera of my own. After all, there are at least two trips in 2009, and after looking at the picture from the Heepy on the entry below, I've decided it's time to grow up and get a real one. But I've been pretty sick this week, so while Tony showed me basics on many different ones, I registered "silver one, silver one, pink one, silver one, blue one." I like the light pink one. It's evidently the little sibling of the one Tony has. But I'm holding onto my gift card until I think better, just to make sure.
However, our quest put us into the camera section, where Tony wound up with the neatest cam-corder I've ever seen. It's the size of the Heepy, small and pocketable and made by Kodak because that's the one that had less bling and more actual professional quality. Plus, because of gift cards, it was less than twenty bucks for him. (Thanks John and Tony-dad!) Holy cow, I knew you could take short videos on phones these days but I had no idea that actual recorders had gotten so small. I'm either way behind on hardware technology or my cold medicine is too strong. Both are possible. Anyway, I figure there might be some video showing up on Tony's blog in the future. And maybe even a decent picture on mine before too long.

A Penny Saved

You might think there's not much you can do with one American cent these days. But I discovered today that one of those things you actually can do is completely destroy your paper shredder. It being January, it's time to collect and collate the papers for the last year. Also to shred duplicated info so we're not swimming in paperwork like one of those geriatrics you read about who die when a ten foot stack of newspapers from 1956 fall on them. Anyway, a penny must have slipped in the midst of the sheaf of papers, because next thing I knew the poor little machine was bucking and spitting like a cat in a bath. I found the remarkably undamaged penny, removed it, and went on about my shredding. Except the machine was straining. I pulled the lid and the rollers were completely jammed with paper. So I got out the screwdriver and did a more in-depth analysis. The shredder is utterly unsalvagable. The blades on both gears are destroyed for a solid inch of their length. They must be made of the cheapest metal ever. Which is funny, because you'd think that would be what was used for the penny. Good thing I managed to save that anyway, because I have to put it toward a new shredder tomorrow.

Dinner Out

Tony, checking Penn and Teller's Las Vegas schedule while we wait for the awesome food of Casa Orozco to finish cooking. Anyone for a road trip?

Gearing up for 2009

52,131.
That's the starting mileage on the Triumph. It's the first time since '06 I've bothered to check the odometer on New Years. It's also quite depressing, because I remember crossing the 50k mark on the last leg of my cross country trip that July. That was two and a half years ago now. Two and a half very long years in motorcycling terms, what with my accident, Lynn's accident and a bout of panic every time anyone started off on a bike for the next several months. But lately I've found myself packing away that part of my life. Oddly, though, instead of moving on I'm moving backwards, regressing, and I'm fine with it. Tony and I have been venturing slowly back out onto the ice in skate and shoots- unfortunately for Tony, it's not easy to keep a low profile with leg pads on. He's got some league paperwork waiting for him to fill out.
Today, I got out a little on the Triumph, trying to decide if I should ride up to a shop that has a demo bike I might want. I'm torn about whether I can move on to another bike. Tony is in even worse shape, trying to figure out which bikes go or stay and what to do, what to do. It's a good problem to have, much better than whether we can afford to have any at all, and I realize that. But it doesn't make the decisions easier.
Anyway, in both situations, I was pleasantly surprised to find my gear was in decent shape and fit perfectly. And there's something about putting on the gear, ritualistic little motions that change perspective on things so drastically.  It was like slowly taking bits of my past back. I don't know if I'll ever play hockey the way I used to. I don't know if I'll ever consider my bike my primary means of transportation either. But I realize now that I can still get out and skate a few laps or ride a few miles if I want. And that's really kind of cool.