Why I hate my car....

A few weeks ago, I took my car in for the 40,000 mile service. It also needed a brake job and to have the rotors turned. It wasn't ready on the appointed day because "we have to take it for a test drive before we return the car to you." That was the exact line.

I got it the next day and the brakes didn't work right. The steering wheel vibrated heavily as you tried to stop; the harder the stop the worse the vibration. I had to take it back.

After the second trip (brakes fixed), I put in gas and drove to work. The next start (and the VERY NEXT MORNING) the "Check Engine" light came on. I was told that I could possibly reset the light (as it may have been spurious) by removing the 20amp EFI fuse while the car was off. No big deal. I did it. It didn't work. Third trip to the dealer, they reset it. Made it about 4-1/2 miles when the light comes on again -- spurious my ass.

They assured me it wasn't a big deal, suggested I tried to reset it again, and gave me an appointment for the following week (this upcoming Thursday). Today I left my house around 840am, and I am 30+ miles from home and put gas in, and try to reset the light again. Unfortunately, in the midst of taking out the fuse and reinserting at (after the 30 second wait), I accidentally knocked out the EFI relay. It feel into the engine compartment and didn't fall through. A search by me, the station attendant, my friend Thomas, followed by vigorous shaking of the car failed to produce it. A trip to four auto parts stores all said "dealer only part" -- no dealers are open Sundays. The car will not operate without this relay. called the service number who asked why exactly I was playing in the box, and I told them. They were appalled at the fact I was told to do so. They sent me a tow truck (we shall not discuss towing fees) to tow me back to my house. It's now 230pm and I've not yet eaten today. [added 1/31/05: I had a second tow to the dealer this morning. They were 'shocked' to see me. As if. Anyway, they gave me a loaner. It got a nail in the tire. I now have my original car back. It appears to work

-- Eric

Heeeeeeere's Johnny....

I am saddened by the death of Johnny Carson earlier today. I grew up watching Johnny Carson. When I was younger, he was on past my bedtime and I used to stay up and hook headphones to my TV so I could listen anyway. He was the ideal and perfect talk-show host. He was comforting, intelligent, witty, sad, maudlin, cheerful, all on demand and when required. And, he was sincere. Always. He loved his guests and his guests loved him.

I am reminded of my favourite bit: the Great Carnac.

Question: "What goes sissssss, boom, bah?"

Answer: "An exploding sheep."

:)

::sigh::

-- E

In a bad mood....

I am in a bad mood right now. I don't know why, I just am. I was fine earlier today but now I'm just generally irritated. I just thought I'd let the world know, or at least the 2 or 3 people who bother to read my blog.

-- E

Ritchie's Revenge

WARNING: Do not drink liquid whilst reading this post. I am not responsible for damage to your surroundings. You've been warned.

Last night, my mother called with 2:07 left on the clock in the Steelers v Jets game (JETS SUCK). I told her I was watching football. All my friends and relatives know that is the universal "leave me alone and call back when the game is over" statement. But she insisted on talking, so I figured it must be important.

As she tells it: My mother has a very intelligent Siamese cat named Ritchie. She had just returned from work and fed Ritchie his brand new, expensive diabetic food. He took one bite of it, spit it out, turned around, sat in his bowl, and pissed on his food. (I was laughing uproariously at this story and thought that was it.)

But wait, there's more: My mother, as I mentioned, had just returned from work and was wearing an expensive velvet dress jacket. Anyway, mom was very upset with Ritchie, so she admonished him about his behaviour, and then tried picking him up. Whereupon, Ritchie pissed on her velvet jacket.

If you ever doubt your cat lacks the ability to prove he doesn't like his new food, this will cure you of any such thing. It's a day later and I still crack up thinking about it. The cat has spoken and will be obeyed.

-- Eric

Boogers, Blogs, and Browsers

Don't you just hate when my subject line in unrelated to the contents of the post? Should I stop? I'll take opinions on that. I'm back to Firefox. Happily, it now works with my bank's site. They didn't fix Firefox, so they must have fixed my bank's site. That was why I went back to Mozilla, in case you cared. I like Firefox so much better. You should all switch Right Now.

And, better yet, Firefox now has an add-on like the Google-bar. So that's fixed too. Life is good in the browser world. Firefox will work with all platforms: Mac, Linux, and PC. So you've got no excuse.

-- Eric

Cult of Mac

ISBN 1-886411-83-2

This is such a kick-ass book, I would encourage all my MacHead friends to go and buy it. If you're one of those "other" people who use that Windows trash, perhaps reading this book will help you understand why we MacHeads are so fanatical and loyal. Maybe we should call ourselves MacQuaeda?

"The Macintosh is more than a computer. It's a way of life." -- Steve Wozniak

-- Eric

Birthday Number 40 Redux

Hello:

Although it's nearly eight months away, my plans are now solidified and details will be going out within two weeks. The invitations are at the printer as we speak.

All my friends and family members should have already received an e-mail poll with the choices for locales. If you didn't get your copy, please let me know immediately! I've received well over twenty replies and have made a decision that should make everyone happy.

Although I am not prepared to reveal the winner, I will say the party will be held about a month early so more people can attend without needless conflicts in schedule. It will be between 7-22-05 and 8-8-05 with the exact schedule to be on the invitation. Besides the invitation, you will all be subscribed to an e-mail list with the particulars.

I'm excited, and hope to see you there.

Best,
Eric

Happy New Year -- Bye Bye Barry

Hello Loyal Reader[1]:

First, and foremost, I'd like to wish everyone who reads this blog a very Happy New Year. I'm posting this a day late because I was too tired yesterday to deal with a blog entry.

I am recovering from California's horrible loss to Texas Tech. At least we did it in the Holiday Bowl[2] where nobody really watched it instead of in the Rose Bowl where we'd have been mercilessly trashed by the press.

I also wish to send out condolences to the victims of the Tsunami because it's a huge tragedy. Help survivors and their families by making monetary donations to these organizations:

• American Red Cross International Response Fund
• AmeriCares South Asia Earthquake Relief Fund
• Direct Relief International International Assistance Fund
• Médecins Sans Frontières International Tsunami Emergency Appeal
• Oxfam Asian Earthquake & Tsunami Fund
• Sarvodaya Relief Fund for Tsunami Tragedy
• Save the Children Asia Earthquake/Tsunami Relief Fund
• UNICEF South Asia Tsunami Relief Efforts

Be sure and mark your donation to be used towards Tsunami relief efforts

Lastly, today marks the end of an era. Dave Barry's last weekly column was printed. He'll be missed by me and many of my friends who read his columns and often had liquid coming out of our noses in laughter. I know he says he might write a column if a cow explodes in a boat toilet, so I would encourage someone to do just that. He says he might come back, but I doubt it. He will continue to write books (yay) and the occasional column on topics that interest him.

Well that's it for this blog entry. I've got lots of big news coming in the next few weeks so you should check back soon.

Cheers,
Eric


[1] I assume I've got one. If there's more than one of you, add an "S" to the end. Somehow I doubt that's a reality.
[2] I will leave my rant about the f***ing BCS out of this post. Know that the BCS is almost as popular among Cal fans as several international terrorists.