Friday, February 13th, 2009
Oh, this is a good one.
So I was sitting here yesterday, nice and peacefully, working away when I received a phone call from my better half. She told me that the exhaust on her 1999 Honda Civic had fallen down and was dragging on the road. I asked if the open side was facing the front of the car or the rear. I wanted to know, because if it was facing the rear, she could drive the car, but if it was facing the front, she couldn’t. Being the smart lady she is, she had already looked and it was facing the front. Oh, lucky me.
The minute I got off the phone, I quickly put my cape on and ran downstairs to load up the car. I put my floor jack, a blanket and some string (I couldn’t find any wire) in the back of the car. I also grabbed some cutters. I raced down the road and drove for about two miles. Luckily, this all happened just as she turned off the main road, onto the back road we almost live on.
When I arrived, she was sitting in the car, chatting on the phone. She kind of gave me a smile and a wave. Man, remember the good ol’ days when people were hysterical when they were stuck on the side of the road? Not any more. Now, people pull out a lawn chair to grab a quick tan.
Anyway, I pulled my jack out and jacked up the car. I noticed that there really wasn’t anything to tie the pipe up to. The pipe was cold, so I just wrapped some string around it and pulled it towards the nearest fixture. I let her drive my car back to the house and I drove hers.
I have to tell you this…when I was pulling up the road at about 3 miles per hour, her car was very loud. It brought me back to the days when I used to drive cars like this…on purpose. What a silly time of my life. I felt like I was 16 again. I pulled in the driveway and was very happy to turn the thing off.
Earlier in the year, we made a decision that we weren’t going to fix the next big repair on this car. We were going to somehow get the car to the dealer, trade it in and buy a new one. There was a little part of my brain that wanted this to happen. I thought I had better at least look under the vehicle to see if this was going to be a big repair or a little one. One never knows with exhaust systems.
When I peeked under the car, I saw that the pipe between the one that comes down from the catalytic converter and the muffler pipe had broken in half. The pipe actually looked fine, it was the weld that rusted right through, or the area right next to the weld. While laying on the ground, I yelled out, “I can fix it!!!” I didn’t want to fix it, but I wanted the world to know that I, in fact, could fix it.
A few minutes later, I found myself on the phone ordering a new pipe, gaskets and bolt kits from NAPA auto parts down in Colchester. Everything came up to around $129. Not bad.
I told Laura about it and she thought that was just great. She really doesn’t drive the car all that much anymore, so the longer it lasts, the better. As I was sitting there telling her about it, I said, “I think it might be a good idea if I make sure I can get the old part off before I really commit to fixing this thing.” She agreed and we hit the garage.
I must tell you that working on a car in a garage is a little better than working on a car on a gravel driveway in the cold (like our old place). For some reason, every time something goes wrong with a car, it’s always during the winter. I have flashbacks of me changing the transmission of my Honda Prelude in the middle of a very cold February out in the driveway – in the dark. Those were the good ol’ days. I can still remember what sand and gravel feel like stuck to the back of my head. That really was a horrible, horrible time. Last night, working in a garage with warmth and a nice drop-light was certainly welcomed.
I had a little trouble getting the bolts off the exhaust joints. In the front, they were totally rusted on. In the back, they weren’t rusted at all, they just wouldn’t turn for anything. Good thing I had my trusted reciprocating saw. I cut the first bolt off and tried to get the second. When I realized the saw wasn’t working for the second bolt because I chewed all the teeth off the blade, I used my trusted grinder. What a treat. I buzzed that sucker right off and down fell the front part of the pipe.
-
-
Rusty exhaust resonator for 1999 Honda Civic DX
-
-
Cut exhaust pipe from 1999 Honda Civic DX
-
-
Ground down bolt from exhaust on 1999 Honda Civic DX
-
-
Rusty exhaust pipe joint with ground bolts from 1999 Honda Civic DX
-
-
New exhaust pipe attached to existing muffler pipe – 1999 Honda Civic DX
-
-
New exhaust pipe attached to existing rusty header pipe – 1999 Honda Civic DX
-
-
New exhaust pipe facing rear of car, showing rubber hanger – 1999 Honda Civic DX
The back was another story. I tried to grind the bolts off the back and they were giving me a really tough time. I got the bright idea that if I just cut the pipe and pulled the whole muffler off, I could work a heck of a lot easier away from the car. I did just that. I pulled the muffler off and clamped it down in new Wilton 5″ multi-purpose vise. I easily ground the bolts right off and was left with a nice easy project. I went inside and told Laura about my success.
This morning, I ran down to the auto parts store to pick up the parts. I came back, jacked her car up and replaced the pipe. It took about a half hour and that was because most of the time was taken jacking up the car and putting safety blocks under it. That’s always such a necessary pain in the butt. The pipe looks good though and the car is nice and quiet now. I am quite proud of myself.
Now, if that rusty front pipe goes, time for a new car. That pipe is attached to the catalytic converter and those bolts are really on there.
Related posts
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
Have you ever had one of those nights where everything was just way too fun? That’s what happened to me last night.
Around 8:30, I finished up dinner and walked back up to the kitchen to put the dishes in the dishwasher. I did a little tidying up and poured myself a nice glass of Brandy. Then, I took a small sip and walked up to my office for a little work. That is basically where the problems started.
I had a few more small sips of my drink and started getting into my usual 8:30 – 11:00 routine. A little work here and a little work there. I wasn’t doing anything all too serious, so I decided to turn some music on. Of course, I started listening to my new favorite band, “Days Of The New.” Seriously good music. Well, the next thing I knew, I had the music playing way too loudly and my drink was gone. The worst part about the whole thing is that I was halfway through a blog post. Let me just tell you this – it was magical.
I always worry about those types of posts. Good thing I never actually publish them because I mostly tell you what I really feel. Well, this time was a bit different. I finally started working on my story. Remember the one I told you about? It’s the one that’s going to knock your socks off. Yeah, I am trying to make this one worthy…worthy enough to be a chapter in my most unique book that my sister Lauren is going to put together for you.
I saved the post as a draft last night and just took a quick look at it. It’s not long; probably a few hundred words. I was quite surprised to see that it was better than I had hoped for. I would really like to post it, but I’m a little nervous about what people will think. It’s pretty odd at times. I’ll think about it. It isn’t that big of a deal because it’s just a prelude anyway. Maybe I’ll have my mother edit it before I do anything with it.
——
So Rob came over to the house tonight. I told him to remind me to get a picture of the two us us together so I could write about the visit, but he forgot. So, unfortunately all you ladies out there won’t get to see a picture of the two most handsome guys on the east coast. Maybe next time I’ll put the camera on the desk or something to remind me.
I think we had a really good visit. I gave Rob the house tour and then we talked business for a while. That was fun because I like seeing the fire in Rob’s eyes. He is a born entrepreneur…maybe even more than me. Let me remind you that it was Rob who was doing this stuff before me. He’s one of the people who came up with crazy ideas that actually made money long before I ever did anything. All I need to do this time is keep him on the straight and narrow and things should be fine.
After we talked business, we headed out to pick up some pizza and salads. That was cool, because I got to show him the new car and how it drove around these winter roads. I asked him if he saw the “driving in the snow” videos and he told me he hadn’t. So, I am linking to it right here. Michele, please pull him to the computer and have him click this link. Thank you.
The pizza was pretty good. The salads were pretty good. Typical stuff, but Rob liked the thin crust.
After we were done eating, I thought it would be a good idea to load up a big bag with about 42 empty beer bottles. I am giving them to Rob, so he can use them for his beer making. I am also letting him borrow the capper and some caps. I gave him 6 of my prize-winning beers too. We cracked one of the chocolate ones open and I have to tell you that they are tasting much better these days. Very full of body.
As Laura and I were saying good-bye to our dear friend, we made a vow that we wouldn’t let another year go by without seeing each other again. We have way too good of a time together to let these years pass by so fast like this. After all, we are only an hour and a half away.
Related posts
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009
I played a little tennis this morning. I didn’t know if I was going to make it, because the weather was kind of rough out there. I gave the club a call about 45 minutes before the clinic started and they let me know it was “on.” If I tell you one thing today, let it be that I love all-wheel-drive. This is like the tenth time I spun all four wheels going up the driveway. I keep doing it because it’s so much fun. This X5 freakin’ rules. I drive around in the snow like it’s nobody’s business. It also has descent control, so when I want to get back down the driveway, all I do is push a button.
I showed up on time, but the others were late. That was fine with me, because it gave me a chance to become acquainted with the ball machine. Man, about 5 minutes with that thing and I was whooped. I really need to get out there more. The older I get, the worse it becomes.
Laura has been talking about a treadmill lately, so I have a feeling that is going to be making its way into the basement. There are days when we can’t walk because of the weather. I tell her that I have an allergy to the whole “exercise at home” thing. I have seen basements full of rarely used equipment all my life. I have to give her credit though, she is beating up that Bowflex. I have never met someone who actually does what she says like this. Amazing.
Tennis was fun. There were only three of us, plus the pro. Small groups are always a good time and we used our time wisely. I am still practicing my forehand, so things are a little weird, but I expect to get it one of these days. I remember back when I was on the swim team over at the town beach. I was the worst one in the whole group at freestyle. I was doing 22 second laps. I went to visit a family friend in Long Island with my father one weekend and practiced swimming in their pool. When I came back, I was doing 16 second laps. I remember the look on the coach’s face…”WHAT?” That ended up being my best stroke. I’m tellin’ ya Mike, I’m tellin’ ya.
In between other things for the past few days, I have been painting the purple room. If you forget what the purple room looks like, you can check it out here. It’s the one that’s purple. I decided to get off my duff and start painting upstairs of the house. It took a while, but I’m doing it. I cleaned out the room, painted it and then moved my office in it tonight. Here, you can take a look…
Office
Oh, you know I went down to the flooring place in town. I was going to go all out with the top floor, one room at a time. I was first going to put down new carpeting in each room, then I lost heart at during my visit. I brought back samples of pre-finished hardwood. It only took a few hours for me to completely change my mind and lose all motivation to turn this into a multi-week project. If we ever want to re-do the floors, we’ll do them. For now, we are only going to worry about paint.
By the way, can you believe I have that much stuff in the little office? Geez.
Now that the old office is cleaned out, we can start painting in there. After that, the bedroom and finally, Laura’s office. It will probably be spring by that point, so I’ll be outside for the rest of the season.
After I was finished moving all the furniture, I went downstairs to grab myself a glass of Brandy. I must tell you, after tasting that Scotch, I have admitted that I am a Brandy man. It’s the whole, “after dinner” thing, I think. It’s just the way I am. I don’t need any more hair on my chest.
I did a little looking around and decided that perhaps someone should buy me a nice bottle of Christian Brothers XO Rare Reserve Brandy. I would really like that. If you want to just drop it off, cool. If you want to meet me someplace, I can do that, just let me know when.
Finally, let’s talk about music. I am done organizing my albums into nice, neat folders on my computer (backed up, of course). I have a whole slew of them and they are mixed with most of Laura’s. She still has a while to go. As I was sitting here in the new office tonight, drinking my Brandy, I decided to cruise through some of the folders. I knew what all my albums were, but there are some of Laura’s that I really am not all too familiar with.
I first listened to one of my favorites, Christopher Cross. Then, after that was done, I opened one of hers. I listed to the first part of the first song and decided to give it a chance. I was in the middle of working, so I didn’t notice all that much after that, until the third song. It was “Days Of The New – Enemy.”
Now, I know you are chuckling under your breath, mumbling that I am not as “hip” as you are when it comes to music. You’re probably right, but I have already gotten over it. I really like the song and I would like to share it with you. Enjoy. (You’ll have to click here to see it. They disabled embedding.)
Related posts
Wednesday, December 17th, 2008
I am absolutely terrible at recognizing milestones. It’s a wonder I remember anything. If it wasn’t for technology, I would be lost. Wait a second, technology is the reason I need to remember everything…hmmm. That’s sort of like an oxymoron. Maybe more like an enigma wrapped in a riddle. I’ll stop now.
I wanted to announce the fact that my new car passed the 1,000 mile mark. Well, that should have happened a few weeks ago, because there is something like 1,300 miles on it now. Okay, that one is gone.
Here is the real milestone that I missed. I actually wanted to have a party. My blog…this blog, now has 1,011 posts!!! Yay. I am sure that broadcasting this would have been a heck of a lot more exciting if I was announcing a nice round number like 1,000, but I guess 1,011 will have to do.
So, what do you think about that? I’m kind of psyched (that’s an 80s word for excited).
Related posts
Monday, September 15th, 2008
This article was written by Jay G on behalf of MotoClassifieds.US, a popular auto classifieds website.
Is selling a car privately a hassle? Not anymore. We already know about the popularity of classifieds sections in newspapers and magazines, but with the advent of websites devoted completely to online auto classifieds, things have gotten much easier. Gone are the days of having to wait until Monday morning to catch a customer service representative on the phone to place your ad.
Auto Classifieds – What are the Benefits? Do They Work?
That’s a pretty good question. For as long as I have been alive (and that’s 34 years), I have seen “Used Car For Sale†ads at every corner. These days, it’s one of the most popular online classified genres, not to mention being very popular with newspapers, magazines, radio and television.
Let me start this off with a short story. I had an “auto related†experience a few months ago.
In early January of this year, I was in the market for a new car. Since I have driven a Honda Accord as my two previous cars and a Honda Prelude as the one before that, I pretty much knew what I was going to buy. I dabbled with the thought of getting a BMW 5 Series, but I wasn’t ready for something so expensive. Maybe I’ll get the Beamer next time.
On January 3, I visited my local Honda dealer and was quite ready to drive home in something new. That day, I drove on the lot in a 1998 Honda Accord V6 and was planning on driving off the lot in a 2008 Honda Accord V6. Obviously, I was going to trade my car in. Before my trip to the dealer, I looked up the value of my 1998 Accord on KBB. They valued the car at around $3,500. I was slightly shocked, because I thought the car was worth more than that. I mean, this was my baby. This was the car I had taken such good care of over the years. But, if that is what the car was valued at, who was I to argue?
Upon choosing the make and model of the Accord I wanted to purchase, I entered negotiations with the salesperson. I was told that the dealership would give me $1,500 to trade in my 1998 Accord. As you could imagine, I got red in the face and threatened to walk out. They raised the price to $2,000, but I still argued for a bit. After a while, I realized they weren’t going to budge from that price, so I caved. Sound familiar? Has something like this ever happened to you?
Now, can you guess what everyone said to me after I told them of my experience? I’m sure you can. They said, “You know, you could’ve gotten a heck of a lot more money for your car if you had sold it yourself.†Gee, really? Of course I could’ve. I mean, everyone knows that dealers don’t give you as much as the car is worth. Why is that? It’s because of all the costs associated with prepping a car to sell on their lot. If it’s an older car, they can’t even sell it and it goes to auction. To be honest, I am not even sure what the dealerships do with some of the cars they take as trade-ins. I have heard stories about people getting $1 for the car they gave to the dealer.
So, I’ll admit that I could’ve made more money if I had sold my car privately. The question is why I, and so many others, lose money to trade their cars in. The answer to that question probably has something to do with convenience. We don’t want to deal with the hassle of a private sale.
Is selling a car privately a hassle? Not anymore. As I stated above, we already know about the popularity of classifieds sections in newspapers and magazines, but with the advent of websites devoted completely to online auto classifieds, things have gotten much easier. Gone are the days of having to wait until Monday morning to catch a customer service representative on the phone to place your ad. You can now access an auto classifieds website any time you want, from the comfort of your own home. You can write a description, upload a photo, add any features you want and pay by credit card within a matter of minutes. Some websites even offer the entire service for free. Either way, your ad will be live when you are finished. It will also be accessible to anyone from anywhere.
Now that we have that cleared up, let’s go over some of the benefits of selling your used car online:
- Convenience. Auto classified websites offer “any time, any place†type of convenience.
- Reach. By place your car ads online, you will virtually be reaching buyers across the globe. Too many people? Don’t worry; these websites have tools to narrow down a potential buyer’s search.
- Account management. You can place, edit and delete your ad any time you wish with your own private account management tool.
- Popularity. These days, more and more buyers are turning to the web to search for their new rides. Many of them don’t even (and never have) read the newspaper.
- Multiple ads. Many auto classifieds websites allow sellers to place multiple ads, oftentimes for a discounted price, or for even no cost at all.
- Help. Many websites have online tutorials or help pages that assist you in selling your car.
- Multiple venues. When you advertise your car on one classified website, oftentimes your ad will show on related websites as well. It’s these “viral†relationships that get much more exposure for your ad.
As you can see, there are many benefits to placing your used car for sale online. Do the online ads work? Well, that first depends on the ad itself. If you write a strong description, show a good photo and offer a fair price, I wouldn’t see why not. If everything is lined up, I would think you would have a successful sale within a matter of days or weeks.
Related posts
Monday, June 16th, 2008
Seven Ways to Save Energy by Saving Water
Though many states and localities are waking up to their water shortages and taking steps to plan for “peak waterâ€, people generally continue to waste water and to ignore the energy-water link.
New Material Absorbs Light Completely And Generates Electric
A partnership between Duke University and Boston College turned out to be very beneficial for the science world, as they obtained a metamaterial that absorbs all the light it gets (yes, it becomes invisible) and that is supposed to generate energy more efficiently than the solar cells.
Civic Outsells F-150 for First Time Ever
Go little Civic, go!
How To Heat Up Solar
It seems incredible then that the U.S. Senate has again failed to pass a bill that would extend solar tax credits to build new power plants.
Prius is Now the Most Searched New Car on Cars.com
Cars.com has announced that for the first time ever, the Toyota Prius has become the most searched for new vehicle on the popular vehicle classifieds site — surpassing long time favorites such as the Accord and Camry. The Prius first appeared in the top 10 most searched vehicles list last summer.
Related posts
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
Today was an adventurous day for us. We had to go to the DMV to get our Connecticut drivers licenses. That in itself was an adventure. Now, we need to update our car insurance and go back to register the cars here. The thing that really stinks is that I just paid for a new registration for my old car, then got a new car and paid again. Now, I have to pay all over. I wish they would pro-rate a refund for me. Fat chance of that happening.
We also went to Home Depot to get the new mailbox supplies. As I said in an earlier post, I got the new post, a mailbox, some Thompson’s Water Seal, some cement and the brass post numbers. I think that’s it. I mean, I got some other stuff too, but none of it relates to this story. Ok, I’ll tell you what else I got…a new rake, a rake handle that I broke the other day and a 5 gallon, plastic gas tank. Satisfied?
I got the post all soaked with the water seal, then nailed on the numbers. Then, I cut a piece of scrap wood and screwed it on to the post and then screwed the mailbox onto the scrap wood. I am a real carpenter. I did have another job before me though, and that was to get the old mailbox out of the ground. I had no idea how it was installed.
I went up to the road with my shovel and started digging. Then, I noticed some rocks that were cemented together. I had to walk back down to the garage to get my sledgehammer. I walked back up and broke the rocks and cement apart with the hammer. That was pretty easy. Ok, so I started wiggling the mailbox post, trying t pull it out of the ground. Oh, no, not that easy. I first had to dig some more dirt out, only to find more cement down at the bottom. I dug and dug and finally got the whole thing out. I kind of made a bigger hole than I thought I would. Honestly, I thought would just go up there and pull the sucker out and use my post hole digger to widen the hole a bit. Now, I had a two foot hole across. Whatever. I used the post hole digger to dig down a few inches, so the new mailbox was the proper height, whatever that is. It looked good to me.
Cement time…I went back down to the garage and mixed up the bag of cement I got in the wheelbarrow. I brought that up and cemented the whole base of the post. I threw in some rocks and dirt on top of th cement. Then, I used my level about 30 times to make sure the post was perfectly level. I stomped the dirt down and…
…there you have it. The most level mailbox post on the whole road. You can’t tell me that’s not the most perfect install you have ever seen. Sometimes, I need to just pat myself on the back (since no one else will).
Related posts
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
The other day, during our Connecticut trip, I passed the 1000 mile mark in my almost new car.
I was wondering when this was going to happen, since it’s been a while. I think I’m doing pretty well, considering I bought the car on January 3rd and hit 1000 miles on March 3rd. That’s about 500 miles per month. Not bad for saving gas.
Related posts
