Finally! Glory!

Man...

PAM!!!

Good ol' 18-year-old Pam!

Pam FINALLY passed her emission!

I tell you, when the inspector said she passed, I was way too happy. He was looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Sir, you just don't understand!"

He nodded politely.

He doesn't understand. My emissions are due in February.

It is now JUNE.

Ugh.

I needed some repairs. That was around $1400. (Pam ain't even worth that much). I had that done and the light came back on again. If they couldn't figure it out, I would just have to purchase a new car computer, and that would be $600-700. That is fine, but I rather not. I just needed to drive it and catch it with the light off.

My engine light was going on and off. And I think it was a matter of the battery connection this time. So a month ago, I taped the battery connector down with some black electrical tape. Eventually I will get a new connector, but whatever. And since then, the light hasn't been back on. That was a month ago, and I drive it every weekend. No big deal.

I was listening to an auto show on Saturday, and they were talking about how to get your emissions to pass. I needed TWO long driving cycles. And the car needed to sit overnight each time. THEN go get it tested. I was doing one long drive then trying to get it tested, and the computer was not ready. So, I did what they said, and it worked out well!

Thank goodness I was listening to the radio on Saturday. I must've driven 100 miles this weekend. I drove out to the west side for my supplement powder from my chiropractor's office. I hit up a health food store while I was out there. On Sunday I drove to the deep south side suburbs to my sister's house to dump a busted microwave and TV at her dump site. Afterwords I drove WAAAY out to the east side to the farmers market.

Then I drove home. And I decided to bite the bullet and go get Pam tested. And she passed. I thought I would FAINT.

Glory. She is in compliance now. And best of all, she drives like a dream. How great is that?

High class issue, I know. But I just needed that to be OVER. I came to work and promptly purchased my tag online and kept it moving. I have my receipt, so I don't have to drive all dirty, eyes darting back and forth looking out for the COPS!

Oh what a wonderful weekend. Oh what a great start to the week.

I need the rest of the week to be great. On purpose.

Help for Pam... Finally

So... Pam was stuck in the mud in my backyard for a couple of weeks. I was waiting for it to dry up outside so I could move her, but it only caused me to tare up my yard a little more each time. So one sunny  Sunday, I had a mini-pep rally in the house and I ran outside with hopes of moving her...

And it didn't work out.

So I called the local tow truck company.

Back up, now. I called a tow truck company a week prior to this, but they said "Nope! We're not playing in the mud today."

I told them that they only had to move it a few feet. They didn't care. I called another company and they said it was too late. (It was near dusk. And I live in the hood. They are definitely not having that!)

Anyway, I called the same company back on the following sunny Sunday, and they came out and towed my car out of the mud.

How simple was that?

It took all of 2 minutes to tow my car out of the mud.

And here's how my yard looks afterward.

Ugh. So I will spread that out and go buy some grass seed and hay and work it out. It should be a good learning opportunity. Can an oldgirl grow fresh pretty green grass where there once was grass? We shall see.

Oh, I tried to get my car out with some cardboard leveraging. No, I didn't have rocks and plywood.  Only cardboard. And cardboard looks like plywood, right?

And look what it caused:

Wet cardboard stuffed all under my car. Yuck.

Then I finally manged to get it out from under the car.

I tried to wash water off my wheels with my water hose. That didn't work out.

The wheels are still muddy.

Oh joy.

My driveway is muddy. 

Oh joy.            

And I did something silly: I used a pushbroom to push all the muddy water off the driveway. And you see the results.

Ugh!!

So you know what and how I feel about all of this...

...It's a high class problem. 

I think back to my mini-pep rally in the house, singing hard and fast about how I was gonna get my car out of the backyard. No, I didn't go back there and simply get it out. I had to call a tow truck. It costs $75  to do so.

Any which way it goes, it is out. Pam is out of the backyard.

I haven't driven her yet. And it's been two weeks since she's been out of the backyard. No I haven't driven her. I just wanted to have her back in the driveway.

Now if that ain't a high class issue, I don't know what is. In other words, there is no need for me to gripe and complain about it. No indeed.

She may need a repair. I'm not sure. She has to pass emissions. The engine light goes on and off. So I have to get the emissions while the light is off. This means that I need to sneak and drive her for a week without the police chasing me down and giving me a ticket.

I will work that out.

I'm just glad Pam is no longer stuck in the mud!

Of Pam and Motorcycles

So my car Pam has a few isshas from time to time.

That's her from her good side. The other side... well the tires have no hubcaps. I need to drive her more. Right now I may put around 500 miles a year on her.  I am sorry, but I have become a little more high class now. I like Lucy Jr. the Lexus' leather. Yes I do. But I jump in Pam every once in awhile.

Recently she needed some new front tires. It looks as if there were some dry rot issues.  They were REALLY old.  I bought some new tires a few years ago, but I like to buy two at a time.  That same day my brake switch broke. That's not that big of a deal. It is responsible for the brake lights going on and off. And with it broken, the lights stay on.

I could drive it, but I would have to unhook the battery for the night so the brake lights wouldn't drain the battery.

No big deal. I just order the part off of amazon. It is only $40.

So my cubicle mate Cowgirl Cre's father "Daddy Cre" takes care of that. Here he is the last time.

I am not limber enough to take care of all that. So when it broke this time, I called him up early on a Saturday morning. He told me to come on over. So I had to jump out of bed and shower and hightail it on over there before he left out for the day.

They only live 10 minutes away. So I made it over there in 9 minutes, lol.

Anyway, I like to go on in the house and chat it up with Momma Cre while Daddy Cre fixes my car.

And I like perusing the beautifully framed pictures on the dining room wall.

If you go in many black family homes these days, there will be pictures of the Obamas up on the wall. There is a nice one on the wall there:

That is nice...

But the pictures that draw me like a magnet are the ones of Daddy Cre... on his motorcycle.

That's a cool picture right there.

But this next picture is the coolest of all...

Now that is an awesome picture. I love it!

"I think I took those pictures," Cowgirl Cre said, when I asked her permission to post them.

I can believe that. And I can hear him now. "Hold on Cre, let me put my foot up. Let me lean over. Now take the picture."

*Cre snaps picture*

And that was long before the advent of digital cameras and cell phone cameras. Those pictures are from cameras loaded with film. And the film had to be developed by the drug store's photo department.

Those pictures will never get old. They are full of character and originality.

And Cowgirl Cre said, "That's how I remember my Daddy."

That's how I remember him too. I know he doesn't ride his motorcycle anymore, but those photos are timeless.

And I hope they will always keep those pictures up on the wall.