Are You Emotionally Attached To Your Car ?

Recently I was looking through old photos on our home computer, specifically those I had uploaded from my phone.  I came across the one at the left and it took me a few minutes to remember why I had taken it.

Then I remembered the conversation with one of my kids (I forget which one it was at the time) from this past autumn.  Whoever it was, said that our cars (Karen drives our minivan and I drive our compact car) were "dent buddies."  I didn't know there was such a thing, but the comment led me to snapping this photo, which led me today to think back on that animated short about "Susie The Little Blue Coupe."

If you've never seen the short, take a few minutes and watch it HERE.

I remembered seeing this for the first time long before I was able to drive a car myself.  And I remembered how I felt seeing the car go from new to old to unloved and then finally back to being loved again by her new owner.  At the time, I was just happy for little Susie, but now, I actually have an additional appreciation for this animation.  I'm quite attached to my car, and we've recently found out just how attached Karen is to her minivan (long story there ... maybe a future blog post).  I've driven Jazzmine (yes, that's her name) around for almost 17 years.  That's a lot of time together.  Over 170,000 miles if you prefer to measure it in distance.

So in honor of my first car (I bought her myself, all the others were borrowed or gifts), I present today's Song Of The Day which is "Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone" by Glass Tiger.  I am not sure how much more Jazz and I will be able to hang out together, but I know I won't forget her when it's time to finally say goodbye.

...

What's Your Antitheft Device?

I have blogged many times before about my car.  16 years later and she's still taking me where I need to go every day.  We've been through a lot together.  I am going to be terribly sad when she finally dies and I have to start a new relationship with two tons of metal and plastic.

I have a great, inadvertent antitheft device in my car, which allows me to leave it unlocked all the time.  I could probably even leave the keys in it (which I actually did at work one time on accident ... and they were in the ignition too!) and not have to worry about it being stolen.

My secret weapon?  The lack of 3rd gear in my manual transmission.

You see, at least 7 years ago I noticed that 3rd gear was starting to grind a bit in my car.  Eventually it began to simply "pop out" of gear at random times, so you had to hold it in place.  Finally, it was over and you could not even engage the transmission into 3rd gear.  But this has become a blessing in disguise because pretty much no one can steal my car now.  Well, not steal it and get very far after doing so anyway.  The trick is that you must go from 2nd gear directly into 4th gear, otherwise the clutch will not engage properly.  Any attempt to go into 3rd gear will automatically "reset" the clutch.  It refuses to engage in any gear (except 1st gear) once this action occurs.

So I figure, any thief of my car is going to make the mistake of trying to use 3rd gear.  Then, when it will not engage, they will try to shift into 2nd or 4th gear, only to have those not work either.  If by some miracle, they coast to a stop and try to go through the gears again, it is almost guaranteed that they will try 3rd gear a second time.  After all, who would keep a car if 3rd gear didn't work, right?!

ME!  That's who!  And I will not even have to walk at a brisk pace to catch up with any thief driving my vehicle.   I figure 1-2 minutes down the road they will just decide it's time to give up. And when they exit the car, there I'll be standing there with a  "U mad bro?" look on my face.


Song Of The Day:
The song "Taylor" by Jack Johnson may not see an appropriate fit here, but ... there is a line in the song that goes like this: "Sometimes he thinks that he's on his way, but I can see ... that his brake lights are on."  Anyone who tries to steal my car will see me in the rear view mirror calmly walking to catch up with them.  Silly thief, you're not on your way.  My car is like Herbie.  She knows me!

...

"Daddy, why are you hans all byack?"

For those who don't speak Catalina, here is a translation: "Daddy, why are your hands all black?"

This is the question my 3-year old posed to me as she helped mommy carry groceries (grapes that she nearly dropped because she was scared at the sight of my hands) into the house.  She also said to Grandpa Don when he offered her a hug "Don' git you byack on me!  I pwetty in my dwess!  See?!" (and then she twirled for us to watch how pretty she was without black messiness all over her).

My hands were all different shades of black and gray because I had spent the morning working on my car.  My baby Jazzmine.  I'll have to tell you about all her ailments another day, but today is for celebration because she is running fine again!  After way more work than we anticipated (isn't that ALWAYS the case?!) she is the opposite of Humpty Dumpty (we DID get her all back together again!)  If you're interested in the mostly full story read on, if not ... catch you tomorrow or something.  :)

Problem: The power steering pump seized, which snapped

the pulley (wheel) that holds the serpentine belt.

Solution #1: Remove the power steering pump & pulley from

the equation and just use a shorter serpentine belt.

Answer: Unacceptable as the belt will rub against itself without that pulley.

Solution #2: Install a pulley without a power steering pump for the serpentine belt.

Answer: Unacceptable as they do not make cars

without power steering any more.

Seriously we are so lazy in society now ...

that's why our forearms look nothing like Popeye.

Solution #3: Replace the power steering pump including pulley ...

which will also require a new power steering fluid reservior

(because I just threw the broken one away from my accident back in Oct 2009).

Answer: Acceptable solution ... but it's going to require a LOT of work

and a fun field trip to the Pull and Pay junkyard.

So now that the solution had been identified (this was last Thursday, with the Monday prior being the day we disproved the first two solutions), my father-in-law and I had the opportunity to enjoy a new experience together.  Neither of us have been to a junkyard for car parts, let alone to a Pull and Pay setup like we went to this morning.  As a totally non-knowlegeable car person (this blog may confuse you but I knew absolutely nothing about cars before this experience, and still know very little) I have to say the experience was really cool!

 - You pay $2 per person to go in and there are hundreds of cars propped up on old rims.

 - They have them inventoried by year, make, and model so they can tell you where in the massive yard to find your replacement parts.

I'll save the lengthy explanation and just say that we took parts (reservior, hoses, and cap to the reservior) from three different cars similar to mine in order to complete the system we needed to put power steering back in my car.  It was interesting to look at other "parts" and contemplate replacing my seats, etc. but that will just have to be another trip for another day.  All told we spent like $15 (Dad was quicker with 4 singles to get us in ... I need to remember to pay him back 'cause he drove too) and now had everything we needed to get my baby running again.

After a quick stop at an auto parts store to get a brand new serpentine belt (on the theory that replacing it would be better than waiting for it to break and then getting all dirty again) we came to my house and jumped right in.  To keep this brief I will simply say we demonstrated our lack of know-how related to cars by just doing things instead of assessing the proper order of the process.  We installed, took apart, installed again, removed pieces, shifted other pieces, removed whole portions of the unit, replaced other parts, installed again, jerry-rigged a few things ... and then finally screwed everything into place.  Once fluid was added (radiator, power steering, etc.) I started her up and she hummed beautifully.  A little more fluid to top her off and she could finally come down off her jack stands.

Clean up was a chore, but some Boraxo mixed with dishwashing soap gets everything but the under-the-nails gunk off.  Tomorrow morning I'll drive her off into the sunrise and hopefully she will live many more years (at least until Josh Jr, Ben and I can make her into a convertible like I did with my dad when I was 16 years old).

Some important Shout-Outs in the version of Thank You's

Thanks to Grandpa Don for ALL the hard work, driving time, and ingenuity that made it possible.

Thanks to Bill C from work for letting me hitch a ride many days over the past two weeks.

Thanks to Kipp and Andy @ Checker O'Reilly for helping us devise the solution (and for referring us to the Pull and Pay junkyard).

Thanks mostly to our Heavenly Father for watching over us "fools" so we didn't kill ourselves while working on something way above our knowledge-level.  Thanks for the brain-power/inspiration to work around the problems, and thanks for the strong (that's debatable) hands and inquisitive mind that physically got it all done ... eventually.  :)