Well, I got a lot of sleep yesterday.... from 21:00 or so last night until 04:30 this morning. Rarin' to go...
Well, not really... ready to take a day off. Get a few little things done. Regret that the weather is going to keep me from going to Enid this week... it's snowing down there now, and supposed to start snowing here soon.
Additionally, the water pump went out in the Toyota... so I don't have a vehicle to drive down there, even if the weather wasn't against me...
I went out earlier, first to buy cigarettes and then on to Best Buy to get TurboTax 99. I noticed that the heat gage was up when I got to Best Buy, so I checked under the hood... definitely a water pump gone bad. I was really hoping that it was just a hose, but I'd heard some strange rattling from under the hood when I was driving with my window down a coupla weeks ago, I should've thought about that then.
I've replaced plenty of water pumps in my time, more than enough... I really don't like doing it. Always, always, under the most adverse conditions... freezing cold, like now, or blistering heat.
At least I got it home. That's a good thing. I can come in and get warm occasionally... hopefully, I can find the toyota book somewhere, so I'll know what to expect. This entry details my last major automotive repair effort on the Toyota...
Later... 21:10, to be precise...
Tyler took me down to the parts store, and they had two water pumps for that particular year/model, so I'm gonna have to take the old one off and take it down there and see which one is right... I'll bet that it's the one that costs eight bucks more...
Making chili on a cold afternoon makes a lot more sense than working on a stupid old truck anyway.
And... the host server for nilknarf.net is down again... no web site, no mail... they're starting to piss me off, they are.
And it's starting to snow... not big, pretty flakes, but those small, hurtful ones, little pieces of sharp ice that the north wind throws at you. We're supposed to get a coupla inches... Mom down in Enid is going to get ten, and poor old brother Dan in Raleigh... 22 inches? and another storm rolling in on them. I'm glad that I'm here... we seem to be missing most everything this year... the last ice/snow storm went just north of here, caused a huge pile-up on a interstate north of KC that killed eleven people and put 42 in the hospital. That same afternoon, we had two killed and two very badly injured here in Topeka... none of them wearing their seat belts. Buckle up, people!
I'm one of those automatic seat belt wearers, ever since I've been driving. I get very uncomfortable if I have to ride in a vehicle without one. And I get pissed at people who die or who are badly injured because they aren't wearing one. It's so damned easy to put the suckers on! And kids are so much more controllable when they're strapped down...
Yeah, I'm a believer, all right. Years of working in the ER have taught me that. Everyone should have the opportunity to watch someone die 'cause a seat belt was "too restrictive..."
Ah! The server is back up again... that means that I can put this on-line and go to bed!
More tomorrow...
I like precision. Precision is good, in moderation, just as all things are. Moderation is not something that I do very well... I either don't do something, or I do it hellbent for leather, whatever that means. Off/on... black/white... gray/grey... how'd THAT get in here... do it/don't do it.
I really thought hard about coming home and doing it, but we went to the store and I got enthusiastic about making chili on this cold afternoon, so that's what I did instead. Damned good chili-maker, me, even if I do say so myself... Well, Karen says so too.