| Thursday June 11th 2002 I took the 'rollerblade by yourself' challenge on Sunday, and I have a large blister on my left foot to prove it. I think my narrow feet are - as per usual with me and footwear - too narrow for my rollerblades. I'll either have to don some wool socks on a hot summer's day or figure out some other way of getting a tighter fit. It definitely slowed me down, although for my first time out I think I went about as fast as I'd dare to anyway (no accidents, fortunately). I regret (deeply) to say, the $6 solution to my steering fluid problem didn't pan out. As was revealed at the shop, it wasn't the hose leaking - it was the pump itself. $450 later, it seems to be solved :P Saw a creepy episode of W5 just a week before where they made a minor adjustment to a test vehicle that caused a problem, and then brought it to various dealers across Canada to see who would overcharge them. 30% exaggerated the problem, some by quite a bit. Bad news is, there's no one dealer you can consistently trust. I'll just have to put faith in my dealer's forthright appearance. I like the guys at the desk; I like the guys who bring me into the garage to show me the problem. When you don't know the subject matter too well, trust is all you've got. I could have known a heck of a lot more about engines and so forth (not to mention plumbing, electricty, carpentry, sewing and any number of other things) if I'd paid more attention to my dad growing up. He's the all-around handy-man type and then some. Unfortunately there was very little knowledge transfer, thanks to a combination of his concern I'd grow up to be a car-aholic who let the school books go, and my complete fascination with ... well ... school books, rather than anything in the automotive field. Which leads me to believe my own children will be rebellious, failing grease monkeys, but at least they'll have their grandfather to hang out with. Ummm - not that he was rebellious or failing - gulp! Happy Father's Day, dad! Tomorrow is the last night of my eight-week writing critique course, but there's already signs of spin-offs. I've made some valuable new acquaintances and I'm hoping to continue talking with at least some - if not all - of these folks in future. Everybody's been really great! Now to share my URL with the group so I can earn brownie points, heh heh! Maybe I'll get better reviews when they all become published literary critics :) |