Three-Letter Acronyms & Four-Letter Words

So for the last couple of weeks I have noticed that there is some oil leaking under my car. While more noticeable than a little drip, it was not enough for me to panic and rush the Corolla into the shop. They had just replaced some belts and tuned my timing belt, so I know they had to open up part of the engine that has oil in it, I figured that something just needed to be tightened.

This morning at 8:10 am I found out that is not the case. We had dropped the Corolla off at the shop last night after dinner and a trip to CostCo. But for a reason relating to copper and electricity. The alternator in the Corolla had finally died.

For the past couple of months (possibly three months) the little battery shaped light on the console has been flashing (or sometimes just stayed on). The battery (despite looking very bad) is fine. This meant that the alternator was on it's last legs.

Well, last night after dinner, Gina dropped me off @ CostCo (we had left my car there earlier). I started it up and turned on the lights and cranked the radio. I noticed that the console lights looked dim, I dismissed it as possibly just my own slightly neurotic issues with light and visibility. However, after cranking the dimmer up to the max brightness the lights still did not get to what was their normal brightness.

I was cruising down the access road of 183 about to merge over and get onto the highway, when the radio rebooted.

This freaked me out, as I had been in a car before when the battery had completely died (after the alternator died) and surprisingly the vehicle will come to a complete stop, quickly. Not wanting to repeat that event, I immediately shut off the radio and even removed the faceplate, seeing as it was shining quite brightly in comparison to the console lights.

I stayed on the access road, in the hopes that if the Corolla did finally drain the last of the battery I would at least be able to get the car into a driveway, rather than have to call a tow truck while on the side of the expressway.

I also immediately called Gina who was probably about 5-10 minutes ahead of me. I asked her to wait for me to follow me home, so that in case I was stranded, I wouldn't be alone.

The battery lasted long enough for me to make it to the Brakes Specialist up in Cedar Park (my mechanic of choice).

I woke up early this morning and headed over to the mechanics to drop off the keys and inform them of what needed to be done. As I also was due for an oil-change, and wanted to inform them of the oil leak that I had noticed.

When they called me this morning shortly after eight o'clock, they informed me that the 'rear seal' between the engine and the transmission had busted (I forget the word he used). He informed me that there was oil all over the under-side of the engine and that I should have noticed it earlier.

Well, so my theory on this is as follows.

They recently tuned my timing belt, in doing so they gave me 'more power'. This tuning had two effects on the car, I do indeed have more power between 10 and 50 miles per hour, I can feel the car accelerate faster. It also made the inside of my car a heck of a lot quieter.

I believe that because the timing belt on my car had been in that state for so long in the 'less power' mode that when it got 'more power' it broke the seal. Because, I didn't notice any oil immediately after they did their work, but a couple of days later.

Well, the damage bill for the alternator + rear seal (and I assume the oil-change) is about $900.

This price tag brings to mind the idea of a new car.

However, $900 isn't too bad considering I don't have a car payment now. And even if you combine the alignment and other work I had done when they were doing the tuning of the timing belt, that makes the 2008 care charges about $1400 (including the alternator&seal).

That is still well below a $300 a month car payment.

So I am willing to give the Corolla one more chance. Brake Specialists are currently doing whatever they are doing to fix everything.

I am hoping they will have all of the work completed by 3pm. However, I am expecting a call from them around 2pm to tell me that they won't be able to finish it all. This means that I will need to rent a car this afternoon.

Because, I am driving to Dallas this afternoon (hoping to be on the road by 3pm) for some meeting tomorrow.

I am glad that the alternator decided to finally die yesterday, rather than while I was on my way to Dallas.

Anyway, back to the grind.

Laterz

I had to replace the headlights last night. That was not fun.

I remember that Gina's headlight replacement was fairly quick and simple. Sort of just a reach in behind the lamp housing, twist and pull it out. This is not the case on the Corolla.

I had to remove the grill. Then remove the parking lights (which I also replaced as they burned out). Then I had to remove several screws and use a socket wrench to undo some bolts that hold the actual headlight housing in place. Pull out the housing, then twist and pull out the burned out lamp.

Insane right?

I don't think I ever commented on how arduous the task was for the speaker guy at Best Buy to replace the rear speakers in my car. I had figured that maybe you had to unscrew something in the trunk (since I can see part of the speaker housing from there) and then you pop-up a piece in the rear window.

Nope. Not at all.

He had to remove the backseat. He HAD to REMOVE the backseat. Yes, REMOVE the backseat.

Then he could get to the piece that holds the speakers, remove that and replace them.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love my car and am still a huge fan of Toyota. But this might recurring theme on how hard it is to remove and replace pieces might be a key element in why Toyota cars & trucks tend to last a bit longer.

If the headlamps are better secured to the car than the nuclear football is to the man carrying it then a Toyota engine is probably like fort fscking knox.

Anyway, I replaced the lights and put back all the screws and nuts for the bolts and stuff. Fun Fun.

While I was in there I did notice the amount of actual damage that my car accident had, it wasn't just my bumper that got banged up. There is a reinforcement bar (presumably part of the overall frame) is a little bent. Interestingly enough, the headlight housings are secured to this bar as is part of the grill.

One of the snaps for the headlight housing is busted. I am not worried about it, the thing has been working just fine for the last 8-9 years. However, it might explain a little bit more about why my car is so noisy.

Oh well, lunch is over. Back to the grind.

Laterz.

As I pulled up in the parking garage after lunch today, I noticed that my driver side headlight on the corolla is burned out.

It struck me kind of funny because of the following:

1. I have never replaced either of the headlights in my car, which I have owned since about March of 1998.
2. Jeremy and I had a conversation about headlights burning out in his car and how he replaces them once if not twice a year.
3. That conversation was followed with me mentioning that I hadn't replaced my headlights.

Oh well. I will need to stop at Wal-mart on the way home and get a set of headlights as I do not want to get a ticket for having one of them out.

Also, I have forgotten to mention that the trip meter in the Corolla no longer works. Mind you, the Odometer still works just fine. A few months back I had reset the Trip Meter and it didn't count up from 000.0, so I hit the button twice, really quick and that made it work. About 2 weeks ago I tried that trick again but was unable to revive the Trip Meter. The Trip Meter is dead. Long Live the Trip Meter!

I am going to be getting the oil changed, wheels aligned and tires rotated this weekend.

on wood that is all that the Corolla needs.

Back to the grind.

Laterz

I got rear-ended on the way home from Dallas on Friday. Before you freak out, the Corolla is fine. My boss asked a good question though, "Could you tell if there was any damage?" and not from the perspective of "invisible" damage, more along the lines of the fact that the Corolla is pretty beat up.

My neck is a little stiff. However, I don't think I am any worse for wear really. I think my neck being stiff is probably more from having been drinking every night last week and the hangover setting in vs the accident.

As my last post stated we successfully launched the Jaduka company. Now, we are into the thick of things, producing marketing campaigns, tweaking the sites. It seems to me honestly that we are perceivably busier now than we were a few weeks ago.

Now, about the statement about me shaving my head. I talked it over with the wife first, then I pitched it to the VP of Marketing and the President (my boss). My notion about offering up the mop on top of my head as a reward for reaching a certain number of sign-ups was inspired by two things.

The first thing is that Web 2.0 companies tend to have some sort of zany and crazy thing. Now, we have a number of irons in the fire. I don't want to leak them here just yet, in a week or so probably. Needless to say, they are pretty cool and will be viral. But not zany and crazy. The second thing is my father. While, he never shaved his head. He did have a penchant for standing on it.

I have quite a few old photos of my dad standing on his head. Normally, he would stand on his head after a particular company that had signed up to donate blood had reached their goal. And he even stood on his head at the wedding up north. That was quite a site, dad in a tux standing on his head.

Seeing as I never had stood on my head, I figure I can do the next best thing, shave it.

My hair right now is about the same length it was since right before the wedding two years ago. I haven't really had it trimmed in the last 3 months. However, this is not the longest it has ever been. The longest ever I believe was in '95, I could be very wrong about that. But, I think it was '95.

Regardless, my hair might be a fair bit longer by the time we reach the goal. I figure at least a month's more worth of growth.

Just now, I registered www.illshavemyhead.com. I haven't set it up just yet, but I will work on it tomorrow.

The deal on the table is this. When Jaduka reaches 10,000 users I will shave my head. Note, I am not talking about Mr. Clean style. I am talking about a 1 or 2 blade on the trimmers.

At least then I will be able to wear a stylish Jaduka baseball hat.

I will even sweeten the pot a little bit. If Jaduka reaches 20,000 users by the end of December, I will shave off my goatee. Just imagine, a shaved head with no facial hair.