Mr. Goodwrench

Damn if mechanics aren't expensive.

Good and trustworthy mechanic work, in my experience, can be hard to come by. I've been fortunate to never really had much need for automotive work in my short life, but when I have...sweet mother-of-pearl has the work been expensive.

No, if you read my previous entry, you know how much I like to tinker with things. Vehicles that carry my children, wife, and me need to be handled only absolutely in the most proper way. I've changed tires, wiper blades, refilled fluids, and even an alternator. But as for wheel alignments, tie rods and wheel hubs, they seem fairly easy, but not exactly my specialty.

Knowing my wheel alignment need work, I took the old TrailBlazer in. Long story short, they tie rod was jacked-up and not going to be adjusted. Cost? At this particular place, about $600. Oh, and they would throw in the alignment. Um...okay.

Frustrated, I drove home and thought about who I knew and what my options were. Bingo! I worked with a wonderful lady whose husband is a mechanic. Let's call her and him!

In short, I bought the parts and paid for the labor at a local service shop. Going this route (as prescribed by the acquaintance mechanic) saved my over 30%. Great...almost.

Apparently, the alignment and tie-rod wasn't the only issue. A persistent thumping-noise that became obvious at my last tire-change wasn't eliminated; my knowledgeable mechanic informed my ever so subtly that I had a bad wheel hub. What's that, I asked. He so patiently schooled me on what it was and what it did.

He also informed me that this was something, if I were interested, he could help me swap out in his free time. Knowing that costs are what they are, I said sure. Long story short, a visit to eBay Motors, a drop-shipment, and forty minutes at my new BFF's house got me a new wheel hub installed and removed that nasty thumping sound.

I was, and still am, prepared to pay Byron for his services. As we are simply milling around and talking (and drinking a few fermented waters), Byron quips, "Eh, don't worry about it Dave."

"No, sir; we agreed on a price and I'm gonna take care of it."

"You wanna take care of it? Buy me a twelve-pack and let's sit around and drink it."

That, my friends, is the High Life.

Poor Man's Ingenuity

As I became frustrated with my Bluetooth headphones (a quirky short has developed in the left ear!), I sought a wired solution to listen to music on my phone.

After really debating what my needs were, establishing how much I wanted to spend, I ended up with these, the Sony MDR-NC7. Definitely not the highest end headphones, but you know what? They worked pretty damn nice and I can hear my music over the lawn mower.

So where does the ingenuity come into play? Well after watching a movie on Boot Camp and Outsourced on Hulu.com, it was time to bed. In a really long story I going to shorten, I was sleeping on my ottoman upstairs. Set the laptop down and headphones beside them, near one of the ottoman's legs. In a twist of fate, I rolled over and the ottoman moaned in protest and tipped over slightly, lifting the far side's legs up. No biggie...or so I thought. Rolled back and the legs obediently returned back to the floor. Cruuuunnnnch. Unsure of what it was, my jaw dropped as i saw my newly purchased headphones now had a detachable ear pad.

After a few choice words, a fitful night's worth of so-called rest, and a few more choice words, the feeling of helplessness began to leave and I was motivated to salvage the headphones. It wasn't a torn wire and simply a broken hinge. A lot of variables in play, I made my plan. A quick trip to Wal-Mart for some Gorilla Glue Super Glue and I was ready.

The surgery was difficult at first, as the headphones swivel around and flip over as well, making a steady hold of the pieces difficult. In addition, I was unable to initially locate a way to separate the broken pad (normally you can click plastic pieces over another, as the plastic gives a bit; not the case here, as I needed the glue to be completely stable and not to stretch). Finally, the pieces are apart and ready to built back together.

"We can rebuilt [it]. We have the technology."

The glued hinge wasn't going to hold all by itself; it was a little circle with only a quarter of it initially connected to frame, now glued to the frame. Too much stress. By luck, I found a very tiny screw that I utilized through the opposite side. Shazam, the phones are back to life.

I guess I wanted to share this story as it's basically something I've done many times in my life. I can't afford nor justify buying another set of headphones merely six weeks after getting these. Whether it be some simple black speaker stands for some Bose speakers I won through work, to the shared ideas implemented by friends and co-workers (yes, I'm talking to the teacher who stole my idea of using a bed sheet and curtain rod as a projector screen).

I'd call my self cheap. Sure I am. But my lifestyle allows me to be so and still get away with it. Quite frankly, it's no different from being thrifty; it just doesn't have that je ne sais quoi that thrifty has. Whatever.

I'm sure we've all done the whole PMI thing (read the title again, in case you're wondering). It works. And yes, you should be proud that you not only saved a few bucks, but more so that you would have been able to survive in a time when you couldn't just go out and buy a new thing to replace it with.

Shazam!

On the Radio...Once Again!

There were times in my life when I couldn't get to the stadium or field to watch a game. Didn't really matter the sport, but I have to say that there is something almost mystical about listening to a game on the radio.

I remember the Knicks making a play-off run in the mid-90's, listening as I was driving back to Hunstville, a four-hour drive from my wife's home town. I can remember listening to various games while doing dishes at Mr. Gatti's. And most fondly, I remember listening to football and baseball games in my current town. I cannot emphasize how nice it is to hear someone describe the action so well that you can picture it all yourself.

My town's got a game tonight. And as far as I know, this is the first time in about five years or so that they have been broadcast over the radio waves. Knowing half the players (they were in my class at one point or another) in addition to my wife's nephew being a starting sophomore, I'm excited to listen to the game.

Any thoughts? Feel free to share...

Shazam!

"Skinny is NOT sexy"

You'd think that the title says it all succinctly, but apparently it goes beyond.

Without getting into the grisly and graphic details, apparently the above statement is a blanket that's too damn big. The author of the above statement was criticized and lambasted for simply stating his opinion. For updating his status. For just voicing a personal "like".

I won't go near the whole social networking issues (that's perhaps another entry), but the flame war that ensued after this post, even after attempting to make light of a light subject, was...well..frankly, awkward. To the point of "de-friending" the author. Wow.

So we've got a couple of point of views here that I'd like to explore and hopefully get the juices percolating and maybe even hit a few nerves and simply open eyes to things that that were previously simply viewed with a skewed prejudice.

First, let's explore the obvious reference:

Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back" could easily be credited with kick starting the whole derrière obsession for boys of age in the early 90's (that'd be me and the above quote's author). Knowing that, there are many of us with an appreciation for a lady with ample curves.

I just realized that as I am typing this, I can easily broach the whole "sexist, degrading, and simple disgusting" area. That's not the point, so please, continue with an open mind.

Why the big deal? Anyone with half a brain can realize that the media portrays women that are "sexy" as slender, skinny, perhaps athletic. Is that not sexy? We'll answer that later, but perhaps the better question is "Does that mean that the opposite of that (larger, curvaceous, etc.) is not sexy?" And there it is...

At this crux, we'll go to the next video exhibit...

An interesting thing here, if you were an Eastern or Midwestern girl, would you have been pissed off with the Beach Boys singing how they "wished they all could be California girls"? These guys simply preferred that attitude and mannerisms typical of girls from that area (at least that's what I'm getting from the song).

Personal preference. And that, my most kind and patient audience, is the answer. Silk or cotton. Ham and cheese or PB&J. Automatic or stick. What do you prefer? Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Some Like it Hot. What a Girl Wants. Okay maybe not the last one, but you should be getting the gist here. A huge hullabaloo over what? An over-reaction? Perhaps. A blanket statement? Doutbt it. A disagreement over someone's preference? Winner winner, chicken dinner.

Folks, it's not a difficult thing. Everyone has his/her preferences. Hot dog or hamburger? Vanilla or chocolate? You'll have an answer or at least most will; I've found some "weird" people who don't like ice cream.

So where ever you may be, think about what you do like and don't like, and how this may cause you to react if someone offers the opposite. Before you go there, I will though: I am not talking about going all racist or sexist or any other -ist that is simply wrong. We are talking about everyday little things that can easily be blown up into stupid arguments. C'mon people; we're losing friends on Facebook because of this!

Tongue-in-cheek aside, hopefully all this grief my friend went through will blow over and resolve itself. And for your patience and viewing/listening pleasure, I offer in closing this video by a great singer.

Shazam!

Bringing Sexy Back...

I've taken a bit of a sabbatical this summer.

I'm sure that a great many of you readers who know that I'm a teacher would probably just quip "Well, you're a teacher; you get like three months off and do whatever you want to do." You would be right, if you were only talking about the weekends. Truth be told, this was perhaps my busiest working summer I've had since becoming a teacher.

But for all the working that did occur, I did take time to really to enjoy the family, traveling, and catching up on some movies.

I don't know where the blog's going to go this year. A couple of ideas are still rattling around the ol' noggin, but it is what it is.

I'll leave you with a pic of Lukers, in all his coolness. He starts his first day of school (4-K or preschool) tomorrow.

Damn I'm getting old...