Kind of reminds me when I picked up my '67 Ford Thunderbird up in San Jose and drove it back to Southern California along the coast roads. We were in Monterey when the alternator died — first I knew of it was when we were on the highway and everything electrical stopped, including the engine. Fortunately there was an off ramp there; even more fortunately, the road was beneath the freeway so the ramp sloped down. Two tons of car rolled pretty well, and we rolled to a halt underneath the freeway and safely off the road on the shoulder. Even more fortunately, there was an auto shop just around the corner; a quick tow, and a five hour wait while they got the parts, and we were off again.
Even more fortunately, Monterey is fun to spend a few hours in.
They forgot to check the voltage regulator, though, which on Fords of that vintage is a separate component (later cars have it integral with the alternator) and it merrily boiled the battery all the way home due to excess current and overcharging. Not the safest thing in the world, in retrospect; it's giving off flammable hydrogen when that happens. Got that fixed when I got to So Cal.
Those old cross-ply tires were kind of scary on the coast roads, too. I don't think they were as old as the car, but odds are they were twenty years old; it'd have been smart to replace them before making the trip.
It had been a wealthy old lady's car and had sat in a garage for fifteen years and driven once in a great while.
I really need to get that beast working again.
A brighter future for a darker age.I'm vaguely reminded of the time I was walking into the dorm and noticed that a car full of girls had a bottle of juice or something sitting on the roof. I turned around and went for the car, but I approached slowly because I started to have second thoughts about going up to strangers and probably scaring them.
Eventually I realized that I was way too close to turn back, so I just stepped up to the car, grabbed the bottle and held it out to the window. The girls burst out laughing. I can't imagine their experience without ominous music followed by a plucked violin.
Fresh-eyed movie blogHung out with my folks again. My mom has started a rice patty in their back yard and the rice is sprouting. My dads wheat is coming in really well and the raised garden he made is growing like crazy as in its covered with what he planted.
He is this fall going to make all his crop spots into raised gardens to keep the flooding that occurs with the rain from messing up his back yard farm.
Sat around and shot the breeze with him for a while.
Who watches the watchmen?I feel bad for Papa. Two mental breakdowns in one night. At least mine got Mama to pull herself back together again and actually, y'know, LISTEN to my dad.
She never wants to hear me say "I should have died" ever again. Ever. I was informed of this after I went down to her room for another hug after everything had calmed down.
"Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair."Young lady,you should never say that. You have potential yet to be revealed or is in the process of making it self known. Life is rough but you have made it so far so good. Hang in there hard charger ;).
Some interesting little stories about assorted events. I could tell you some Tuefel Tales but i don't want to blister yall's delicate ears and harm your fragile minds >:P
Who watches the watchmen?Now I am tempted to make Tuefel Tales a redirect to TroperTales/TuefelHundenIV
edited 16th Jun '10 1:25:31 AM by TParadox
Fresh-eyed movie blogMorven, thank you. *hugs*
Tuefel, Yessir.
Blackcat, anniversary is on 8/20. 5 years. Mom forgot her anti-psychotics for the past two days, which is why she went off the deep end.
Ivy, Cigna is letting us go out of network for my supplies, and for other medical needs now, so we should be okay.
Also, blackcat, it isn't prying when the story is on my userpage
edited 16th Jun '10 2:14:03 PM by Buttercupistiny
"Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair."Quite. I just found out myself. Mom just called to tell me she was proud of me. She completely forgot that she told me to call Shield (our current supply company) so she called to give them new information and was told that I had called in earlier.
Why is this important? Because I hate phone calls and this was my first trial flight.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! MOM'S SURGERIES GOT APPROVED BY WORK COMP FOR THE 12TH AND 15TH. EXPECT ME TO BE A NERVOUS WRECK.
edited 16th Jun '10 3:56:57 PM by Buttercupistiny
"Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair."Thanks Maddy. It really isn't anything new, she's been having reconstructive back surgeries since I was 10. But I still get antsy, because, you know, surgery.
That said, *hugs* I hope Mr. Maddy is doing well.
edited 16th Jun '10 9:13:42 PM by Buttercupistiny
"Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair." The stars are aligning and Ry'leh will soon surface. Everything is falling into place for college
Also, On-Topic Conversations I think is becoming WORSE in its post quality than IJBM, if only because we've got certifiable idiots trying to post deep (*snicker*) well-thought-out (*barely contained chortling*) opinions and...Failing spectacularly. Whereas at least in IJBM you can chalk it up to a less formal, more lax approach.
Anyway, NIGHT YA'LL.
edited 16th Jun '10 9:42:56 PM by Charlatan
^How is Mr. Maddy?
I am glad that things have simmered down Buttercup.
My husband fixed the front brakes, tore into the back brakes and in a fit of completely uncharacteristic logical and rational behavior, decided to have the professionals deal with them. When I got home from work this evening he was the most relaxed I have seen him in months.
Mr Maddy is doing much better. He's vaguely cranky right now, because I got a lovely pecan-brown sugar sweetbread and he wanted some for his bedtime snack but it's all gone.
blackcat, I'm glad to hear that your suburban survivorman decided to let the pros deal with the rear brakes. Personally, brakes are one of the parts of the car that I wouldn't work on myself even when cars were something you could work on yourself without a computer and $15,000 worth of specialized tools.
edited 16th Jun '10 10:14:17 PM by Madrugada
Rear drum brakes are probably my least-favorite part of a car to work on. Especially on Mom's van, which uses a design that I swear hasn't changed since The '70s.
The Prius is still new, all disc, and has the electric brake as a primary, so I doubt I'll be doing brakes on it anytime soon. I don't know about the Jeep or the Rover.
online since 1993 | huge retrocomputing and TV nerd | lee4hmz.info (under construction) | heapershangout.comNot only that, but new-fangled OBD-II scanners have come down in price dramatically since the standard was introduced in 1995. That said, for esoterica like flashing firmware or testing certain subsystems, you still may have to have the official box — and those are priced for dealerships (they start in 4 figures and go up from there).
Mom's van, which is pre-OBD-II, is like that; basic scan tools will scan the engine controller and not much else.
online since 1993 | huge retrocomputing and TV nerd | lee4hmz.info (under construction) | heapershangout.com

That's a great story Justice. I love the way people help travelers out. I have an epic tale of when my husband and I went to WI on a Harley in the 80's but it is best told IRL with many beers.
I think it is pretty neat there is a Casa Madrugada.
I am glad Buttercup is feeling better. It also might have been a prank?
Edit to add: Going for beer and adventure with the Baroness.
edited 15th Jun '10 4:20:38 PM by blackcat