Ka-ching

The Check Engine light came on in my car yesterday on the way home form work. Ugh. Today I called the dealer and was told to bring it on in. CarGuy asked me when I bought the car why I bought the extended warranty and I said I felt it was a good thing. I've never bought one before and really had no idea why I did this time. This is the second time I've used that warranty. Want to know what was wrong? My gas cap was old and the seal was cracking and there was no vacuum seal in the gas tank. The computer sensed that and came on. O! and when they lifted the hood they smelled burnt antifreeze. Got to checking and the head gasket was also cracked. So they did a stem to stern safety check. Need new transmission fluid (I knew that one) and new front brakes (I wondered on that one because they felt a bit mushy) but it hadn't started to bite into the brake rotors yet which was a good thing because it would be very expensive. So I decided to have them look at one of the power windows too. All-in-all the repairs are totaling $1600.00. My cost is $200. I have to pay my deductible, the gas cap and the transmission fluid. See? I told you I thought an extended warranty felt right this time. Listen to your intuition.

I've lived a lot of years with a car guy. Does it show? I remember several years back I went to Iowa for my niece's wedding with Auntie, TheKid's girlfriend at the time and my Grand Dog. On the way back, I accidentally filled up with corn gas. My mini van did NOT like that and the engine was dying on I-80. Not fun. At Council Bluffs I finally called a tow truck and was towed into town to the dealership. We spent the night in a dive motel that allowed animals and in the morning went back to the dealership. The service manager tried to sell me a new carburetor. A carburetor? Hello! my mini-van was fuel injected, there was no carburetor. Just button it back up and I'll be on my way. What beet truck do you think I fell from? Huh? I talked with the receptionist who happened to be from Colorado and she is the one that suggested the wrong gasoline. I topped the tank with good gas and had no problem from there on back to Colorado. But I think the corn gas led to the demise of the engine as I blew a head gasket several months later.

Another time, the serpentine belt in my car (an Eagle Talon) snapped and took out some of the ceramic seats on some of the pistons because the pistons were up when the belt snapped. Needed a whole top end on the engine that time.

I just want a car that doesn't break like that. Is that asking too much? O, and my car will be ready on Tuesday, so my mode of transportation this weekend is on two wheels.

Bike To Work Day

Today is the day that all the people who DON'T ride their bikes to ride their bike to work. Can you say heart attack or heat stroke? The premise is good: to get people to ride a bicycle to work for one day. But really. How many people will ride it one way and then wimp out?

Ok, enuff ranting.

I ride my bicycle to work every day I can. In fact, it is working out to be 4 out of 5 days. I ride 10 miles (16 km) round trip. My time is better from when I first started riding. It now takes me 25 minutes rather than 45 minutes. I need to figure out how much money I am saving by not consuming so much gasoline. I also spend less money shopping because, frankly, it is hard to carry items on a bicycle. I will have to do a photo journey for you one of these days on my bike route.

The picture was taken in front of my favorite book store/coffee shop, both of them independents (Anthology Book Company and The Coffee Tree) not chains. Notice the bronze cougar bench? Sculpture by Rosetta. This is the type of thing we have all over town.

Update: thanks to Iron Needles I how much I am saving.
Your Result Per Day Per Week Per Year**
Possible savings: $7.30 $29.20 $1,460.00
Calories burned: 360 calories 1,440 72,000
calories calories
Reduction in carbon 0.51 lbs 2.05 lbs 102.40 lbs
monoxide emissions:

** Based on a 50-week work year.

And the winner is...

Through the Gate. And the Chickadee postcard (you can see it in The Quilter: Plans change) came in third! I didn't bother to enter the Aspen tree one. I told the president of the guild to give my third place prize to the fourth place winner as I didn't need to hog all the prizes! My bag was full of goodies that included fibers and fat quarters. The program was an excellent one by Karen K Stone of Dallas TX.

If you like appliqué, please check out The Appliqué Society's 2007 show. Scroll all the way to the bottom and click on the slide show. My favorites? Transformation by Nancy Dickey and Jamaican Wave by Sonja Ohlman. It figures that I'm a non-traditionalist! LOL!

I rode my bicycle to work today. That's 10 miles round trip, folks. I saw prairie dogs squeaking and scampering for cover, a flock of buzzards lazily circling in the air and an early morning jogger. The Russian Olive trees are blooming and the overpoweringly sweet pervasive aroma hung close to the ground.

I love my rides in the morning.