d’oh!

Don't you hate it when you just keep hitting the snooze button on your alarm, and then before you know it, it's 5 minutes 'til you have to leave to get to work?

Yeah, I hate it, too. Super fast shower, throw on some clothes, feed the cats, dash out the door.... forgo stopping at QT to get breakfast & lottery tickets so as to not be late to work... I made it here by 10a, which is good.. but then once I get settled here at work, I realize I'd forgotten something..

....to put the phone next to the bed so when I call after 11a with a wakeup call, it's within earshot of a sleeping josh... (in case of faulty alarm clock or if he does the snooze button too often like I did)

Whoops. 😕

eBay auction

Well, the auction is over, and there was only one bidder. I kept hoping that someone was going to snipe the auction and there would be a mad frenzy of bidding between the sniping software and eBay's proxy bidding software (as long as the original bidder set a higher proxy bid), but alas, it was not to be.

Ah well, I'll say it again, I'm just glad someone was interested in owning one of my dragons. :o)

Now I just have to look for two boxes so I can double box it and then get it shipped out as soon as the bidder sends their payment.

R.I.P.

My mom called this afternoon to let me know that an aunt of ours had died the other day. She will be on her way to Kansas tonight with her cousin & his wife to attend the funeral tomorrow.

the many failures of CPS in AZ

This sort of thing makes me angry. How many times do these people have to "investigate" a report of abuse before they determine there is a danger to a child's well-being? How many of these kids will die when their original report gets shuffled to the side as unimportant, or unworthy of further investigation?

I know our governor wants CPS to be reformed and whatnot, but good god, she demanded this back in January, and it's now been eight months! In a situation as critical is this, one would think that the axe would fall and the incompetent workers would be shown the door while new ones were brought in to take their places, as quickly as possible... Procedures would be reviewed & revised and instituted ASAP...

I mean, granted I have no idea what kind of backlog this group has to tackle, but I'm sure there are outside sources that are eligible to assist with that. And wouldn't you have assumed that something like this:

Under the commission recommendation, families who refuse services from Family Builders would face an investigation by a CPS caseworker.

..would have already been a procedure written in stone? It only seems logical.

I know there are laws keeping CPS' hands tied in regards to investigations, what they can or cannot do during an investigation, etc... Wouldn't it seem prudent to make exceptions to the rule? I mean, how else are you going to prove or disprove whether a child is in danger if the parents are allowed, by law, to tell CPS to stick it where the sun don't shine when they come a'knocking?

I guess that kind of falls under the same umbrella as the police not being allowed to search your property without a warrant (requiring just cause), but frankly, when it comes down to determining whether a child is in danger, I think that alone is "just cause".

Feh. Maybe I don't completely understand CPS' position in this, but I do think they became too soft about how they handled their cases, aiming to keep families together rather than to hold up to their name, "CHILD PROTECTIVE Services".

yay!

yippee! Someone decided to bid on my dragon that I put on eBay the other day.....

auction

Granted they just took the opening bid, but hey, it's better than having to relist the little guy later and pay the listing fees again! Too bad I can't see what their proxy bid is.. I'd be curious to know just how much the bidder is willing to pay. Eh, oh well. 😊 I'm just happy someone bid.

a close call

So I was returning from eating dinner at my fiance's office, driving down a small semi-residential street north of Chandler Blvd (I say semi-residential because the only thing making it residential is one apartment complex, the rest are businesses) on my way back to my office, when I see flashing lights in my side mirror. (glance back) Huh? Oh shit! A cop! Worse, a bike cop. (quick look at my speedometer - almost 40mph), so I pull off into a business' parking lot, roll down the window, and turn off the truck...

mkay….

I talked to my dad about this whole Saturn-bend-me-over-and-demand-$1200 thing with the clutch, he about choked when I told him what their quote was. He made a phone call, called me back and said he knows someone who could do it for around $500, parts and labor.

Sometimes it pays to have a dad who works in the auto repair industry (he does body work mostly, dabbles a bit in engines & other stuff but tends to leave that mostly to the mechanics).

I think I'll still try to eek out as much life out of my clutch as I can before getting it replaced. And when it comes time for it being absolutely necessary to be done, I shall call on my dad's friend. Yay!

The rotors will be another issue. We'll just have to see how long these new ones go before warping. Hopefully it will be after I've traded in my car for a new one.

umm, maybe not?

In my previous entry I mentioned that we'd probably trade in my current car if we are able to buy me a new one next year.

Going to Kelly Blue Book, estimating for 150,000 miles on a '97 SL1 in "good" condition, my car is worth a whopping $1,475. I have to choose "good" condition because there are a few knicks in the paint (mostly on the hood from flying rocks, and one in the door from another car), and they may end up replacing the windshield (sand pitted) unless we do it first, and chances are they'll know about the "clutch" issue (if there really is one)...

If I were to stop driving my car right now, I'd get $1,625. Whoopee!

That is, of course, Kelly Blue Book's estimate. Dealers can always go higher if they so decide (like they did for the Nissan Xterra we traded in for the VUE, Blue Book estimated around $15K, Saturn offered $16K).

Well, off to go swap cars with Saturn. Now it's the VUE's turn, to get its left sway bar replaced. I think I'm going to grill the service advisor about my clutch, see how much more they'll tell me than what they did over the phone.

*sigh*

car woes

Anyone know any good, trustworthy mechanics?

Basically, I need a second opinion. While the Saturn guys had my car up in the air to do the brakes, they said they found that the quill bearing is leaking (not enough to leave anything on the ground) and that eventually my clutch will need to be replaced.... which will cost over $1000 to do (because they need to replace the quill bearing at the same time), and will be an all day or almost two day event.

?!?! I know the clutch is getting a bit squishy, but geeze. Oh, and they can't guess how long the car can go before absolutely needing it to be replaced. I did a little searching on the ol' in-tar-net and found this, which appears to be a similar situation that I now find myself in (except my car doesn't go through oil like there's no tomorrow). The "expert" there says don't let them do it. I won't, not until I get a second opinion, and if the giver of that second opinion can do it for a hell of a lot less, then they can have at it.

As for the bit about my brakes... they say the pads are at 80-85%, so those don't need to be replaced.. They say that they've not been worn unevenly. They tried to say they could resurface the rotors again (it's cheaper than replacing them by about $70), but since this set has warped for a second time in less than a year, I'd rather have them replaced.

Then, if they warp again, I guess I'll be taking the car to somewhere other than the dealership to find out why it keeps happening since my driving habits have not changed. I know what causes warping, heating of the rotors, but Saturn claims that the only things that could lead to that are quick stops or extended braking, neither of which I do on a regular basis (once in a while maybe, but certainly not every day). Ever the skeptic, Josh feels that there have to be other things that could lead up to that, and I'm beginning to agree. The question is, what?

At any rate, if the clutch really does need to be replaced, I hope it can hold out for about six months.. by then we may be able to just buy me a new car and the clutch will be someone else's problem (i.e. the dealership 'cause we'll likely just trade it in, although I'm not sure how much we'll get out of an SL1 that will, at that point, probably have almost 150K miles on it...)

brake check!

In about an hour, my car will be sitting at the dealership waiting to get its brakes & rotors replaced.

It's been needing to be done for about a month now, but I've been trying to put it off because of the cost, and other things that were costly that were being done first (two weeks ago: windshield for 2002 Saturn VUE = $400, because we haven't gotten glass insurance on either of our cars yet; one week ago: vet appointment for the two cats = $180, for their rabies, feline distemper, and feline leukemia shots). Now it is my car's turn for its brakes.

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