Tag: Taurus

The Lack of Blogdom

No huge deal. I was so over-busy on Monday that all things stood in my way of blogging. It was much like the Black Knight in Monty Python’s Holy Grail movie. Except instead of me, King Arthur, King of the Britains, kicking some Black Knight booty by chopping off limbs, torso, and head, the Black Knight made more like Aniken Skywalker against the Sand people.

Work was so busy on Monday that it made me and my family, literally, sick. The good news is that before I was chained to the bed by my sickness (actually I was chained to a toilet) I managed to get the car to the repair shop for the last installment of repairs (Heaven Hopes). Now that we’re on the other side of that, I can breathe. No, wait?!? I can’t! Here he comes again!!!

Have at you!!!

What a Dreamly Wicked Day?!?

Today was born to be an absolutely amaz-i-fying day. The only real reason for that is that it began with God. He breathed today into exsistance. God knew what was to be unvieled today. Revelations that are way beyond human thought.

Another reason today was bound to be amazing??? It has been 5 months and 11 days of torture. Nearly 5 1/2 months of ownership that has been restrained. I have been making the payments on the car and insurance, but no way to actually drive the car due to the broken-down-ed-ness of the Bull-car (its a Taurus, by the way).

I had the vehicle towed to the garage on October 29 (just a mere three weeks and one day ago). After much confusion and, I’m sure, many explitives, she has been revived. What were the issues?

Faulty fuel pump
Cracked gas tank seal (which caused the fuel smell and could have caused an explosion)
Two bad Catalytic Converters
And two spark plugs and wires replaced

Here is the kicker…they are bringing the car to me. It isn’t very often that a mechanic shop would do this…unless it is a dealership. This is far from a dealership…complete with non-dealership prices.

At a dealership just the replacement of the Cata. Converters would be $2,400, not to mention the Fuel pump, gas tank seal, and plugs. I had a dealership tell me that to replace the spark plugs and wires, it would cost $250. HELL, NO! The parts only cost about $45. So you are gonna charge me $205 dollars just to put them on?!?

Anyway…The mechanic should be bringing the car any minute now. I most certainly can’t wait.

I’ll post new pics of the old car soon. Oh, my thanksgiving, i’ll be saying, “God, I am thankful that you have given us a way to get our car fixed. So now I’ll detail it on Thanksgiving (as opposed to actually spending time with family)!!!”

Post soon.

IT’S GONE!!!!

The Taurus is gone!!!!

Well, not really GONE gone, but just gone. I called the good people at the Gecko and they came and towed it away to get fixed. (Thank heavens.)

I found this little mechanic shop close to where I live. The guys are great!!! The first time I went to them, the gas gauge had previously gone out and my car broke down. I towed it to the shop and they kept it for two days. The owner called me and said that it was simply out of gas. He said, “well, I pressurized the fuel lines and there weren’t any other problems that were pointing to not running. Sir, you’re just out of gas. The diagnostic fee is only $50. You can come pick’er up.”

These guys are honest and only moderately priced.

My father-in-law had his car fixed just a couple of weeks ago. What was wrong??? The ignition coil pack (the new and improved distributor cap) and timing belt needed to be replaced.

Grand total? $360.00.

He had to take it back cause it was just a little bit out of timing. The owner said, “Mr. Father-in-Law, I apologize that you had to bring the car back. We’ve been so busy that I didn’t drive the car myself. Had I driven it, I would have adjusted that before I called you. I’ll adjust that for free.”

WHEN THE CRAP DO YOU ACTUALLY HEAR A MECHANIC SAY THEY MISSED UP AND DIDN’T CHARGE YOU?!!!?! LIKE, VIRTURALLY NEVER!!!

Anyway. I should hear something within the next few days.

I can’t wait to get the car back. It has been nearly 5 months since she broke down (June 9th). I tell ya, paying the payments and insurance on something that you can’t use??? Bummer.

Anywho. I’ll keep ya posted.

Thoughts on the day…

The passed months have held their ground. I have tried to maintain my footing while trying to carry the load of life.

Here is the battle status.

Taurus – going in the shop, hopefully, this week to have all things repaired

Depression – maintaining with the assistance of less jobs, a minute more sleep, and Lexapro.

Marriage – I don’t really think that we have had massive problems lately. Just God refining who we are and the friction that causes. We have been having some great date-nights and we just chat and love on one another with our words. We take turns talking and expressing our loves, passions, and desires. I truly love my Lovely more today than I ever have.

Children – Little Bear is now One year old. It has been 6 1/2 months since our second baby died. We are making peace with our loss, but still miss our child. We look forward to God blessing us with more children in the future, in His perfect timing.

Work – I am still holding down two jobs, but no where near the hours I had going. I bid the restaurant a farewell after threats of taking away tip money, lack of tips, and dwindling business. SU is still home for me. Looks like it’ll be that way for a good while. In fact, I am preparing to take the GRE so I can enroll @ SU in the Graduate Music Program.

Last but not least…

Weight – I have lost the most ground with this. We were eating properly and obediently according to what we feel God has instructed us to do. There was amazing weight loss. I dropped from 265 lbs to 227 lbs over about 2 1/2 to 3 months. Lovely had dropped a significant amount as well. Soon we celebrated a holiday. Then a splurge here. Then a splurge there. Then vacation…it has been a weight-gaining fiasco since then. I haven’t stepped on a scale since I was 227, but I would figure that by the way my clothes are fitting…I’m probably close to 245+.

Just proof that disobedience is sin. And EVERY sin has a consequence. Some immediate. Some gradual, but regardless of the timing, you will find yourself not recognizing your actions or even your very person.

Weekendings August 31-Sept 2

Well, my weekend got off to an early start.

Thursday at 4:30 p.m. I clocked out of work from Samford and hopped in the “Gas Saver” to go to the next place…as usual. Now, the previous Thursday, the same thing happened, but this time it was different. This time, I was behind the wheel and got even closer to having a major accident. Why? Well, by Thursday at 4:30, I have already been on the go for 41 of my 74 hours of work each week. by Thursday afternoon, I am exhausted. I fell asleep behind the wheel again. By the grace of God I didn’t have an accident, but knew that actions had to be taken. I finally get to work and finish my shift. Weave my way home for a nap before Friday @ 5:30’s wake up call.

At 7:15, my body says, “Dude, it is too bright outside for you to be in bed, right?” I called in to Samford. I could feel that I wouldn’t have been a bit of good. I would get there and slober all over myself all day and wouldn’t have the presence of mind to pull my fingers out of the industrial-sized paper shredder when they got caught. I slept until about 9 a.m. Slightly refreshed, and I do emphasize slightly, I get up, grab my shower and head toward the coffee pot. No love there. I drive, safely, to O’Reilly’s to ask about parts for the Taurus. The day zips by…next thing I know, it is time to head to the restaurant. I finish up there by about 10:30 p.m. and head home for a nap.

Saturday is always family day. Well, it is really more like family half-day since I have to work the restaurant on Saturdays. This Saturday was different. Lovely, little Bear, and I hop in the Gas Saver and drive to pick up a nice, but slightly worn outfit for her reunion thing that night. I chatted with my Papa for a while which was a good thing. I called in to the restaurant to remind them that I wouldn’t be there and off to Logan’s on 150. We had a blast. I got to see an old friend and got to meet new ones.

Sunday had it’s highs and lows. Church was fantastic. It was and still is a hard message to swallow, but I’m still gulping away at it. After church we grab a very quick bite and then back home so I can crawl in the Taurus for a while. To no avail, I worked on the car about three and a half hours. It started getting dark and I blew about $100 just trying to breathe life into the deflated lungs of the Taurus. (An update is coming today.) I threw my hands up and retreated inside and slothed in front of the BeasTV. I called it a pseudo-late night in order to catch a wink before the wake-up call and off the work today.

Weekend rating…
Family time – 8.5
Working time 5.0
Fun time – 7.0
Rest time – 3.0

Overall I think the weekend was a success.

Quick Multi-Update!!!!

What keeps me going today: My To Do list @ work
What moves my feet today: Good tunes and lots of coffee
I could do without: Adding on more hours

Okay, here is a quick update for all interested or concerned.

The Taurus: Is FINALLY being towed back to the house tomorrow. Yes the recall item is fixed, BUT it still doesn’t run. That’s alright, though. We already have one of the parts (thank you O’Reilly’s Auto Parts) that we need. Although the dealership couldn’t guarantee that the MAP sensor and new plugs would fix it, the replacement of those parts could fix the car. I’ll just say this…we are one step closer to having the Taurus back and running again. Woo Hoo!!!

The Blogger: I finally figured out how to fix the NO COMMENT issue. Did Blogger actually help? Nope! I figured out on my own while updated the layout.

So, PTHPHTBPTHTPTBPTBPBTHT

to BloggerHelp.

So good friends and readers of the Miguel el Toro blog, comment on!!!

Homeward bound!!!!

Well, it looks like the old Taurus is going to be heading home within the next few days. Fixed? Nope. We’re just towing it back home. I just can’t swallow the $620+ to do two repairs that isn’t guaranteed to fix the car. I can do those repairs myself with only $200 out of my pocket. Of course, if that doesn’t fix it I’ll have to get a Code machine and run a code diagnostic on it to see if anything else pops up.

I hope that this will be an easy fix. I really do want to go on vacation. If I can’t get it fixed, then the rest of the family (including Lovely and little Bear) will go on vacation and I guess I’ll just work. I guess that is no different from the usual.

Anyway. We should have some answers on this issue pretty soon. I just hope that all of the salvage yard parts that were bought actually work and I don’t have to replace them with the new parts. (Note: I didn’t buy salvage parts…maybe for a broken window or headlight or radio, but never anything to do with the actual engine workings of the car.) Maybe I’ll be pimpin’ in the Taurus within the next two weeks. I hope so…even if the air doesn’t blow icey cold. I mean, at least I would be driving in the car that I’m making stupid payments on, yeah?

Taurus update

Not good, people. Not good.

They said that they can’t pinpoint the problem to just one issue.

The solution:
Replace the Mass Airflow Sensor to a tune of $413 + tax
Replace the spark plugs to a grand ol’ tune of $210 + tax

And then run another diagnostic (another $88) and see if there is anything else that comes back on the test.

Let me tell you people something. I’m ill. Not just mad, I’m nauseous. I have only had the car just over a year. Thirteen months to be exact.

This experience has been the worst. To be sold a lemon from someone you know. I’m trying to work through this. Until I can get the money together to pay for the repairs I’m just stuck paying out my wahzoo for gas.

So much for that few days of vacation.

Well, we’ll see what happens.

Car update

Car Update

So I limped away from the mechanic’s shop $600.00 biten out of my hind-quarters. I earlier in the week I had gone to O’Reilly’s Auto Parts and answered all of their 100 questions to receive my brake pads. Well, all of that to find out on Wednesday that not only did they give me the wrong pads, but they messed up my rotors. So here is a list of the repairs….

Two new Bridgestone tires – middle level quality $180 total
Two new rotors – $240 total
Brake pads – $80
Labor – the rest of the money

The verdict…it still drives about as bad as it did when I took it in to the shop.

I told the mechanic that the car needed to be aligned. He disagreed. I pointed out the tires and the wear on them. “That shows that the car is out of alignment!!!” “It’s your breaks…and your rotors…Oh, and you’ll need to replace your two front tires. They seem to be wearing unevenly.”

Thanks, Jeff. I hope that you enjoy being ASE certified. I’d strip you of your silly piece of paper.

As a result, though, I have given the car a new name. The silver Taurus shall from now on be know as…….(drum roll, please)…………………………………….

The Silver Sloth!!!