Tag-Archive for ◊ jeep ◊
• Sunday, April 19th, 2009
First, welcome to several new friends I’ve met through memes in WoW and Slash fic writing… hooray!
So far, it’s been a very successful weekend. I have tomorrow off (hooray, Patriots’ Day!), so I’ll be able to devote a good chunk of it to writing, exactly as I’d hoped would happen. I’m feeling VERY pleased. 
Spring Cleaning success – hooray! And the weather has turned out surprisingly good… the original forecast was for scattered showers all weekend. We had just a bit last night, but otherwise it’s been partly sunny and mild. All of the tree leaves are exploding. The only downside is my allergies – but after this winter, I’ll deal with sniffles!
the big project of the weekend
Category: Geeky Stuff, World of Warcrack
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• Tuesday, January 20th, 2004
It felt so weird not attending Arisia this year. From what I’ve read on my livejournal friends page… it was a good con. People had fun. It was wild and crazy as always.
*sigh* oh well, there’s always next year. Erich and I chatted via email today about our ever-evolving con plans for the year, and we’ve decided to skip Boskone as well next month (since George R.R. Martin was the main draw for that one) and go to WorldCon over Labor Day weekend– which will be huge and overwhelming… and have both Martin AND Terry Prachett scheduled to attend. After all, Arisia and Boskone are every year in the area. WorldCon will be in Scotland next year, and who knows where after that… I think Japan’s up for the bid for 2007. So it’s the “not to miss” this year since it’s a special event.
Regardless, I felt some pangs of “I wish I were there” off and on all weekend. But it turned out to be a productive weekend at home that I’m rather proud of. Lots of laundry, organization, cleaning, etc. done this weekend. Our apartment is starting to look much less like a pit, and more like an apartment. We wrestled an antique dresser out of storage for Erich, and swapped out his current one so Jason could finally have dresser in his room. And I battled a good chunk of the penpalling pit in the corner… so I feel good.
We watched the Patriots game on Sunday and celebrated the fact that we get to have a hometown Superbowl party in two weeks. Whether we’ll host one or just go somewhere is still a mystery. The drive up Mass. Ave two years ago still gets mentioned from time to time. It was an outpouring of pure joy and celebration that you rarely see in Boston. Somewhere in my apartment are a mess of photographs of the parade…
So while the rest of the country could probably care less, football fever continues to build here in Patriot Nation. I’m sure Carolina’s thankful that they don’t have to play the game up here, where it could be hellishly cold… again.
Meanwhile the Jeep is running well– thankfully. Here’s hoping that the last batch of fixes have solved all of the issues and will last for a while– at least until my next oil change in about 2,500 miles… please? maybe?
Category: Misc. Musings
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• Wednesday, January 14th, 2004
I’ve calmed down quite a bit since Monday– the helplessness has worn off, and I’m realizing that while I’ve done an okay job with paying bills and keeping up with stuff, the reality is that I really need to buckle down and grow up about things– and get stuff paid off.
So much of my stress with money is my own damn fault. I don’t have kids. I don’t have a mortgage. I don’t have huge medical bills that I’m paying off. I don’t have any of the significant stressors that would honestly give me reason to justify being in the position I’m in. I’m in it simply because I’ve been lazy about reigning in my finances and paying my damn bills. I spend too much on fun stuff, when in reality I have more than enough around my apartment to keep me entertained and occupied. I’ve continued to live like a damn college student, pissing my money away and not paying attention to where the hell it’s going.
And then when things like this current Jeep bill hit me, I can’t even pay the damn repairs off. Why? Because I’ve been stupid and not put together a rainy day fund like I should have. The reality that I have a car that is high in mileage (145,000)– although still in normal range for the brand of car I have. It’s going to get wear and tear, and things will have to be replaced. These won’t be your basic $40 oil change prices– these will be computer chips and axle boots and fuel pumps and crap like that.
Before taxes, the repair estimate for the Jeep, including the tune-up at 150K, is about $1,350.
Enough’s enough already.
*sigh* So this weekend, as much as I’ll hate it, it’s time to sit down, make a budget, and get a sense of really what I need to pay a month, add 20% on top of the minimums to help cover finance charges so I can actually get on top of things, and suck it up. Other than my original loan from Erich, my bills are currently caught up. This is a good thing. I can actually look objectively at what needs to be done, and immediately stay on top of things.
Reality– I can’t afford a down payment on a new car right now simply because I’ve been an idiot with money
Reality– I need to pay my bills to get my credit rating on the mend
Reality– I don’t need more computer games, more gadgets, more CD’s, etc. I have more than plenty at home.
Reality– If I want to continue penpalling, I need to create a monthly postage budget and stick to it.
Reality– My life seems to be in chaos partially because I’ve allowed it to become this way. Laziness is becoming a nasty habit of mine, and I need to break it… fast.
Enough’s enough already…
grrrr…..
~ mel.
Category: Misc. Musings
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• Tuesday, January 13th, 2004
My 29th birthday was relatively peaceful– we did some errands. We went out for sushi. I talked to Mom, and then a bit later, I got the bombshell of a phone call from my father.
Category: Misc. Musings
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• Monday, January 05th, 2004
The Jeep is finally fixed… woo hoo!
only six weeks in the shop. Not too bad, eh? 
Category: Misc. Musings
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• Thursday, January 23rd, 2003
I had this earlier in my journal, and hit clear just as I was ready to finish it. *sigh* And of course, work beckoned.
Anyway…
I had an… interesting morning. We’ll chalk this one up to “Things Mel has become complacent about due to three mild winters in a row.”
All of the following happened between 9:10 and 9:25 this morning. And no, I hadn’t had any caffeine yet.
I get down to the car a bit after 9 this morning– running a little late, but not too badly. I have to be to work by 9:30, and as long as I am on the road by quarter after nine, I’m generally there, give or take a couple minutes. So no worries. I get into the car, turn it on, and then turn to the left to get the seatbelt.
And out of the corner of my eye, I see this weird brownish goop thing on the inside of the rear passenger window.
What. The. Hell. Is. That?!?
Ew. Okay. Great.
I get out of the car– leaving it running in hopes that it will warm up a bit from the frigid single digit air outside. I open up the back door, and what do I see? A pile of shaved ice crystals on the floor of the car right behind the driver’s seat, which had origins from five now-exploded cans of diet vanilla coke.
*groan*
Not only did these ice crystals form on the seat. The goop managed to get on the back of the driver’s seat, a little on the passenger seat, on the door, the previously mentioned three-inch-long goop on the window, and somehow– a goop on the ceiling.
Ah yes. Mel remembers the warning– too late, of course– that full sodas should not be left in a freezing car.
The current car appearance is why this should not be done.
I swear a bit, get back into the car, and drive it to the other side of our parking lot (all of a whopping thirty to forty feet) and park right next to the dumpster. I get out of the car again, this time turning it off. I go again to the back seat and grab the 12-pack box and as many of the cans as I can to get rid of them before assessing the damage.
Thankfully, the majority of it is on the floor of the car. And more specifically, on the floor mat. I pick it up, shake it out over the pavement, and give it a few good thumps against the back tire. I scoop out as many of the shavings that were on the floor as possible and dump them on the pavement. I then begin to brush off whatever will come off from the other surfaces. The goop on the window and the door are stubborn. I’ll need some warm soapy water for that once it warms up again. The rest seems to come up okay. A bit here and there that will have to be tended to, but all considering, I’m left reasonably unscathed.
I replace the floor mat, grumble a bit because my bare hands are now really cold from the coke crystals, and turn the key.
The car won’t start.
It keeps churning, but it won’t friggin start. I try cranking it a bit too long, hoping it’s just a bit too cold, but it won’t agree with me. As I bring the key back, I smell gas.
Shit. It’s flooded.
*sigh* I’m going to be here for a little while.
I reach for my cell phone to call Linda to let her know I’ll be late– as it’s now about 9:20.
My cell phone battery is dead.
I give a slightly louder– and expletive inclusive– growl of frustration, get out of the car, lock it, and head upstairs to make my call. While I’m up there, I decide to grab my phone charger, give the cats a few pets, and head back down to the car.
It takes four more tries to get it to start– and only does so when I pop the gas as if I were starting a clutch.
I got to work at 10 a.m. and scraped yet more coke crystals from my car.
Really… can it get any worse than this today?
It might. It just might.
*winces*
~ Mel.
Category: Misc. Musings
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