Happy Friday Nor Cal.
Finally announced a date for the funeral. It will be Monday at 3pm. So my nephew and I will head up to Madras tomorrow and sort through my brother's stuff, and look for any will or insurance paperwork. Probably head back on Tuesday. I don't have a laptop anymore, but I do have a tablet so I can stay in touch.

Jim

 

Once again, Jim, sorry about your brother. At least your nephew is going with you.

 

The world we live in. As if it's wrong to kiss someone who is passed out?

 

What a joke. Some people have too much time on their hands. They have to sit around and think up more to complain about...

Jim

 

Happy Saturday all. Hope everyone has a good day.

Jim

 

Good morning guys,

Jim, Sorry to hear about your brother.

 

The plumbing backed up. I'm no plumber. But I do have a snake, and a hydrojet. I'm not paying the big dollars for someone to do what I can do myself. It cost more to call a "rooter guy" here. There are people here who are not "conventional" plumbers that install or fix anything. They just unclog pipes. I live in The City. The overhead is higher. Labor is higher. I've heard of people spending over $1,000 for service calls. It makes sense. It's not a scheduled service, so you pay "emergency on call" pricing. They come out at any time of the night, 24 hours a day. You have to pay for that. A pipe wrench, a pressure washer, a sewer jet line, a snake, and a case of beer. All of my tools cost less half of what an "emergency service call" would cost. Kind of like owning a $5 wrench, or paying $69.95 for an oil change. I open the clean out access from inside my house, and the sewer access cover from the street in front of my house. Then spent a few hours alternating between the 2, switching off between the snake and the sewer jet. My neighbor came out and told me he spent $2,500 for a plumber to do exactly the same thing a few months ago when his plumbing backed up. The plumber was out there for 10 hours. Send the snake in, pull it out. Send in the hydrojet, pull it out. Rinse. Repeat. Hours later, you clear enough of the obstruction for the pipe to start flowing. Then run the sewer jetter through a few more times to clean out the pipe thoroughly.

Then FedEX shows up with my new exhaust pipes for the motorcycle. On a Sunday. And in the evening. A FedEX truck pulls up after dinner. These pipes run down the middle of the motorcycle and they are short. No local dealer had them. So I had to order it online. Like a kid on Christmas, I spent the evening wrapping them. Hoping that I could finish them in a few days with the silicone coating. I don't understand why they don't sell exhaust systems as "bolt on". I want to just open the box, and bolt it on. I don't want to spend the next week spraying it with multiple coats of silicone. Now, I have to wait a few days for the fiberglass exhaust wrap to dry. Then apply the 1st coat of silicone. Wait for that to dry overnight. Apply another light coat. Wait for that to dry overnight........By the time I finally get to install the pipes, we'll have a woman as President.






I need a shower. I smell like a wet hooker.

 

I hate funerals. I did not go to any of my grand parent's funerals as a kid. I stayed home. Too sad for me. I told everyone I don't do funerals, and the only funeral I would go to was my own. Then in 2002 my dad died. I went to his funeral and bawled like a kid when Amazing Grace was played. Eight years later, my mom died, and I went to her memorial service. The pastor asked if I had any song requests, I, of course, chose Amazing Grace. And again out came the water works. I got back last night from Madras, Oregon. Attending my brother's funeral. They did not sing Amazing Grace but it did not matter, the water works came anyway. Now I am the only one of my immediate family left. I guess now I am ready to attend the only funeral I said I would as a boy...

On another note. What the heck is going on with this weather? They are predicting a high of 98 today here in the arm pit of California. THIS IS MAY! It is STILL Spring! Not summer. The heater does not work in the Ranger. My nephew and I took the Ranger because his 2004 Hyundai Sonata broke down days before he was to come up here. The fan belt broke, and wrapped itself around the fan, causing it to depart the engine and go through the center of a brand new two week old radiator. He was able to get it repaired in time to drive up here from Phoenix, but did not want to take it all the way up to Madras. And since it has a manual transmission, and my knee injury makes it impossible for me to drive a car with a manual transmission, the Ranger was the only choice. Oregon is cooler than California. We left Fresno Saturday. It was 90 degrees. We get up to Oregon early Sunday morning. It is 55 degrees. Did I mention that the heater does not work in the Ranger? We were dressed for 90 degree weather. The Ranger also has gaps between the doors and the cab due to a previous accident (I am guessing, but the telltale signs are there) so, we were shivering like crazy the last few hours of the trip.

Google maps told me it will take ten hours and two minutes to get to Madras Oregon, from Fresno California. And, according to them, it is a 652 mile trip. I am no math genius, but that means we would have had to average 65.2 mph the entire trip. In order to average that, one would have to drive faster than that. Google maps did not tell me there are "your tax dollars at work" areas of the freeway that are "55 mph zone ahead" areas that are "radar enforced" Freeway construction. Never fails. When I had my F-350 dually, and ferried cars up and down the state, there was ALWAYS road construction somewhere. However, in this case, there were FIVE different areas of 55 mph "radar enforced" speed traps to drive through. God was with us however, and NOBODY was working any of those areas when we went through except one, which on the northbound side while we sailed through on the southbound side. Anyway, Google maps also doesn't factor in that you do have to stop and feed your vehicle from time to time, and attend to your own body's needs to consume, or discharge said food or drinks.

It took us twelve hours to get there on Saturday. Mind you, my nephew drove 10 hours prior to getting to Fresno as that is how long it took to get from Phoenix. So I drove the first five hours, and then he took over and drove the rest. Must be nice to be a 38 year old spring chicken. On the way home, I drove the Ranger, and he drove my brother's 1997 Dodge Stratus. I was pleased to find out that the red car I saw in the parking lot of his apartment complex on Google maps was not his car. Since I hate red, the only solace I could find was that I saw that it had a sun roof. I have not owned a car with a sun roof in a long time, so I was happy for that. When we arrived in Madras, which is a very beautiful part of Oregon by the way, but also sparsely populated, only 5,000 people according to the "Welcome to Madras" sign. I found out his car is a gray Stratus with no sunroof. I was also surprised to find out it had the top of the line 2.4 liter DOHC engine in it instead of the base 2.0 liter SOHC engine. So this engine which is a four cylinder, has 150 horsepower, and my 3.0 liter Vulcan V6 has 140. And being a four cylinder and more aerodynamic than my Ranger should get better gas mileage. I say should because we filled up both vehicles in Oregon where it is cheaper and then had to fill up again somewhere in California, because the Stratus was down to a quarter tank, and mine still had over a half a tank. I will have to do some research to find out what size tank the Stratus has. I think mine is either 19, or 20 gallons. I would think the Stratus would have at least that. However, I could be wrong. Of course, if it does have the same size tank, then I would be wondering why it is not getting the same, if not better, gas mileage.

I did not drive it much as it is lower to the ground than the Ranger, and much harder to get out of. So my nephew Chris drove it mostly. However, when I did drive it, it did not sound like it needed a tune up. I did notice that it is leaking oil from the oil fill cap, which suggests to me it might have a serious blow by problem. It does have 159k miles on it. Or did. I would guess it is 160k by now. Also, it overheated just north of Sacramento, and when checking the oil dip stick there was NONE showing! So, you mean to tell me the car used 3 quarts of oil in only 326 miles?!?! Of course, that is a guess. Neither of us checked the oil level in it before we started home. We were not happy that we faced another 12 hour drive, (16 for him because his grandmother is seriously ill in Hesperia and he wanted to get there after leaving Fresno). So we left in a hurry to get home as quickly as possible. Common sense tells us that we should have checked all fluids before making such a long trip. I blame it on myself, as I am supposed to be the mechanic in the family. So, I will closely monitor the oil situation now that it is here. I am praying that it does not have that high of an oil consumption. I really do not want to buy a used engine for it and then pay to have it installed. Maybe if that California stimulus of $600 actually does exist, and actually does show up. I can use it to get one. The tags are good until July of 2022, which is great for me, (I love how you can pay for your vehicles registration up to 4 years at a time in Oregon) I don't have to worry about getting it smogged this July. I currently own three vehicles, and guess which month all three vehicle's tags are due? When checking the radiator support emissions tag. I found out this car was originally sold in California as the emission tag states it meets all California emissions for 1997. So it should pass smog with no issues unless of course all that oil is going out the tail pipe. However, I didn't see blue smoke, so I don't know where it is going.

Anyway, I am back home safe and sound.

 

I always shrug and say, "what? I don't do it for a living."

Friends, family, and neighbors always see me working on stuff. Cars. Bikes. Plumbing. Electrical. Carpentry. For some reason, they all think I can fix their problems. And it's true. I don't do it for a living. I'm not a pro. I work on stuff. But it's not professional tradesman level. Just because you see me changing a tire or doing an oil change, I can't diagnose and fix whatever that noise is. When you're going 70 miles an hour, do you trust your life to me not knowing what I'm doing?

 

Sound advice. I did do it for a living in the mid '80's, and yes cars have changed considerably in 35 years, but common sense hasn't. Still no harm done. I took the Dodge to Red Carpet car wash, and had them do an oil change, lube, and good car wash. they also replaced the burned out third brake light bulb and showed me the filthy air filter. they did not have one in stock, but the technician offered to go to the O'Reilly's next door and get one. I declined, and told him I get a 10% discount at O'Reilly's due to my being a veteran. He told me it was an easy repair, and I informed him I used to be an auto mechanic in the '80's and can handle an air filter replacement even though I am now disabled. LOL. I could have saved the $12.00 they charged to replace the brake light bulb, but it was hot and the AC doesn't work in the Dodge (naturally) so I paid extra for the convenience. The aired up all the tires, topped off the coolant and doubled checked the oil level.
Now the car does not have any bug splatter on the front end, or bird poop on the roof and windows. Also the interior is all nice and clean. I am a happy camper. I always take my vehicles to Red Carpet when an oil change is due. And I always combine it with a car wash. Usually I get the next grade level up which includes the tire shine, but I have Armor All in the truck, and it needs it done too, so I might as well do both at the same time. Of course, I will wait until morning when the temps are cooler. I will post a pic or two once I get the tablet out there tomorrow.

 

You don't need it. It's about 50 degrees, with a 41 mph wind right now. The trees are shaking.

 

LOL Maybe where you are! It is going to be 93 degrees here. I want to get the AC working on both my vehicles, but it will have to be done one at a time since I spent so much on gas for the trip. Not sure which one to do first. Just praying one will not be very expensive so i can get them both done at once. However, I am never that lucky.

My Brother's 97 Stratus

And again, with the Ranger in the background.
The plan was to give it to my eldest grand son, but he has still not made an appointment to take his driver's test, and now I am getting an emotional attachment to it. Besides, I am already giving his mom the Toyota Sienna. It is in pretty good shape for it's age. It was pretty dirty when I got it, but the car wash cleaned it up. It has some paint peeling on the roof, and only one small dent on the right front fender just in front of the door. Runs good, just need the AC to work.

 

Maybe your grandson doesn't want to drive a Dodge family sedan. He could trade it for something fast & furious. When the other kids in school were building cars for Hot Import Nights, I was into Jeeping and offroading. But for whatever reason, I turned a wrench on just about every Honda with a loud muffler & stickers in my neighborhood. I still think that a Honda Civic is a good car for a young kid. It's economical, and easy to work on. Even if he doesn't want to turn a wrench, it will cost less to have it worked on. Up until last year, I owned a Honda. It was a '99, and I just wasn't driving it. Same reason I got rid of the '97 Explorer. As an ex-girlfriend told me: A rich guy has vintage cars, restored immaculately - You have old cars, that look like *****. I still have the pickup and the minivan. I need the minivan for when I want to wear khakis and a collared shirt.

 

93?

 

My grandson was given a Honda Civic CRX. But it was a recovered stolen car (his uncles). It sits in his uncles garage, and the whole family has encapsulated it with junk piled up high. They use the garage as a storage unit. His uncle has no motivation to fix the Honda. It needs pretty much everything, including trying to repair/replace the wiring under the dash. In any case, I was going to give the Dodge to my grandson, but now I think I will keep it for sentimental reasons. If/when my grandson moves in with me, he will be allowed to drive it once he gets his license, but I will retain ownership until I die. Same with the truck. I need that for the scooter hoist, but I have already told him I will give it to him when I die. As soon a I pay off the Toyota, and get the title, I will go to the DMV and have it transferred to my daughter. While there, I will have my grandson's name put on the Ranger title and maybe the Dodge title as well, so when I die, there will be no hassles as to who gets what. My 19 year old grand daughter is too scared to drive anything, so there is no reason to leave her a car.

Jim