Last night the Service Engine Soon light came back on again. And all the while I was hoping it would have been solved with something as simple as the spark plugs...
However, I took the car by Auto Zone and had them run their free "check engine" diagnostic test on it. Came up with error P0133 which is a "slow response" from the oxygen sensor in bank 1. What that means is that the sensor isn't reading correctly and therefore is sending bad signals to the car's computer. Fortunately for me the sensor is located right up front and is easily accessible and changed. $21 later I've got a new sensor and, hopefully, no more Service Engine Soon issues--a few days will tell.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
Pointless post
Just to bring the world up to speed on the goings on in my life--if you can call it that.
Anyways, I applied for some jobs down at the hospital--jobs that are essentially what I do but on a larger and more detailed scale--back in early April. Didn't even get an interview. Ouch.
I ordered a Rock Shox Tora 318 U-turn fork today with some of my tax "rebate" money. I've been riding my bike for coming up on 6 or 7 years with a fork that had a manufacturers safety recall on it. Aren't they supposed to make some sort of real effort to let you know about that kind of thing? Maybe I'm supposed to make some real effort to find out about that kind of thing...
The Service Engine Soon light came on in my car again. Last time it did that it cost me close to $400 to have a gasket or a seal of some sort replaced. Not really wanting that to happen right now I did a bit of digging through the vastness that is the Internet and read about something as simple as changing the spark plugs being being a solution to that light coming on more times than not. Since I believe everything I read on the Internet I immediately went out and bought some spark plugs and swapped out the old ones. It's been a while so the car was probably due anyways. Interesting thing I found was that one of the old plugs didn't match the other three. I'm pretty sure I put 4 of the same kind in when I did the job the last time. Made me wonder though if maybe I paid $400 for what I was told was a gasket/seal replacement when all I really got was one new spark plug. I doubt it, but I wonder where that one plug came from...
The Executive Ward Secretary (Bro. Shelton I think) and the High Priest Group Leader (Bro. Hayes) came by on Wednesday night and spent a good hour visiting with me. Seriously, that's the absolute longest anybody in this ward has sat and talked to me EVER in the 4 plus years I've been here. They are both aware of my circumstances and the issues I'm dealing with and they were both very supportive and encouraging. I told them that still, 4 years later, I have a hard time walking into church alone after having had my family with me for 13 years. They were both very empathetic but acknowledged--and were very grateful for--the fact that they really couldn't actually appreciate what it really felt like. I hope they never have to find out.
Spring semester is over. Abnormal Psychology: B+. Applied Parenting: A.
The Ogden Marathon is coming up in two weeks. I'm kind of excited to see if I can run it in under 4 hours! I'm pretty sure I can but I've thought that before and come up short. Or long. And then 3 weeks after that is the Squaw Peak 50. I'm mucho unprepared for that hummer. Little actual trail running and no back to back long runs like I would have like to have done. There's still a bit of time though.
Corbin has played two ball games so far this season in spite of the fact he's re-broken his arm. In both of those games he hit an in-the-park homerun! His team won the first game but lost the second. Both were close games that were decided in the final inning.
And the Utah Jazz just knocked off the Houston Rockets winning the series 4 games to 2. Go Jazz!
Anyways, I applied for some jobs down at the hospital--jobs that are essentially what I do but on a larger and more detailed scale--back in early April. Didn't even get an interview. Ouch.
I ordered a Rock Shox Tora 318 U-turn fork today with some of my tax "rebate" money. I've been riding my bike for coming up on 6 or 7 years with a fork that had a manufacturers safety recall on it. Aren't they supposed to make some sort of real effort to let you know about that kind of thing? Maybe I'm supposed to make some real effort to find out about that kind of thing...The Service Engine Soon light came on in my car again. Last time it did that it cost me close to $400 to have a gasket or a seal of some sort replaced. Not really wanting that to happen right now I did a bit of digging through the vastness that is the Internet and read about something as simple as changing the spark plugs being being a solution to that light coming on more times than not. Since I believe everything I read on the Internet I immediately went out and bought some spark plugs and swapped out the old ones. It's been a while so the car was probably due anyways. Interesting thing I found was that one of the old plugs didn't match the other three. I'm pretty sure I put 4 of the same kind in when I did the job the last time. Made me wonder though if maybe I paid $400 for what I was told was a gasket/seal replacement when all I really got was one new spark plug. I doubt it, but I wonder where that one plug came from...
The Executive Ward Secretary (Bro. Shelton I think) and the High Priest Group Leader (Bro. Hayes) came by on Wednesday night and spent a good hour visiting with me. Seriously, that's the absolute longest anybody in this ward has sat and talked to me EVER in the 4 plus years I've been here. They are both aware of my circumstances and the issues I'm dealing with and they were both very supportive and encouraging. I told them that still, 4 years later, I have a hard time walking into church alone after having had my family with me for 13 years. They were both very empathetic but acknowledged--and were very grateful for--the fact that they really couldn't actually appreciate what it really felt like. I hope they never have to find out.
Spring semester is over. Abnormal Psychology: B+. Applied Parenting: A.
The Ogden Marathon is coming up in two weeks. I'm kind of excited to see if I can run it in under 4 hours! I'm pretty sure I can but I've thought that before and come up short. Or long. And then 3 weeks after that is the Squaw Peak 50. I'm mucho unprepared for that hummer. Little actual trail running and no back to back long runs like I would have like to have done. There's still a bit of time though.
Corbin has played two ball games so far this season in spite of the fact he's re-broken his arm. In both of those games he hit an in-the-park homerun! His team won the first game but lost the second. Both were close games that were decided in the final inning.
And the Utah Jazz just knocked off the Houston Rockets winning the series 4 games to 2. Go Jazz!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
2008 Boston Marathon
No, I didn't run it. I have yet to qualify. Someday. Maybe. I hope. An old guy like me needs to run a qualifying marathon at or under 3:20:59. For those keeping score at home, that's 26.2 miles with an average pace of 7:40 per mile.
The fastest I've managed to run a marathon was the St. George marathon back in 2002 when I finished with a 3:35:32 (a 8:14 average pace). I can't knock 34 seconds per mile off my fastest time! At least not with my attitude. And definitely not training like I have been.
Anyways, some good friends and associates of mine went back to Bean Town and ran Boston last Monday, April 21. Most have returned and made a report. Makes me want to go. Makes me want to kick my lazy butt in the butt and put in the effort. And then I get to thinking about the expense. I've got 2 kids that tell me they plan on going out with me, and I know darn well they won't be footing their own bill--that's what dad's are for. And with me having sights to see and former haunts and people to visit while I'm back there, it ain't gonna be no two or three day trip. Try a week. Or more.
One word: pipedream.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The College Bookstore Racket
I really don't like that the college bookstores sell text books at the price they do and buy them back (occasionally) for a fraction of what the students paid for them. I don't like it but I've come to accept it. Begrudgingly. I paid $125 for one book and was informed today that the bookstore isn't buying it back for whatever reason.
Anybody want to buy a college text book? Abnormal Psychology, 6th ed., Ronald J. Comer. I'll make you a really good deal. It's available at Amazon.com for $101.15--I'll let you have it for $90.Sunday, April 20, 2008
What to do?
So I got my mountain bike tuned up yesterday and it's ready to ride. Good times. Accolades to Bike Peddler here in American Fork for doing such good job (so far as I can tell). Now we just need the snow to melt. Don't know how much luck there I'll have--it's supposed to snow again today in the higher elevations although I haven't seen any yet.
But I've been upgrading various components of my old bike for a while now. Next on the list is the front suspension--the fork. Right now I'm riding on a Rockshox Judy TT. It's done well, but I know that there's more to be had from the front end that what I've gotten. So, the question is, where do I go from here? I've not been blessed with an overabundance of cash--the most I feel I might be able to spend is $400 and I'd prefer to spend less. But on what? I don't have disc brakes so it needs to be v-brake compatible. I've been looking at the Rockshox Tora at about $220. I'd really like to go with something like the Fox 32 but there's more cash involved there (upwards of $600). If anyone reading this can point me in the right direction towards a decent and affordable fork, please comment.
But I've been upgrading various components of my old bike for a while now. Next on the list is the front suspension--the fork. Right now I'm riding on a Rockshox Judy TT. It's done well, but I know that there's more to be had from the front end that what I've gotten. So, the question is, where do I go from here? I've not been blessed with an overabundance of cash--the most I feel I might be able to spend is $400 and I'd prefer to spend less. But on what? I don't have disc brakes so it needs to be v-brake compatible. I've been looking at the Rockshox Tora at about $220. I'd really like to go with something like the Fox 32 but there's more cash involved there (upwards of $600). If anyone reading this can point me in the right direction towards a decent and affordable fork, please comment.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
NY Yankees remove buried Red Sox jersey
I found the following news story to be hilarious: NY Yankees remove buried Red Sox jersey. Seriously folks, so what? The most mind blowingly hysterical comments from the article are as follows:
After locating the shirt in a service corridor behind what will be a restaurant in the new Yankee Stadium, construction workers jackhammered through the concrete Sunday and pulled it out.
It took about five hours of drilling Saturday to locate the shirt under 2 feet of concrete.
"The first thought was, you know, it's never a good thing to be buried in cement when you're in New York," Levine said. "But then we decided, why reward somebody who had really bad motives and was trying to do a really bad thing?"
...the Yankees had discussed possible criminal charges against Castignoli with the district attorney's office.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Catching up.
Firefly, the TV series, never should have been canceled. I know, it's been 5 years. I'm a bit late getting on this bandwagon.
Hulu.com is trouble.
Spring hasn't sprung yet.
I've got a marathon to run on Saturday. I'm in trouble.
Hulu.com is trouble.
Spring hasn't sprung yet.
I've got a marathon to run on Saturday. I'm in trouble.
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