Jon's Jeep died. No jumping would cure it. Jon assumed, since it was starting harder and harder that it was the alternator. So we called Ed, our lovely dime store mechanic (don't get me wrong, I love this guy) who came over and installed a new alternator. It still wouldn't start. Ed switched batteries with his van. Battery is fine. He takes the starter off the Jeep. He then bangs on the starter and hooks it up to jumper cables and a live battery. Starter decides to work. He then puts the starter back on the Jeep and it roars to life. Apparently, the leaky seals have leaked oil onto the starter and the oil has leaked into the starter. He said he's coming back next Sunday to tinker with the starter and tear it apart to clean it out. This man, as far as I am concerned, is a genius, and somewhat of a magician. He seemed perturbed that he didn't think of this first and sorry that we bough an alternator. Eh, whatever, one less thing to have to replace later. New alternator means I shouldn't have to buy one anytime in the near future. Ed genuinely loves to tinker that makes him incredibly valuable so we always give him more money than he asks for; and he never asks for much.
My neighbor, Betty's, car got stolen. It was a crappy Dodge Stratus with umpteen thousand miles on it. And it was an ugly gold color, the front end didn't quite line up, and other things. She'd saved up $200 to buy it. No idea why anyone would want it. No one heard or saw anything. So weird. She talked to us about it for a while today. She's still looking for it--even in bits and pieces on Craigslist. Her boyfriend's dad gave her a car to use. She can't afford to buy one. She's in college and sounds like she works to pay for her own bills (I like her more every time I talk to her). And, it was stolen basically from in front of our house. This is frightening. Not that I have much to steal, but if someone steals our cars we'll be shit out of luck just like she is. Her and her dad Dwight are the most personable people who live next door. The mom is really crabby and the son won't even wave.
After three years I have learned I have tilt-in windows. Which means I can clean the outsides of my windows from the inside of my house. Wow. I feel stupid. I had no idea why I could take screens out and not figure out how to put them back in. Also, my windows are cleaner than they were when we moved in. This is one repair they did right. There are lots of repairs/upgrades (including the kitchen cabinets that previous owners installed) that were obviously rigged up. My mom has always wanted these windows which is probably why I had no idea what those weird little switches were for. Today, since I was waiting for the Jeep to be repaired I decided to investigate. I am glad I did. The only windows I have yet to clean are the small ones in the window room and the bunny room windows.
Ramble. Ramble.
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