Kevin's Watch

Today was a bit of an odd day. Spent the better part of the day trying to return some more ancient parts I unearthed in the back of the parts shed. I was having a hard time getting Shawn's help but then Adam showed up and he helped me knock them out. Then I had to deal with some parts snafus that came up. I ordered a bunch of used parts for this older Nissan and they showed up yesterday from LKQ and they were all supposed to be left side parts and they were all boxed as left side parts but they were all right side parts in the boxes. I spent quite a bit of time fixing that and hopefully I will still be able to get the car out by Friday. It's going to be close.

Gotta go, I'll post more later...

It was a much needed fun and yet relaxation filled weekend. Friday night I went to a party at my friend's house, Danlo and Lady Tam were there. I brought Moose and he got to run around with his dog buddies. Saturday I hung out with Danlo and Lady Tam again and we started a new jigsaw puzzle and made spaghetti, salad, garlic bread for dinner with caramel mousse and whipped cream blondies for dessert. Then today I did some laundry and Danlo and gang came down to my place for some swimming and hanging by the pool and then we went out to a cool pub for dinner. Now I am home and sitting on the patio and tired but not sleepy. Hopefully I will get sleepy soon since I have to ork tomorrow...

I'm orking right now.

--A

Jenn - what is LKQ?

I need less ork and more play.

HAAHAHAHA!!! Orking.... LKQ is a national network for used, reconditioned and aftermarket parts for automotive. Most insurance companies use LKQ parts because they carry certified parts that are guaranteed under special warranties.

Today was also odd. Came in this morning to find that someone had cut through the fence and stole the wheels and tires off a van and one of the enterprise rental cars. Then Shawn's son calls and he got in another accident today just two weeks after the last one. Then my tow-in came in and it's a 2014 Ford but it's just TRASHED and I mean TRASHED. The tow truck driver did not leave the key on the counter as asked so I went out to look in the car and it was one of those smart key cars that won't start if the fob isn't in the near vicinity of the push button. I looked around under all the trash and crap and found empty pill bottles and little tiny plastic ziplock baggies under the front driver's seat and carpet protector, roaches in the ashtray and a crack pipe in the overhead console. Best of all there was a baby, as in infant baby, seat in the back and bags of baby food and a box of diapers in the trunk. Oh and did I mention this car was just in to the shop in January for major accident repairs? I'm telling you guys that I am getting to the point where I am so defensive on the road I have lost some of my love for driving... Ugh. It's one thing to know that there are these people out there but it's another to see it day after day and deal with the repercussions of their absolute stupidity.

I hate driving. Always have, always will.

--A

Jenn - thanks.

I have never drive. long trips I fall asleep. sometimes I think I should drive and then I see the idiots on the road and vote against it.

That's the problem...doesn't matter how safe you are, everybody else has to be safe as well.

(Reminds me of the IRA telling Maggie "We only have to be lucky once. You have to be lucky all the time.")

--A

I have had two co-workers get into serious crashes on their motorcycle. first one nodded off and hit a parked car near some construction.

he busted his color bone, pelvis, and tore the bottom of his foot off. the doctors were able to sew it back on.

the second just happened recently and I don't have the latest, but he crashed and broke ribs, a leg, and more injuries that I am not privy to.

he is currently in the hospital.

sgt.null wrote:... and tore the bottom of his foot off. the doctors were able to sew it back on.

I am not a squeamish person, but .

That's bound to cause some nerve problems, and I'll take broken bones over nerve pain any day of the week.

I rented a Road King once for a week to see if the Harley life was for me. After the second day I only took it out at night when the roads were pretty much empty. You don't realize just how bad people drive until you ride a motorcycle. Riding in town through traffic was a nightmare to me, I don't see how so many people do it.

Haha, yeah, it's terrifying. Every time I start thinking about getting a bike again and commuting with it, I remember all the people I know who've had nasty accidents (or worse) and decide against it.

--A

Yes, driving any vehicle at all can be dangerous and there is so much texting here in ABQ that I think I felt safer driving in SF.

So... I totaled the Nissan Xterra a few weeks back and the Dad had said that the daughter was going to drive his spare car until they figured out something for another car for her. Guess what's getting towed in tomorrow. Yep, her dad's weekend cruiser which is a 1999 Cadillac Seville SRS. People really really really need to stop texting and driving. I'm betting the Seville apart from being wrecked on the driver's front corner and side where she hit another inanimate object, is probably super low mileage and immaculately kept. It's also not worth much money so it will probably total out as well. This may make me cry a bit. I will weep not only for humanity but for the senseless destruction of nice things out of sheer stupidity or lack of giving a shit...

Sarge, here's your fun notes. I hung out with Danlo and Lady Tam for the better part of the weekend. They came down and had a last swim in the pool before it closed for renovations. We ate delicious food, we finished a Ravensberger sailboat racing jigsaw puzzle and good fun was had all around. Well, technically we finished the puzzle last night. Andrew (the guy who runs the company community farm) had brought in a bunch of nice sized watermelons yesterday and Grace had been wanting a watermelon when Lady Tam and I were at the grower's market but we forgot to get one. I decided to stop by their house and drop one of the melons off for Grace and got caught up in a Danlo, Lady Tam and myself, race for the last piece. It was seriously fun. Danlo kept getting mad at me for finding the pieces he was looking for. He would look around to find the piece and in the meantime I would find it and put it in place and he would go to try a potential one and the space would be filled...

On other notes, I've been invited to a co-worker's adults only 50th birthday bash. I'm torn about going because I think there is a fine line that should not be crossed between co-workers so part of me wants to go but part of me thinks I should just stick to company sponsored events. Thoughts anyone?

I personally don't do social stuff with my co-workers for the most part, with very rare exceptions.

--A

jenn - sounds like a blast!

I do not usually hang out with co-workers.

I wouldn't. On the one hand, I tend to be overly cautious about such things. On the other hand, if you're having second thoughts, there's probably a reason.

I've decided I'll go but not stay long at the party.

Ok, so the Seville turned out to be the STS instead of the SRS version which means top of the line fully loaded with every bell and whistle available. It was clean and beautiful, low mileage just as predicted. HOWEVER, it gets better, turns out it was the Grandmother's car, (Mother's Mom) car who passed away nine years ago which is when it became the weekend cruiser. Mom was NOT a happy camper when she came in to clean out the car. I spent an hour just listening, sympathizing and counseling with Mom today as she cleaned bag after bag of the daughter's crap out of the totaled Seville. Mom gave me the third degree about what could have caused these accidents. I didn't have the heart to tell her about the closed beer found in the backseat of the Xterra so I said, "I didn't find any open alcohol containers or drug paraphernalia in the car and if that is contributory it is usually evident, plus after an accident a person generally gets adrenalized and adrenaline exudes sweat from the body which is why you give water to someone in shock right away, either orally or by iv and I didn't smell any alcohol in the car which you usually can just from the adrenaline sweat." I felt ok saying this because first off it's true and the caddy was wrecked in the middle of the afternoon and I just don't think it was a factor there. I suggested that perhaps the daughter was texting. She agreed that that was likely. Poor Mom was so sad that I took the emblem off the car for her to put in her shadowbox and gave her a hug.

Yes, I was sad too. I predicted it and it was just as I said.

So have they learned a lesson, or are they going to keep handing her vehicles until she kills someone and/or herself?

Sorus wrote:So have they learned a lesson, or are they going to keep handing her vehicles until she kills someone and/or herself?

we as a culture allow for it. murder by car gets knocked down to manslaughter. drunks keep getting back into cars. we allow it.

50 years and they'll be banned. It's madness anyway. Humans piloting huge hunks of metal around at high speed...the miracle is that so few people die, comparatively speaking. (I believe SA has one of the highest road death rates in the world.)

--A