I Should Be In Bed

It appears that I'll drive the Tepid Neon to work tomorrow.  The hood is black, but it's driveable, giving Monica's truck back to her.  If it does well, I'll be good to go.  We  may even have it back to all red in a couple of weeks.  Then, it will be luke-warm Neon.  LOL

Oh, and I had a Dr. appt this morning.  Why do you have to wait at least three times as long as you're seen by a medical professional?  I mean, it was an EARLY appointment!  How much could change in 45 minutes?  Go ahead.  Leave me half naked in a cold room for 20 minutes.  I don't mind.  That's not awkward at ALL!

Damn Stupid Idiotic Jerk Asshat Deer

I have cried more than I care to admit.  It's fixable.  It really is.  However, how much money do you put into a car with 190,000 miles on it?  I will NOT take on a car payment.  I can't.  If I buy something else, it has to be something I can buy without taking out a loan.  Anyone know of a reliable car that I can buy for $1.72?

I just don't know what to do.  We just got our finances figured out, and we're paying bills just fine and living, but "savings" is something I've only heard others talk about.  Heck, we weren't even well with bills until 3 months ago.  Now, were staying on track, but this is something that has us standing on our side porch, staring at a broken car with our jaws hanging open.

OK, so we'll get it back on the road as cheaply as possible, and decide what to do from there.  I am truly blessed.  My airbag didn't deploy, my car drove home fine, and my darling daughter loaned me her truck to get to work.  What if we didn't have her truck?  What if I had been hurt?  What if?

I *did* want to stop at that spot and kick that deer in the head a few times, and then take a picture (sorry, but I was mad,) but he was gone.  If he died, he didn't do it instantly.

Jerk.

Transportation

OK, mother!  Here is my 30 Day Photo Challenge post.  I'm too wiped out to do it properly, and I had some ideas, but they all fell flat.  I'll just post a picture of my baby.  The Smokin' Hot Neon.  If it wasn't for the SHN, I'd be unemployed.

Something Old

Yeah, it's old, but I love it.  It's my fuel-sippin' baby, and I wish I could drive it forever.  What's this about?  It's the 30 Day Photo Challenge!

Fixing my car

My car had an issue. It sounded a lot like a bicycle with a card in the spokes. The problem, as diagnosed by our neighbor/friend Jimmy, was a chunk out of a gasket between the manifold and the exhaust pipe. On Saturday, Kevin decided to take it to Dad's and work on it. I usually go along to be the gopher when he works on my car.

When we put it up, as high as the jack would allow, and then put a jack stand under it for stability, both left tires were off the ground. It was funny looking.

Kevin crawled under and got to work. The catalytic converter was still hot, so he may have uttered a bad word, but it was a mild one. I mostly saw this:

My job is to go for tools. He has to be pretty specific, but I'm good at it. If he says, "I need a 3/8" ratchet, longer than the one I have," or "I need a 1/2 wrench, open on one end, box on the other," I know what to get. That's what's nice about using Dad's shop. All I have to do is go over here:

After updating my facebook status to state that he wasn't cursing, he let out a short tirade, but I didn't tell. He did so good that I didn't want it to sound like he was a bad guy. A Neon is a tiny thing to work on, and he kept plugging away.

At one point, he barely touched Hawkeye's butt with the toe of his shoe, and said, "Hey, move over, Buddy." Hawkeye yelped like he'd been beaten, and hid out the rest of the day. Wussy dog. I know he's mostly deaf, and didn't know Kevin was there, but sheesh!

Finally, Kevin got the offending gasket off the stubborn car. The stock ones are a ceramic type of thing, but the new ones are shiny. Quite a difference.

In this one, you can see the missing chunk that caused all the noise.

When Kevin finishes working on a car, he is filthy. He is often covered in grease.

So, the car is fixed, and Kevin has since washed his arm. It sounds great now. Thanks Kevin!