5/18/06

As John pointed out in his aside yesterday, we did not make room for his car in the shop last night. Heeter was there again with more drivability issues [ Also known as "The Neverending Story" - SM ] in his car. We’re stumped. We did manage to make the PCV system work though which can’t hurt things. I played a little bit with George and got started on the oil drain for the turbo. I'm not sure if it will work but I'm at least moving forward. After we messed around at the shop we headed for Freebird’s for burrito’s as big as your head. They were already closed for the evening. We went from there to Chipotle and had burritos as big as your head. Well, my burrito was as big as your head; the other two came out a bit smaller. My burrito was so big it required two tortillas! I actually couldn’t finish mine. They had finished theirs by the time I was half way through with mine. Of course I did relate a story in the middle of eating mine, which slowed me down a bit. That story was the story of me running out of gas last week. Last Wednesday the “low fuel” light came on in the Pimpmobile. I made the comment to John that I hoped it would get me to work through Friday morning because I had no money to buy gas until then. It got me to work on Thursday but I got a call during the day to come meet my mom and sister at Rockfish on Hulen after work. I got to Rockfish and we ate. Mom was going to ride home with me so I knew I could mooch a tank from her. I said as we got in to go home, “I really need to get some gas.” She suggested Sam’s so I headed that direction. We took off down Hulen and passed several stations. We got to the light at Bryant Irvin and just made the yellow. I drove up the hill and into the Sam’s parking lot and it sputtered to a halt. I looked at mom and said, “Almost made it.” I went in to ask for a gas can but they didn’t have one. We called AAA and they said it would be within the hour that someone would be there. They called back fifteen minutes later to say that someone would be there within forty-five minutes. They called back in another fifteen minutes to say that he’d be there in the next half hour. Guess what happened fifteen minutes later. Yep, they called again to say that he would be there within fifteen minutes. Seriously, I'm not making that up. About fourteen minutes later I see the tow truck enter the lot and got out to meet the guy. He dumped in about a gallon and I signed the paperwork. He didn’t charge anything so I thanked him and was on my way. [ What, no tip? - SM ] We filled up and headed for the house. Mom was annoyed to say the least. Oh well. I still made it home in time for “My Name is Earle.” I'm not 100% sure why I didn’t tell that story last Friday but I didn’t. I was thinking about cars earlier and remembered the Ford Escort wagon that we had at the downtown rental office a few years back. It was your plain Jane five-speed Escort wagon but it was not a bad driving machine. I'm thinking that the new Nissan Versa with 120 horsepower and a six-speed should be quite livable. [ Six-speeds are lovely... - SM ] Of course I need to see one in person before I know whether or not I'd be able to stand it. I'm now leaning towards the two-door Toyota Yaris instead. I'd rather stick with Nissan, especially since it will have the bigger and more powerful engine, but the two-door looks cooler. [ An xB gets pretty good mileage??? - SM ] I'm going to claim that the reason I'm thinking about these “micro cars” is for the fuel economy, but the real reason is I'm tired of driving a big car and want to get back into something “normal” sized. I've got to go for a bit. I'll try to come back later with more but don’t hold your breath. I'm back but I'm not sure I have any more to say. Yeah, I'm pretty much talked out for the day. I think I'll go play some solitaire and maybe take a nap. Y’all have a day.