Lord of the Castle

I drove the Nissan to work today. A small, barely notiecable exhaust leak in the Nissan had developed into a land based foghorn, warning anyone and everyone that the car was coming. There are certain lines that I am not willing to cross…and this is one of them. I can drive a car with faded [...]

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I have an old truck that I have named “Wild Bill”. I call it that because it is an old style pick up… Uncivilized, untamed… It’s a man’s truck! No foo-foo women crud here! The doors are hard to open and just as tough to close. Since he’s old, he’s a little temperamental. Since there [...]

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I went out to my mechanic’s house today… I had to replace the entire sunroof unit in our Nissan Maxima. Why did I have to do it? Well, he said that he would have to charge a bunch of money to do it and he didn’t think the car was worth it. The bottom line [...]

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As I was listening to my favorite talk shows today, I learned that the Cumberland River had overrun its banks and that Nashville was flooded. It gradually dawned on me… “Hey, wait a minute…my daughter, Kimba, lives near Nashville.” I texted her to find out if she was all right. She is. However, she did said, ”I really [...]

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I am back to driving the Toyota to work. I’ve got to tell you, 34 MPG is really nice. With gas around $2.50, I drive over 300 miles on $25! But, I have a perplexing problem developing… Which car do I drive to Texas on Thursday? The Super Crew is our nicest, most comfortable vehicle [...]

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About two weeks ago, Lane, the guy who is going to do the paint and body work on my project car, gave me an ultimatum… “Am I going to start working on your car or are you going to move it out of my driveway?” I don’t want to paint him (pun unintended but it is [...]

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I picked the Toyota up from the mechanic today. The smell of fear is in the air…the fear of having made the wrong decision in rebuilding it. My senses are working overtime. “Was that noise there before?” How should I know? I wasn’t listening! I bought this car for $1,150! If it was there, it was NOT a [...]

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Although I am getting better, I frequently suffer from missing tile syndrome. I first read about this psychological defect in “Happiness is a Serious Problem” by Dennis Prager. Imagine looking at a beautifully tiled ceiling. Now picture realizing that one tile is missing. My instinctive response is to find it and fix it! However, if I am not careful, that missing [...]

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I called the North Hollywood company to get the tracking number for my Toyota engine. It will be delivered to my work address next Monday. My mechanic is going to charge me $800 to replace the engine. However, he will charge the same amount to put in both and engine AND a transmission. With each passing [...]

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I have needed an engine for a car that I owned only two times in my life. Both times, I bought a book and learned how to rebuild them. Tonight, I picked up the phone and bought a JDM engine from a company in my old stomping ground, the San Fernando Valley in California, without having [...]

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