1/17/11

Well, that was something. Saturday morning John picks me up at 0900 h and we roll north west to Bridgeport to get that B-210. Upon arrival, the guy lays into us with, “I went to start it up this morning and had to go buy a battery. That’s a brand new battery. I just installed it an hour ago.” and so on. One less thing John will need to buy for it I guess, cool. Unfortunately, it didn't need a new battery, it needed a new starter. It would barely crank even with a 750 amp battery jump starting it. [ What a maroon... - SM ] We called around to find a starter but the closest one was in Mineral Wells. John and I jumped in Fifi and headed after it. John was worried about wasting my time. I told him I was in it for the adventure at this point. We took the scenic route to MW. Once we had the starter in hand, and a few other odds and ends, we ate lunch at Taco Casa. [ And. It. Was. AWESOME. - SM ] We took a more direct route back to Bridgeport. When we pulled up, the guy was gone. We installed the starter anyway. Just as we were finishing up, he came back from where ever he had been and we gave the thing a crank. It sounded much better, like a motor with a fresh starter and new battery in fact. It eventually fired up and sounded like hammered dog shit. It coughed and smoked, kicked and sputtered, and never really settled into an idle. John coerced it into gear and kept it running then took it around the block. Did I mention it’s an automatic? It is. He came back and declared it sold. They did the money and title thing then I followed John home. We stopped immediately before leaving town and he put some gas in it. It idled at the gas station. He informed me that the speedometer didn't work so if he got going too fast I was to honk at him. “Ok,” I laughed not believing we’d be doing more than 40 miles per hour the whole way home. He took off on 114 and zipped right up to 65! I couldn't believe it. I actually thought I was going to have to honk him down. I didn't of course and we kept rolling. We made the light in Boyd without stopping and kept going. Where 114 briefly joins 287 is a “Tim Off” so we didn't have to stop there either. We jumped on 287 and headed into town. At I-35 I blocked for him so he could get over to the left lane exit to Loop 820 and we merged into that traffic. It was here that we encountered the only problem of the trip. When traffic stopped, John mashed the brakes and stopped as if it were a normal car. It died. I saw his hazard flashers come on and could hear him cranking the starter. “C’mon, c’mon,” I urged from my seat and finally it fired up again. It sounded like shit again as well. He got it in gear, I could tell by the “chirp” of the tires, and got going. Traffic never stopped again, fortunately, and we made it to the 377 exit. He made that light and the one by his house. We got some space between us so I didn't see or hear him pull into his driveway and don't know if it died when he stopped or if he shut it off. Doesn’t matter, he got it home. He hopped in Fifi and took me home then. We speculated why it was running so poorly and wouldn't idle, bad carburetor with a disconnected anti-dieseling valve most likely. We’re planning on rejetting an A-12 carburetor like we did on Lil' Wiggly soon. Sunday I did a dumb thing. Her name was Snookie... no wait, that’s not it. I'd never do that. It hasn’t been THAT long. Anyhoo, Sunday I hung out until about noon and went to lunch with mom. On the way home, I decided to go shopping for a Taurus PT92. Why? I don't know, I'm dumb remember? My plan was thus: I'd start at the Academy on Cherry Lane. From there I'd go to the Shooster’s Club. From there I'd check Blood Bath & Beyond. Then I'd head up to Cabela’s. At that point I'd decide whether or not I was buying a gun. Academy had one for $429.95, Shooster’s Club had one used one for $400.00 or something, and BB&B had them for $550.00 or so. While headed north on I-35, I forgot the Academy price so I stopped in at the North Tarrant Parkway store to check their price. Yep, $429.95 like the Cherry Lane store. I rolled on to Cabela’s. They had them new for $550.00 or something but had one for $350.00 in the used case. I asked to look at it. It had a nice set of grips but the decocker wasn't right. It didn't return to the center after use. I shied away from that gun. I headed back to Cherry Lane and bought the first gun I'd been looking at. By this time it was 1800 h so I didn't even try to go shoost it. I took it home, cleaned it, loaded it, and entered it into the “Weapon Inventory” spreadsheet in my laptop. Eventually I went to bed and now were back at work. And on that note, I think I'll call this a rant.