What the Blog

Yes, I know that the title of my blog is out there. But that is because once again, Monday is just ending and the week has taken a turn into the land of odd...what a surprise that my life should have anything odd in it.

For those of you who don't know, my barely broken in 2004 Ford Explorer aka the xploder, has been in the shop since last Wednesday, why you ask? Well because on Tuesday when I was driving home in the pouring rain that stupid little ABS light popped on and my going bad ABS switch engaged my anti-lock brake system mid driving. Since I purchased this truck on October 29th and since I paid extra for a 4 year extended warranty I brought it back to Carmax to have them fix whatever was causing that light to come on. Also when I first bought my xploder (let me clarify and say that I use this term as an endearment not as an insult to other explorer owners), there was a shimmy when it was idling and the Carmax guys put in an ERG valve, but I was supposed to bring it back in cause they still thought it was shimming too much while idling, and me being me and my life being my life, I had not had a chance to do so, until I made the time cause I thought my brakes were sticking. Kallay being an awesome roomie, dropped my xploder off at Carmax before work last Wednesday and walked next door to Borders to do her 8 hours of time and was assured that it would be fixed by 5pm the same day. Yeah :)

Its 10:30pm on the following Monday, my xploder is still not completely fixed. The ABS thingy is fixed, the shimmy is being cause by the harmonic balancer going bad, they realized on friday that they need a special tool to fix that, it went to Ted Russel Ford today to be fixed, but of course they couldn't "get to it" and Carmax decided to take it over to the Ford dealership on Parkside Drive this afternoon because the "promised" to have it done tomorrow, which is Tuesday....6 days after I was "promised" it would be done last Wednesday, then again that it would be done on Friday, and then again that it would be done on Monday, and now its the same song and dance with deadlines or as I am now referring to them, lines of the dead, since they have been missed so much recently. As all this is going on, my 1st payment was due today, which is now paid, along with me bitching at the manager of my local Carmax and a promise to see if the $50 dollar warranty deductible (that I was unaware of until after the ABS was already fixed) can be waived. We shall see how this all pans out tomorrow.

I have another line that is rapidly approaching.....my own line of the dead that was set and promised on New Years Day last year. I made a New Years Resolution to quit smoking before the end of 2008. I now realize that the time to quit is upon me and quit I shall, since I am slowly but surely killing myself and those around me when I do smoke. I have one pack left and that will be my last, I am armed with nicotine gum and "support groups" if needed by my local health department. I am excited by the prospect that I will save some money and retain body heat by not going outside to smoke in all the non-smoking restaurants and bars that are in Knoxville (all establishments that serve to peeps under the age of 21 are by law now smoke free). I will no longer have that scratchy feeling in my throat in the mornings and I will no longer come home smelling smoke on my hair after work. I will breath fresh air instead of the smoky haze that lingers for days in a house when windows cannot be opened and will no longer have to listen to my non-smoking family nag me about quitting. Kallay and I are of course doing this together and we will conquer becoming non-smokers together, because truly I have been smoking for close to 14 years and its high time I quit. I managed to lose about 30lbs this past year, in my quest for being healthier this is the one thing that is holding me back, so goodbye cigarettes, it was fun knowing you, but your time is long long overdue to be gone.

Peace out

T.