Yesteryear
One year ago today: January 25, 2025, I want that stove.
Five years ago today: January 25, 2021, current bass list.
Nine years ago today: January 25, 2017, not unpacked yet.
Random years ago today: January 25, 2009, the factory owner’s son.
At least I woke up untired, it just took another eight hours. Time to pack for the trip that might last forever. The neighbor started some tool at 8:00AM that wailed like a siren for 15 minutes so I may use the compressor. While I have energy and dreamt a lot, these are signs. A weird dream that a family gave a ride out to a farm and I had to hitchhike back. Did you know fifty years ago, I was still hitchhiking to get to work?
I’ll start today with everything that can be washed, right after I finish this grilled SPAM sandwich. If I go, it should be with clean underwear. I’m awaiting the call as of noon today. Here’s something, the fan-shaped ferns I have never tended to. How nice they put on this show in my front yard, like I was some Johnny Applecore of something.
Time does not flash past, though that could be for those who don’t dwell on it. My oft-said statement that, after age 30, take everything with you that you’ll need to have fun, applies to life as well as Hawaii. I’m contemplating taking an extra satchel of books with me to the hospital, books I intend to leave behind. The word from Tennessee is the doggie needs a couple things, so I put in $560 and told the Reb she will have to decide what is most important.
My new (19 month old) $180 battery on the KIA won’t crank. I can easily start it with the zapper, so getting into the shop tomorrow is probably going to be fine. This morning I’m focused on that battery and why it is acting up. I need to drive the van to the shop, the tow bar was slated for just after money got tight. Stick around, the robot club test gear is good stuff. It is now 9:30AM.
The Petersens, a family bluegrass band, appeared on my feed, so I gave the video a listen. It’s the only group I know with a “band chaplain”, the mother, who is also the bassist, and the oldest member. Sigh, the prettiest one, Ellen, has become less pretty. It was wonderful, on American Idol, how she could brush her blonde locks back over her shoulder while her banjo kept playing by itself. Here she is beside her replacement. That was mean. Hey, it’s not like these women ask permission to get fat, nomsayn?
Or how about Facebook’s much touted “Race Blind” algorithm, the one that was supposed to expose White racism? It found 90% of hate speech was anti-White. They announced they have finally quit trying to “fix” it. There are nearly 50,000 NGO “charities” in Minnesota. The major problem with America today is far, far too many people on welfare. No way should the able-bodied collect a penny, they are lucky I am not in charge. I hear some say that is stealing food from babies, to which I say that is what they do to others every payday.
Picture of the day.
FYI
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Troubleshooting the van while the laundry is on constitutes multi-tasking around here, and here is a demo of the crap now being sold as batteries in the USA. This place is now as bad as Canada, where the entire country is run by cartels. You either sell out to them or they will drive you out of business. This video clip shows a year-old battery in the KIA now refusing to take a charge, my back up battery from the trickle charger testing bad, and debunking the idea of a Yeti being a store of value. Shown here, unless kept plugged in, the Yeti discharges to nothing by itself.
Next was the tedious chore of finding out if the problem was fixable here. I don’t think so. The consistency of batteries going dead in the, what, seven different vehicles since I began keeping score, is too much coincidence. We have the best testing and maintenance systems short of going commercial, and 64% of new batteries are dead within 24 months.
Here is a view of some tire and battery maintenance in progress, there is no chance problems are caused by neglect. In fact, this is some of the more-than-usual attention in progress. I know this would cost a fortune, not because it is complicated, but finding somebody to do it. You bet there is a reason so many auto shops hate voltage repairs. I don’t have time to even describe why, but you’d have to pay me $250 to even take a look.
By just past noon, I have chosen to replace the battery for around $140. A lifetime of repairs means I know this is a huge savings over garage work and tomorrow the van goes in for two recall issues, where they will check the battery anyway. The van runs for around 8 minutes, then cuts out and will not restart.
The battery tests both bad and flat, not the same thing, Chumley. It’s not so much the cost as how this had to happen right now, the week I am due for surgery and my money tied up in Tennessee. But this situation is different than being stuck with no hope. I drive across town in a few minutes. The wisdom of that second vehicle, the Hyundai, may seem serendipitous, but the reality is it was more due to a sober assessment of my situation. The fact is I am surrounded by nothing but useless assholes who could not help you if they wanted to. But I’m friends with most of them.
In case you are wondering, the budget money for the battery is in the kitty, put away long ago and should be around $200 at this point. I have also not forgotten the best place to buy that battery is across the highway from Kooters. This instance bumps into my rule of thinking twice so I found Eastwood’s “Joe Kidd”, one of his weaker numbers but new to me. That replacement small compressor is still on the ticket, the total price being $240 plus tax and I know there is not that much in the kitty.
Wait, there’s more. I have the battery, but it took over two hours. I had to remove the harness from the KIA to use the core trade-in, only to discover the Hyundai was also acting up. Knowing that unit has one of those “millennial” cables with all those circuits, I clamped the Viking (jump starter across the posts) and prayed it would get me to Wal*Mart. Curse the asshole who designed this. I got there and bought the nearest form factor, only to discover the KIA battery cables were incompatible with the battery posts. (All posts should be left positive, right negative, centered on the battery case, and screw anybody who tells you different.)
I wired the battery in using pigtails that cost more than the difference in battery prices (millennials, again) and limped hobbled back to the cabin. Then I swapped the batteries and got the KIA running. The problem may have been the slow drain from the Garmin which I suspect is not turning itself off like it is supposed to.
ADDENDUM
Here is the Hyundai being prepped up, it has only been run ten minutes monthly while in hibernation. This, folks, is the typical backup plan for Florida, where the system is designed to kick you while you are down. It may seem like a wasted $3,500 to just sit there, but Florida is home to many outfits whose business model is to soak you if anything goes wrong. Of course, they call them “emergency services”, but why wouldn’t they?
The saving grace is the old boy network is still strong as ever, provided you were born a good old boy. This is far from the racism attached by some, for nobody would stop others from developing their own self-help. I have not checked the van, but a neighborly septic tank truck driver stopped and poured $15 of gas in my tank and would not take pay. I limped back to town before I saw the engine light, but that isn’t the point. Alas, I thought I could remember the business name but I got home and flaked out.
Last Laugh
