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From Draco to Famtard to...
Sep. 15th, 2018 10:18 pmLooking over my past couple of entries, I see that I posted the link to my Pennsic 47 blog entry twice. Just a small indication of life when the routine is upset a bit.
Backing up a bit ... Burgerfest on August 25 turned out to be the last place of any great distance to which i traveled with Draco, my 1993 Honda Accord. Two evenings later, I was heading to my regular SCA dance practice in the next town over when I noticed my car's engine-temperature light was zooming up into the red zone. I figured that if I drove slowly and avoided stops, I could make it back to my usual garage. So I did that, and parked Draco just outside the building in the tiny little parking lot. I texted Maugorn (and Patches? did I text her too?) and the boy toy, then walked home.
Unfortunately, the diagnosis was a very bad blowout of the head gasket. The mechanic couldn't even turn the engine on, it was so bad. I talked to both the mechanic there and the head guy at the auto repair shop next door -- together, they have the best reputations in this community -- and both of them told me it would be an expensive fix, north of $1200. And I had bought that car for $850 at the end of 2016. Yeah, I've already made a couple of other pricey repairs to the thing, but I can't see putting a four-figure sum into a 25-year-old car that may have even more major problems in the not so distant future.
So ... I had AAA tow it back to my condo complex and put it on the street (for ease of towing again once I dispose of it). I didn't want to incur "storage charges" from the local garage, especially since the local Labor Day Festival was coming up fast.
Since then, I have been making do. For example, I took the bus to the local friendly NASA facility to interview somebody. And I joined Zipcar -- it's having "first month free" (well, for the base membership) deals through the end of September. The closest Zipcar to my house is about a 20-minute walk. It's a red Ford Fiesta that has the name "Famtard." Apparently every Zipcar has a unique name -- perhaps that's a millennial marketing thing or something. I have no idea what "Famtard" means -- perhaps it's a mashup of "family" and the R-word. Whatever. It's not a bad little car, though a tad underpowered.
I also am working to buy a 1999 Toyota Corolla that has only 108,000 or so miles on it. Seriously. A woman at my church said her son was looking to sell his wife's car to someone who could really use one. (That would be me.) Patches and I went up to look at it last weekend and give it a test drive. It actually felt zippier than Famtard. Brakes grab well, no vibrations until I get up to 65 mph (probably it needs an alignment). Only $1000 and I think it will pass inspection. Yes, I had been hoping to get a car built in the 21st century, but this one looks like a decent deal that could tide me over for a few years.
Backing up a bit ... Burgerfest on August 25 turned out to be the last place of any great distance to which i traveled with Draco, my 1993 Honda Accord. Two evenings later, I was heading to my regular SCA dance practice in the next town over when I noticed my car's engine-temperature light was zooming up into the red zone. I figured that if I drove slowly and avoided stops, I could make it back to my usual garage. So I did that, and parked Draco just outside the building in the tiny little parking lot. I texted Maugorn (and Patches? did I text her too?) and the boy toy, then walked home.
Unfortunately, the diagnosis was a very bad blowout of the head gasket. The mechanic couldn't even turn the engine on, it was so bad. I talked to both the mechanic there and the head guy at the auto repair shop next door -- together, they have the best reputations in this community -- and both of them told me it would be an expensive fix, north of $1200. And I had bought that car for $850 at the end of 2016. Yeah, I've already made a couple of other pricey repairs to the thing, but I can't see putting a four-figure sum into a 25-year-old car that may have even more major problems in the not so distant future.
So ... I had AAA tow it back to my condo complex and put it on the street (for ease of towing again once I dispose of it). I didn't want to incur "storage charges" from the local garage, especially since the local Labor Day Festival was coming up fast.
Since then, I have been making do. For example, I took the bus to the local friendly NASA facility to interview somebody. And I joined Zipcar -- it's having "first month free" (well, for the base membership) deals through the end of September. The closest Zipcar to my house is about a 20-minute walk. It's a red Ford Fiesta that has the name "Famtard." Apparently every Zipcar has a unique name -- perhaps that's a millennial marketing thing or something. I have no idea what "Famtard" means -- perhaps it's a mashup of "family" and the R-word. Whatever. It's not a bad little car, though a tad underpowered.
I also am working to buy a 1999 Toyota Corolla that has only 108,000 or so miles on it. Seriously. A woman at my church said her son was looking to sell his wife's car to someone who could really use one. (That would be me.) Patches and I went up to look at it last weekend and give it a test drive. It actually felt zippier than Famtard. Brakes grab well, no vibrations until I get up to 65 mph (probably it needs an alignment). Only $1000 and I think it will pass inspection. Yes, I had been hoping to get a car built in the 21st century, but this one looks like a decent deal that could tide me over for a few years.
