I got out of bed this morning and prepared to drive my car over to the shop in Allen Park where my replacement engine had been installed. Just before I walked out the door, the pervasive thought in my mind was, "Fuck that guy. I don't trust him." So that was that. Even though I probably had some financial interest in sticking with the same shop, as I noted in last night's post, I decided to drive down to the Mazda dealer in Woodhaven instead. Instincts. Sometimes right, sometimes wrong, always persuasive, at least in my case.
After I dropped off the car, the courtesy shuttle gave me a ride home from the dealership. Then I had time to do some reading and take a long nap. I got a call at some point in the afternoon from the boss man in the service department. The thermostat housing on my engine is cracked. "Did you get a new engine in that car?" he asked. Not too long ago, of course. Apparently homeboy used some kind of silicone sealant on my new thermostat housing when he installed the engine. Apparently this silicone sealant wasn't suitable to the purpose for which it was used. Apparently this caused my brand new thermostat housing to crack. (Guess who was feeling pretty glad that he trusted his instincts this morning. Fuck that guy.)
$234 more dollars sounds relatively tame in the context of what I've spent lately on that damned car. I would have to guess that I'll get the proper sort of repairs done on my Mazda this time around. You know, given that it's in a Mazda shop and all. They had to order the parts for overnight delivery, meaning that I was stuck at home all day without a car. This was no great inconvenience though. It seems to behoove me to stay off my feet as much as possible whenever the opportunity presents itself. With nowhere to go and no way to get there, I haven't done a lot of walking today. In related news, I'm not in a lot of pain at the moment.
My dispatch tomorrow doesn't sound too bad either. I'm not starting until 2pm, so maybe I'll be able to get my car back before I have to go to work. I can't imagine that replacing a thermostat housing is too major a repair. In any event, once I do go to work I'll be pulling a load out to the dairy in Grand Rapids. When I get back from that one, I'll have a one-stop milk delivery down to Monroe. My $250 in earnings for the day will be earmarked for car repairs, essentially, but at least it looks to be a nice and easy shift of work. I like nice and easy shifts.
As effective as I think the following commercial could be in terms of spelling out the choices facing our country, I'm not convinced that people will get the message. When presented with the massive amount of spending that would have to be cut in order to secure our future, people will inevitably chicken out and kick the can down the road. They'll keep electing politicians who lie to them and tell them that it's not so bad. My instincts tell me that we're screwed. Sometimes they're right. Sometimes they're wrong.
Awesome video everyone should watch it.
ReplyDeleteThanks
I thought it was pretty good. I just don't think people really understand where the money is going.
ReplyDelete"Cut the government but keep your hands off my Medicare" is one of those inane things that you hear from people. Medicare and Social Security will soon cost more than everything else in our budget, combined.
No politician (with the possible exception of Paul Ryan) has the balls to tell the truth. No voter (with the possible exception of a handful of hardcore folks) has the balls to support drastic changes. So I'm afraid that video is a glimpse of the future. Feels bad, man.