I'm back again from Virginia. We all had a nice time down there. And I actually got a little color. However, the pleasure of our trip was pretty much slapped out of us when, about 30 minutes from home, the battery light came on the car, which indicated that there is some problem somewhere. Nice. Then later, the engine light came on, which is even worse. So this morning we took it back to Saturn bright and early. This is the 4th time. FOURTH. We've had the car less than 3 months. Now something else needs to be replaced. The mechanic told me twice what it was, but damn if I can remember it. Todd and I are just absolutely frustrated beyond belief. This bullshit with the car has seriously drained us. I mean I've been feeling pretty much terrified to even drive the damn thing.
Maybe I shouldn't even be complaining; it's not like I've had to pay for any of these repairs. The only thing I've had to pay for was insurance on the rental cars that we've had. But geez, a 2007 model car with 3000 miles on it should NOT be having all these problems. It's a total pain in the ass. So, today we have yet another rental. This time it's a Chevy Tahoe, a.k.a. Chevy GLPTBAMVOTPSTH (Good Luck Parking The Biggest-Ass Motherhumping Vehicle On The Planet, Save The Hummer). We're probably going to get like 11 miles to the gallon with it. But it's STILL better than Vlad.
I can't believe my Vermont vacation is less than 2 weeks away! Where did the time go? I hope our car is actually functioning properly by the time we leave. :-( I really don't want to go up there driving a Chevy GLPTBAMVOTPSTH.
So I'm just waiting for a couple of things to arrive in the mail and then I can send off the package to my Dog Days of Summer Dishcloth Swap spoilee! This swap has been SOOO much fun! I took pictures of the things I made and will get them up here asap. I did a lot of knitting recently and am really pleased!
More later!
Showing posts with label Car. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Car. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
I Have Returned
Todd and I went on a mini-vacation for about 4 days to his parents' place in Hague, VA. It was nice to get away from work and vomiting cats for a little while. But alas, I am back at the grind.
Just a couple of things to update everyone who might read this:
1) The car, I think --- I mean, I hope against all hope--- is fixed, finally. For reals.
2) Sophie has been taking her anti-biotic in liquid form mixed in with straight-out-of-the-can-real tuna fish. So she's on the mend in that regard. However, we learned that she has Hyperthyroidism. For the last 2 years or so, Sophie's weight has been steadily, although not dangerously, decreasing. Keep in mind that Sophie was once a 23-pound cat; and not too long ago, either. Yeah. Sophie the Hutt. Anyhoo, when we took her to the vet last week to get her looked at for her 3rd respiratory infection this year (nice), she weighed in at 13 pounds. Actually, weight-wise, she looks awesome. Not fat, but not all scrawny either. Well, some blood work revealed that the weight loss is attributed to the over-active Thyroid, but that we were catching it early. So she's going to be fine. Now, I know I should not say this, but...
WTF? I WANT THAT. It's SO freakin' unfair! Why not me?? No, see, I have to get the OTHER thyroid problem: Hypothyroidism. The one where your joints ache and you feel exhausted all the time and can't lift your arms above your head and you can't tolerate temperatures below 40 degrees or over 80 degrees and you have virtually no libido at all. No. Shut up. I mean it. NONE. AT. ALL. I feel like a ficus tree. And you gain about 10-15 pounds a year despite eating like 800 calories a day because your metabolism is that fucked up. Yeah, THAT one. Welcome to my shitty world.
Sigh. Whatever.
Also, I am about 1/3 done yet another baby blanket for my sister. It's done in a mock cable pattern that I found on the Dishcloth Boutique site. This is it. It looks super as a blanket. When I get a little further along, I'll take some pictures. I might just abandon the houndstooth one. Well, it's a real big pain to knit because it is curling up something awful. I honestly do not feel like picking-up and knitting a border around all that, with no guarantee that it will make the curling stop. And you can probably tell how much I want to start it over....
Oh! I got my match for the Dog Days of Summer Dishcloth Swap. This is going to be awesome. I am so looking forward to it. I love making dishcloths! They take no time at all and it's a great way to try out a new or more-advanced pattern without wanting to rip your hair out.
Can't believe my Vermont vacation is less than a month away! Man this summer is flying by.
Just a couple of things to update everyone who might read this:
1) The car, I think --- I mean, I hope against all hope--- is fixed, finally. For reals.
2) Sophie has been taking her anti-biotic in liquid form mixed in with straight-out-of-the-can-real tuna fish. So she's on the mend in that regard. However, we learned that she has Hyperthyroidism. For the last 2 years or so, Sophie's weight has been steadily, although not dangerously, decreasing. Keep in mind that Sophie was once a 23-pound cat; and not too long ago, either. Yeah. Sophie the Hutt. Anyhoo, when we took her to the vet last week to get her looked at for her 3rd respiratory infection this year (nice), she weighed in at 13 pounds. Actually, weight-wise, she looks awesome. Not fat, but not all scrawny either. Well, some blood work revealed that the weight loss is attributed to the over-active Thyroid, but that we were catching it early. So she's going to be fine. Now, I know I should not say this, but...
WTF? I WANT THAT. It's SO freakin' unfair! Why not me?? No, see, I have to get the OTHER thyroid problem: Hypothyroidism. The one where your joints ache and you feel exhausted all the time and can't lift your arms above your head and you can't tolerate temperatures below 40 degrees or over 80 degrees and you have virtually no libido at all. No. Shut up. I mean it. NONE. AT. ALL. I feel like a ficus tree. And you gain about 10-15 pounds a year despite eating like 800 calories a day because your metabolism is that fucked up. Yeah, THAT one. Welcome to my shitty world.
Sigh. Whatever.
Also, I am about 1/3 done yet another baby blanket for my sister. It's done in a mock cable pattern that I found on the Dishcloth Boutique site. This is it. It looks super as a blanket. When I get a little further along, I'll take some pictures. I might just abandon the houndstooth one. Well, it's a real big pain to knit because it is curling up something awful. I honestly do not feel like picking-up and knitting a border around all that, with no guarantee that it will make the curling stop. And you can probably tell how much I want to start it over....
Oh! I got my match for the Dog Days of Summer Dishcloth Swap. This is going to be awesome. I am so looking forward to it. I love making dishcloths! They take no time at all and it's a great way to try out a new or more-advanced pattern without wanting to rip your hair out.
Can't believe my Vermont vacation is less than a month away! Man this summer is flying by.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Worth Repeating
Marsha: So what kind of car did they give you?
Me: It’s a dumb-ass Chevy Impala. We hate it.
Marsha: If I ever got stuck with an Impala, I’d have to nickname it Vlad. Vlad the Impala; just to make it tolerable.
Me:
L
M
F
A
O
I won't go into all the gory details leading up to that quoted text above. Suffice it to say that I had a recurring issue with my Saturn Vue Hybrid, which is now fixed (the fuel pump needed to be replaced). And while my lovely, red, darling of a vehicle was at the dealer being repaired, Saturn paid for a rental from Enterprise, which was a shitty-ass, silver Chevy Impala.
Awful, awful car. Let me count the ways:
First of all, it smelled weird. I don't know if they used Febreeze or what in there but it had a mildly sickening, sweet smell that kind of made me nauseous. Sort of like "vanillaesque fakey strawberryish."
Second, the key-less entry system did not work. We had to manually unlock and lock all the doors. It was a pain in the ass.
Third, the PNRD123 shift was behind and to the right of the steering wheel, a la the 1978 version of the Chevy Impala. It was tricky, too. Hard to maneuver and wonky, it would get stuck sometimes.
Fourth, the most sensitive breaking system on the planet. In fact, if the brake pedal even sensed that your foot was coming close to it, it would break, thus thrusting you forward into your seatbelt. Couple that with that vomit-inducing smell in the car and you have a real swell driving experience! NOT.
Fifth, where the fuck are the windshield-wiper controls?????????
Sixth, the gas pedal was so unyielding that you need the strength of Methuselah to bear down on it. I mean really. Getting the damn car to accelerate past 20 mph required me to bear down as much weight as I could muster from a seated position.
Seventh, thank CHRIST the headlights were already set on "auto" because I don't think even Stephen Hawking could figure out how to turn them on.
Eighth, even though I had the air-conditioner fan set to release air ONLY to the top of the car (dial was turned to the "head" portion only), it still came out wherever the hell Vlad felt like distributing the cold air. This was particularly annoying on my 40-minute trip to one of my knitting get-togethers, as it poured out cold air right on my right shin. Yes, that's right, my DRIVING LEG. So not only was the tibialis anterior on my right leg pumped like Schwarzenegger's from the resistance of the gas pedal, but it was also frozen solid.
Ninth, because of the way you had to work the brake and gas pedals, i.e., barely touch the brake and alternatively try to STAND UP ON the gas pedal, the driving position in the car was just horrible. After just 10 minutes of driving, my lower back was screaming bloody murder.
Tenth, the radio barely worked. Anytime you can't get a clear-sounding KYW1060 am on your radio, and you live within 50 miles of the city of Philadelphia, then that is one shitty-ass radio.
Me: It’s a dumb-ass Chevy Impala. We hate it.
Marsha: If I ever got stuck with an Impala, I’d have to nickname it Vlad. Vlad the Impala; just to make it tolerable.
Me:
L
M
F
A
O
I won't go into all the gory details leading up to that quoted text above. Suffice it to say that I had a recurring issue with my Saturn Vue Hybrid, which is now fixed (the fuel pump needed to be replaced). And while my lovely, red, darling of a vehicle was at the dealer being repaired, Saturn paid for a rental from Enterprise, which was a shitty-ass, silver Chevy Impala.
Awful, awful car. Let me count the ways:
First of all, it smelled weird. I don't know if they used Febreeze or what in there but it had a mildly sickening, sweet smell that kind of made me nauseous. Sort of like "vanillaesque fakey strawberryish."
Second, the key-less entry system did not work. We had to manually unlock and lock all the doors. It was a pain in the ass.
Third, the PNRD123 shift was behind and to the right of the steering wheel, a la the 1978 version of the Chevy Impala. It was tricky, too. Hard to maneuver and wonky, it would get stuck sometimes.
Fourth, the most sensitive breaking system on the planet. In fact, if the brake pedal even sensed that your foot was coming close to it, it would break, thus thrusting you forward into your seatbelt. Couple that with that vomit-inducing smell in the car and you have a real swell driving experience! NOT.
Fifth, where the fuck are the windshield-wiper controls?????????
Sixth, the gas pedal was so unyielding that you need the strength of Methuselah to bear down on it. I mean really. Getting the damn car to accelerate past 20 mph required me to bear down as much weight as I could muster from a seated position.
Seventh, thank CHRIST the headlights were already set on "auto" because I don't think even Stephen Hawking could figure out how to turn them on.
Eighth, even though I had the air-conditioner fan set to release air ONLY to the top of the car (dial was turned to the "head" portion only), it still came out wherever the hell Vlad felt like distributing the cold air. This was particularly annoying on my 40-minute trip to one of my knitting get-togethers, as it poured out cold air right on my right shin. Yes, that's right, my DRIVING LEG. So not only was the tibialis anterior on my right leg pumped like Schwarzenegger's from the resistance of the gas pedal, but it was also frozen solid.
Ninth, because of the way you had to work the brake and gas pedals, i.e., barely touch the brake and alternatively try to STAND UP ON the gas pedal, the driving position in the car was just horrible. After just 10 minutes of driving, my lower back was screaming bloody murder.
Tenth, the radio barely worked. Anytime you can't get a clear-sounding KYW1060 am on your radio, and you live within 50 miles of the city of Philadelphia, then that is one shitty-ass radio.
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