If you can’t tell exactly what it is (aside from being a laptop), it’s a 15” Apple G4 Powerbook.

Now we have two of these babies (Josh got one first).

And now our little Apple family is growing even more… I just agreed to let Josh buy this on eBay…

He used to have an “older” model of that type of Apple way back in ‘92 (puh, listen to me talking about “way back”.... heheh…), and just tonight found some games that are best played on that aged model of Apple (I think he called it, “abandonware”)... then found that SE on eBay for $40.  I guess you can’t really beat that price for something like that.  In the computer world, that’s practically antique!  I mean, monochrome, people!  These days, you only see monochrome on dummy terminals.  And old ATM machines.

But, I digress.

What I’m really drooling over and dreaming of owning someday, is THIS:

That, my friends, is a sweet, sweet 23” Apple Cinema HD Display.  They also have a 30” HD display, but shit, that’s like putting a television on your friggin desk.  23” is quite big enough.

But, alas, it costs as much as my Powerbook did… so, it must wait.  I can do that, I think.  I’m fairly good at waiting.  Usually.  :cheese:

A few years back, Josh, his best friend and I went on vacation to California.  This was the year that Goliath had opened at Six Flags Valencia, CA, and my co-workers had voted that I “face my fear” and ride that sucker.

It would be facing my fear because, well, that coaster is 255’ high at its peak, which in this coaster’s case, is the very first hill.  The one they crank the cars up ever.so.slowly.

I opted to sit next to Josh’s friend, rather than Josh himself, since his friend seemed to be a touch scared to go on the coaster too (Josh was jazzed about going on this thing), and I figured I’d be scared along with someone else who was.

I spent the entire time in line trying to calm myself, alternating between semi-calmness and fighting the urge to bolt from the line and head for “safety”.  That being, anywhere but in the line for the ride.

But I made a promise to my co-workers that I would ride this thing, and that we’d buy a picture to prove it.

So it comes our turn to board a car.  Josh’s friend and I take the forward seat (we were not in the first car.. I think I really would have chickened out had it been the first car), and Josh sat behind us.  So, away we go.

It seemed like it took forever for the cars to be pulled to the top of the hill.  I think that is probably what was the worst for me.  I started losing my composure as soon as we began the uphill climb. By about halfway up, I was blubbering like a little girl.

Yes, I cried.  I bawled like a baby.  I wanted off of that thing.  Of course, I wanted off even more when I made the mistake of looking down, realizing how high up we were climbing. 🐛

But everyone knows, except in dire emergencies, there is no getting off of those coasters until the ride is done.  So I continued to blubber & cry as we neared the top.  Then I started the pre-emptive screams.  Not the blood curdling kind—that came with the 45 degree drop—but the ones that come through clenched teeth.

The drop was virtually heart-stopping, and at the bottom you go just a bit lower than ground level, kind of underground through a short, dark tunnel, and then back outside for the rest of the ride… which is just a bunch more hills & shorter drops and sharp turns, but no loops.

When it was all done, my extremeties were tingly and my legs were wobbly.  I wasn’t crying anymore, but I was definitely glad the ride was over.  It wasn’t as bad as I was making it out to be, fear of heights aside.  I actually went on it a year or two later when we went to Six Flags again, that time with Josh’s mom & step-dad.  Didn’t cry on the way up that time, though.

Oh, and we did buy the picture that gets snapped just before the coaster enters the tunnel at the bottom of the first drop.  I’ve got it somewhere on my computer at home.. when I find it, I’ll upload & post it here for your amusement.  I was wearing sunglasses so you can’t really tell that I was crying, but believe me, I was.  Later, Josh & his friend wondered if the people who were in front of and behind us thought that the two of them were subjecting me to some kind of evil torture (I know at least one or two people looked back at me while we were on the uphill climb).  Heh.

She’s a ‘97, with over 140,000 miles on her.  Most of that (probably at least half) was probably accumulated in the first two years we owned her… as she was our only car, and we drove a good 30 miles one-way to work… then it went to about 40 miles one-way before we were able to get a second car (at that time, a Nissan Xterra).  She then became the back-up car since she had more mileage.  Definitely not economical in the gas sense, since the Xterra got about 20mpg, but he was new, so he got preference.

(I know all cars are typically considered as “female”, but in my opinion, small cars are “female”, larger trucks & SUVs are “male”.. that’s just how I see it).

Anyway, back to the little Saturn.  She’s not been in an accident the entire seven years (it’ll be 7 this August..) we’ve owned her, although she has her share of knicks & chips in the paint.  And a big black rubber smear on her hood as of a few months ago (flying chunk of tire).  The windshield has held up, it’s rather sand-pitted and has a minor crack at the bottom, but hasn’t had to be replaced yet (*keeps fingers crossed*).

She’s taken us to California and back a couple of times, and to Vegas and back a couple times (also where a good chunk of her mileage came from).

The only “major” issues we’ve had with her have been the brakes (although I think that’s more on the fault of Saturn’s crappy brakes rather than her), and the engine mount wearing down & becoming loose (it rattled pretty badly).  Oh, and a couple years ago, she got touchy about her gas gauge.. the light works, but the sensor is tweaked… So while the gauge correctly reads “full” when the tank is filled, and goes down to “E” like it should when the tank is low, the sensor doesn’t send the “hey, you’ve only got like 1.5 gallons of gas left!!” signal to the light to turn it on. 

We found this out the hard way (or Josh did, rather), when I took the VUE in for service and Josh followed in the little car.. and it ran out of gas… no light!  I thought it still had at least above the minimum before the light goes on, since, well, the light hadn’t gone on yet, but that wasn’t the case.  Dry as a damn bone.  And it was summertime, so he was stuck in a residental area (on a street that is nothing but a mile of fence walls as there are no houses facing the street), out of gas.  Fortunately we both have cell phones, so he called me… I had just pulled into the service bay and was about to surrender the VUE to the service guys when he called.  I had to borrow a gas can (5 gal. I think) from them with the promise it would be brought back (well, duh, I was bringing the VUE in for service, so of course I’d bring it back).  I filled it up, drove it the 1.75 miles to where Josh was stuck at the side of the road and we put the gas into little Saturn.  Fortunately that is what was wrong, it was out of gas.

I think when we took little Saturn to have the gas gauge checked out, they said that sensor alone was going to cost over $200, not including the labor costs… which those would be rather high since the sensor is IN the gas tank itself so they’d have to take it apart!

We haven’t had it replaced yet.  I just watch the trip meter and try to go no more than 340 miles on a tank (little Saturn gets great gas mileage… 33-40mpg, depending on the weather).

So anyway… today cost me $200.  “$200 for a battery?!” you might ask… Well, yes, and no.

The battery was pro-rated because it’s only been about two years, maybe less, since the last one was replaced.  On the paperwork, the cost of the battery was $53 and change.  I was told that “normally”, their batteries cost around $120.  🐛

Then, they also had to replace the battery cable.  Apparently it was corroded by battery acid (this has happened before.  In fact, I think it happened like that last time).  The cable was almost as much as the stupid, pro-rated battery.  $47 and change.

So the tally now is right about $100.  Can you guess where the other $100 is?  Why yes, that would be labor costs!  Actually, only $80 of that is actually labor costs.  $30 to replace the battery 🐛, and $49 to replace the cable.  I asked why so much to replace the cable?  They said, because it has to go all the way to the starter.  So, I guess it’s not exactly an easy thing to replace.

The rest was taxes, and a $10 oil change (‘cause she needed one).

If it weren’t for the damn corroded cable, I would’ve just taken little Saturn to AutoZone or Checker and had them replace the battery.  They probably wouldn’t have pro-rated it (since it was not purchased from them), but even still, I’m sure it would’ve cost less, and they don’t charge to put it in, as far as I know!  Or if they do, it’s minor compared to what Saturn picked out of my pockets.  Fuh.

Of course, a simple battery replacement wasn’t without more bad news.

The temperature sensor has cracked (again?!), and the engine mount is starting to wear down (again?!).  The engine mount I could give a fuck about, I don’t hear any rattling yet, so it’s gonna wait until I can hear it.  The temp sensor can be a problem, but really only if I’m stuck in traffic (since it won’t be able to tell the fan when to turn on when the engine gets hot, until nearly too late).  They also said it can affect how the car starts (misreading temps and causing mis-starts..).  That part itself is almost $100, and that isn’t including labor, either.  I was told that their new temp sensor is made of metal (the other one is made of a hard plastic or resin of some kind) so it won’t crack anymore.. it won’t necessarily prevent it from going bad, but at least it won’t crack.  Meh.  I’m not driving my car very much, so I’m not too worried about that part right now, either.

That was all the bad news for today, though.

The only other “serious” issue that may arise with continued driving, is the clutch.  Of course, they told me, what, sometime last year, maybe a year ago, that the clutch needed to be replaced ASAP.  I’m holding out on that for as long as I can, considering that bugger is going to cost us, at minimum, $500 to replace (over $1000 if I have Saturn replace it).  My car is barely worth $1500, so having to pay one to two thirds of its worth to replace a part, just doesn’t sit well with me.  I will nurse that thing along for as long as physically possible.  Or until we can get me a new car. 😜

Well, I have a couple trouble tickets to work, and a colleague is gettin’ antsy to play some poker (I don’t know why.. I cleaned him out last week)... so now that I’ve written a virtual novel here, I gotta git.

See, we have two cars, so technically that would not have been a problem.  Josh could go to work at the normal time (10am, for our shitty 12 hour shift), and I’d head on out after the sand was delivered, covering it with a tarp, and stopping at a couple of stores before work (for swimsuits, a padlock for the gate, and something else I can’t remember…).

Since the sand needs to be dumped on the driveway, per the request of the guy we’ve hired to put the pool together, I needed to pull my car out of the garage and park it on the street.

So, I get in my car, put the key in, and turn it.

*click* *click* *click*
What the?  Turn again…
*click* *click* *click*

For the uninitiated, that is the sound a car makes when it’s battery is pretty much dead.  At least that is the sound my car makes when its battery is dead.

Greeeaaaaaaat…..

My car is a standard transmission, and the driveway is sloped.  It gets pushed down the drive, and the clutch popped.  Car starts.  Yay!  Drive car around the neighborhood for a bit, in an attempt to charge the battery.  Return home, and park on the street.

I’ll just have to see if it starts again this morning.  If it doesn’t, I’ll be calling the dealership and enlisting their mobile tune-up service to come replace their damn battery.  My car isn’t under warranty anymore, but the battery isn’t very old, so I’ll get a pro-rated price, I think.

If it does start, my first stop (after getting gas), will be the dealership, to have the battery checked, and replaced if necessary.  Then on to the rest of my errands.

Getting up at 7am wasn’t quite so bad today, I guess… I’m not looking forward to tomorrow, though.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m excited about the pool being installed, but sheeeit, the guy wants to start work at 5:15a.m.  5:15!!  5:15a.m. sucks much ass to someone who normally wakes up at around 9:30a-10:00am.  Hell, sometimes as late as 11…

I can understand why, of course.  It’s to try to get as much work done before the oven we call Phoenix heats up to 100+ degrees before 9a.m.

Sick, isn’t it?  But that is why we have A/C here.  And that is why we’re getting a pool.  It will make the heat I hate so much a little more bearable.