Just call me the master of troubleshooting. My car has been running crappy for a long time now. Last night I finally fixed it. The main problem? Spark plugs! I ended up replacing so many things, none of which cured it's major hesitation when you press the gas pedal. I started thinking about it, and here's a list of the things I replaced, in order of replacement: Air filter, both oxygen sensors (yes, it has two of them), crankshaft position sensor, throttle position sensor, fuel filter, spark plugs, and spark plug wires. Ka-CHING! The thing is, everything I replaced, with the exception of the throttle position sensor and air filter, improved it a little. I'd say the sensor didn't need to be replaced at all, but pretty much everything else did. What goaded me into action to begin with (the proverbial Straw that Broke the Camel's Back) was the fact that the car started randomly dying and misfiring. That was the crankshaft position sensor. When I changed the plugs last night, I was amazed at how burned they were. The center electrode was so far gone that the gap had become wide enough that it's a wonder the spark jumped it at all. During the changing of the plugs, two of the plug wires broke, so I had to add a set of those to the end of the list. I've got an app on my iPod that I use to monitor everything about all the cars, including making it super easy to watch the gas consumption. The last 3 times I've filled up have netted me 34 or 35 mpg, and that was running crappily (I love inventing words that should have existed all along)! Now that it's running as it should, there are two mpg outcomes: Either the mileage will go up because the car needs less gas pedal and runs so much better, or I will be pressing the gas pedal and enjoying the power so much that the mileage will go down. I'm predicting the latter scenario to begin with... Followed by the former.
My mom called the other night with news that she has a spot of cancer that was found during her gynecological exam. She was hesitant to explain it fully, but from what I gathered it must be just inside her vaginal opening. She's lucky she has an observant doc. If memory serves me, she's going in specifically to have the spot checked or whatever they do today. I'll get more information on that. The last thing anybody needs in my family is my ill-health, crotchety, Jekyll & Hyde ol' man outliving my mother. That would be tough to take.
Blogs, blogs, blogs. If this one isn't enough, I went and added the 365 blog a while back. Then I added the Leftovers blog a couple weeks ago to have a place to showcase pictures that I liked but didn't really have a place for. Now I'm working on yet another blog! This one will be to chronicle the ever-changing city of Auburn. I got the idea while reading posts from fellow classmates on Facebook, many of which no longer live here. A lot of things have changed about Auburn since we graduated in 1974, and a lot of things haven't, and my love for taking mediocre pictures is perfect for such a blog. In my opinion, the city is being ruined by the current elected officials and their underlings, and it feels almost as if I need to get it all down while the city even exists. I know it's not that bad, but at times it seems like it.
Now Rachyl and Tony are our new neighbors! Tony outdid himself on his work ethic when it came down to working that house over before they moved in. They did a huge amount of work, totally transforming the place. It was almost as if they moved into a new house, freshly built! This event touches many of us. They have been living with Denny and Heather so long that little Hunter has literally had Rachyl as an in-house "parent" most the majority of his life. Denny and Heather have never really had the house to themselves since they moved in until now. Now they can both be regular "walk-around-the-house-in-your-underwear-if-you-want-to" folks. Now they can rethink and revamp their whole house to suit their current needs and wants. All the stuff that Rachyl and Tony own has been stored at Denny's house, Kevin's house, and our house (in the garage). Now we all have our space back. Since I've lived here the side of the garage that houses my stuff (Harley included) has been partly a storage unit. Space was tight. Now I can start transforming it into my space.
I'm looking forward to flying to Kauai with Suz next week! I really need a vacation, and what better place to visit when we've had such an "iffy" summer than Hawaii right?
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