FNG's MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Let’s see how my first MMP works out…

You may remember my previous posts regarding my myriad of vehicle problems my wife and I have been having as of late. To recap: on August 30th our 1986 Suburban cracked the block while I was driving to work one morning. Huge plumes of white smoke poring into the cab, lots of noise coming from under the hood, and bad words yelled by yours truly. Now, this happened on I-5, south of Eugene, so I had to get it off the freeway ASAP. Called in to work (boss was cool, even offered to come pick me up), and my FIL came and towed me home.

Next week, I get from my BIL a '88 Dodge Caravan POS. It ran exactly 1 1/2 days before blowing the head gasket. Now, I’m not a mechanic. I can change the oil, do basic maintenance, and fix some engine stuff if I have time and a manual to work from. So I decided to tackle this project. Now, I need to fit this into my work and school schedule, so it took several days. My wife borrowed her dads car in the interm. Ok, that works until I get the van fixed.

So a week later I get the van back together about 9pm. Took awhile to get the timing right, but finally got it. Time for a test drive! It’s dark, raining, I’m tired but oh so glad this project is finally over! My FIL can get his car back and our transportation problems, which have been front and center in our lives, will be over!

Drove it less than one mile when the transmission failed. Quit shifting, was stuck in second. I could have KILLED someone. Limped it home, parked it, took a shower and went to bed.

Next day, went to our credit union and applied for a small car loan. Denied. My FIL then offered to co-sign the loan. Great. He has good income and great credit. No worries.

Loan denied.

So. What to to do. For the time being, he offered to let my wife drive his car, a little econobox, while we figured out the next step. He has big 2500 Ram, so he wasn’t hurting for transportation. We didn’t know what we were going to do, so just took it one day at a time. Our only realistic plan was to save up a few hundred bucks, find some rattletrap rustbucket on Craigslist, and hope it would last until after Christmas when we could save up money for a real car.

So my wife had either been driving her dad’s car or relying on me to give her a ride since August 30th. This past Thursday, which was one of the days she had her dad’s car, he calls her and asks her to meet him at a local used car lot. He asked her to make sure the car was empty of everything, vacuumed, and the exterior washed. He was going to sell the car. He called her at work, around 9am, and he wanted her to meet him after she left the daycare for the day, around 3.

My wife sent me a frantic text, telling me that her dad was selling the car and asking if I had any idea what we we were going to do for transportation. I had no idea. I was somewhat pissed, although I was trying not to be. My FIL was completely within his rights to sell his car, obviously, but Christ almighty, what bad timing. I started making a list of stuff I could sell on Craigslist or at a pawnshop, just to get enough money to buy some beater that could take us from A to B. I didn’t have much on the list. Except for some antique books and old radio station equipment, I don’t own anything of value; and those won’t sell fast and aren’t worth a lot. Needless to say, it was a bad morning.

So my wife gets to the car lot; and my FIL drops the bomb he’s been waking to drop all morning: his plan (which he already started in motion with the man at the dealership), was to trade his little econobox straight across for something more family-friendly (read: minivan), which he would then sell to us.

:eek: :confused:

My FIL isn’t the kind of guy who changes his mind easily. He found Jesus a few years ago, and now claims that he runs all major decisions in front of God first. If he gets the ok, then no earthly mortal can change his mind. Apparently he had a gabfest with the Big Guy Wednesday night, and was given the green light.

So we ended up with a new-ish Chrysler Town & Country Limited. I don’t know how to feel about this. My FIL gave up his daily driver to give us a car. His wife doesn’t drive, but she isn’t to happy about it (unlike her husband, she doesn’t think God literally speaks to her. Common sense overcomes rashness). She liked the little car; feels the pickup is just too big. He didn’t consult her, didn’t even ask her an opinion. Just got up Thursday morning and headed to the dealership. Pissed off his wife to help his daughter.

So I’ve got a new van – well, strictly speaking, my wife does, and a pissed off mother-in-law, and an overly smug father-in-law, and two jealous sisters-in-law.

Sigh.

In other news, lessee… I finally got a Costco card. The $50 a year is more than compensated for the low price of OTC meds.

Oh, and I have created a half-assed decent salsa recipie. I need to make some for dia de los muertos, and am trying to find a good balance between flavor and heat. Habaneros and Chile Arbols seem to work well. We will see what everyone else thinks. If most of the people who try it run for the nearest drinking fountain than I have succeeded.

How’s your Monday?

2

Geez buddy, your story reminds me of an old Bloom County cartoon where, everything going wrong that could, the father then has son Blinky come in to say “Dad, the cat just barfed in your sock drawer.”

I hope things get better and, you know, hide your sock drawer.

3

So a few weeks ago, I decided that I really needed to get out of Dodge. I decided that I needed to go to DC because it seems like every school kid has been there, and me, I missed out on that class trip.

Seeing as I’m a grown-up and everything (please don’t tell), I figured I could just go. And when the date was set for the Dopefest in norinew’s memory, I timed my trip to coincide with it.

So off I went, to admire the marvels of our nation’s capital, stay at a hostel where I could meet people from (literally) all over the word, and meet up with a bunch of my imaginary friends.

If you haven’t been to D.C., you really must go. It’s very cool to see: 1) how all those famous buildings you see on the news actually fit together, 2) the details you DON’T see on TV (i.e. the Washington Monument? It’s got a flaw. They started building it before the Civil War, stopped during the war, and then resumed building using markedly different stone.), and 3) famous tidbits you wouldn’t normally think of together (the Hope Diamond, the Lunar Module, a Gutenberg Bible).

My favorite museum story: the part of the National Portrait Gallery that I decided to focus on was the Presidential Gallery. It contains images of every past U.S. President. Shortly after I arrived, a small school tour came in. The kids were in about 5th grade. The tour guide told them they had 30 seconds to look at the painting of George Washington that is known as the Lansdowne Portrait. Then she made them turn away from it and tell her what they’d seen. After that, they discussed what the different parts of the painting meant. It was fascinating to overhear (I learned stuff!). And the kids actually seemed interested.

The hostel experience that made me say “ah, youth!”: listening to a German kid (maybe 20) and a kid from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (who has lived in the States most of his life) discussing, among other things, the marvels of living in the U.S. Not a single drop of cynicism or pessimism to be had between the two of them. It was very sweet.

The imaginary friend meeting was great, with a sad undercurrent because Norine couldn’t be there. There were some great stories, charming people, yummy food, what more could we want? It was great to meet everyone.

I can hardly wait to go back to see more and meet up with people again.

And, yes, I’ll post pictures eventually…)

Happy Monday to those of you who are living in the future! :smiley:

GT

4

First! Wahoo!
I went to DC back in grad school for a march. Vietnam memorial was incredible. Had awesome Ethiopian food for the first time, too. Would love to go back and really see it.

5

I’ve got a Spanish test on Tuesday, and can’t remember all the conjugations for the verb ‘ser’. That is this week’s cat barf, right there!

BTW just FYI… it was MichaelBinkley.

6

Merged duplicate MMPs. The chronology may be a little wonky.

7

Either you’re in Spanish 1 or you’re having the same problem as me. I took 2 years of Spanish in middle school (a long time ago) and I’m on my second semester since January and I STILL have issues with the conjugations for “ser”. Very annoying.

Nice OPs both of you! :smiley: I like good stories!

8

My claim for first looks unsubstantiated now! Ah, well!

Nice alternative OP!

9

Sheesh, can’t you people get organized? TWO mmps?! :stuck_out_tongue:

Applied for a bunch of jobs. Otherwise haven’t done shit.

Lancia, that sounds awkwaaaard. My mom says god talks to her, but it doesn’t come up very often. I just wish Dad would talk to her so they’d stop snipping at each other!

let’s see if I can remember my Spanish (four years in high school… can I use it? Of course not!): ser, yo soy, tu ???, ??? es, … and now I’m mixing German, Japanese, and French (!!! I never studied French?!) in. I can’t remember the pronouns.

10

try mixing Hebrew in some day. There was this little ditty (for lack of a better word) i learned back in Hebrew School.
“I” is “ani” אני
“ani” is “me” מי
“mi” is “who” הוא
"hu’ is “he” היא
“hee” is “she”
and “dag” (dog) is “fish”

it relates to nothing stated so far, but who cares.

11

Ooooo, simulMMPs!
Thanks for the explanations on butty, Filbert. There is a bar in my hometown whose menu is all named after Asterix characters; their Obelix is described as “not for the faint of stomach - you’ve been warned!” If you ask for it at dinner time mid-week they ask whether you’re sure you’ve got the right one and remind you you’re not supposed to ask for more food than you can eat. The ingredients (and I’m sure I’ll leave some out) are a big, hard crusted bun, two hamburgers, green peppers, red peppers, onion, pickles, (ketchup optional and the waitress rolls her eyes at you), tomato, lettuce and a fried egg. The reason for the rolleyes is that they reckon anybody who’s asking for ketchup is just on a rut of burguer = ketchup; the fried egg’s yolk should be more than enough sauce for that monster of a sandwich.

Heeeeh, one of my favorite book series (Giovanni Guareschi’s Mondo Piccolo, Little World) has three main characters: the priest Don Camilo, the Communist Major Peponne and the image of Christ that don Camilo has conversations with. Guareschi went to great pains to explain in the introduction to each collection of short stories that the Christ isn’t supposed to be The christ, it’s his own Christ and not necessarily anybody else’s, ok?

Your FiL should have run it through the wife first, but it still was a nice thing to do. Is he/was he one of those guys who believe strongly in “it’s better to ask for forgiveness than for permission”? I find that those tend to never ask for second opinions either…

12

Nice MMP’s!

Hockey season has started - we won both our exhibition games, then had our meet-n-greet with the players today. Only a few new guy but one of them is 6’5/250. Hope coach isn’t paying him by the pound. Two players got engaged over the summer, one got married, two got pregnant and one had a baby. (Well, their wives got pregnant and had a baby)

My husband did his latest in the series of things he’s done to make me really, really want a divorce - even though we’ve been having money trouble (I haven’t worked for a while) and he was only scheduled to work two days this week, he called out today. To cut the grass. Which he could have done any of the other days this week he wasn’t working. But since I’m not working I’m not supposed to say anything.

If it wasn’t for my hockey friends and my Tennessee Friend I’d hate my life.

13

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffienatin’. YAWN 'Tis 53 Amurrkin out with a predicted high of 90. Oh and rain tomorrow. I like that part.

Lancia (have we worked on the nickname yet?) glad for the new ride. In my experience most people who have talks with God also have talks with fire hydrants and lamp posts. Maybe a fire hydrant will tell your FIL to buy you a house! :smiley:

gt nice op! Can’t wait for the pics!

Everybody else yays, boos, hugs, noogies, trouts, chitlins, pointy sticks, how you doin’s as needed. Sinuses are buggin’ me so I didn’t comperhend much.

Now I must seek more caffiene and food for rumbly tummy. Then, alas, irk purtification must commence.

Happy Monday Y’all!

14

Good morning! I don’t need to comment on gt’s MMP since I’d already heard it all… * in person!!!* :smiley: It was lovely to meet her and kopek, altho the reason for the gathering was not ideal. What she didn’t tell you, because it didn’t happen, was that we’d discussed doing a bit of touring outside of DC on Sat morning before the fest, but because of camera problems earlier in the week, she decided to stay in DC and see some things she’d have otherwise missed.

Turns out that was a good thing. My first suggestion had been visiting Annapolis. But I’d forgotten it was the weekend of the Powerboat Show, which meant parking and traffic would have been much worse than usual and Ego Alley would have been inaccessible. I remembered that early enough to propose that we go to Baltimore instead and wander around the Inner Harbor or Fells Point for a few hours. Fortunately, she declined and opted to stay, as I already mentioned. Saturday was the Baltimore Marathon, Half Marathon, Kids Run, 5K, and probably a few more things that I just happened to see when I inadvertently tuned to a station in Baltimore instead of DC for the morning news. Had we gone either of the places I’d suggested, we’d have encountered crowds, limited or no parking, and general insanity.

So she’s got to come back. Damn the luck… :wink:

**Lancia **- so what happened to the crappo van from your BIL? Are you going to attempt to resurrect it or has it gone to the junkyard already?

{{{SCL}}} - sorry your life is so sucky. But it can only get better, right?

Speaking of getting better, maybe, today my spousal unit gets the 3rd and final steroid shot in his back. This one is scheduled for midday, so he’s gone to work and I’ll meet him at the hospital. Assuming he doesn’t feel too terrible after, we’ll go get some lunch before coming home. But I’m not optimistic about the outcome. I fully expect a 5th surgery to be scheduled before too long. At least with me not working, there’s one less schedule to coordinate. And we’ve got savings, so having him on short term disability for a month or so won’t be a crisis, just a drain on our reserves.

So, word to the wise - if you think you’ve got spinal issues, see a good doctor/orthopedist and do what you’re told. You may think you can gut your way thru the pain, but eventually, you’re likely to do yourself harm.

Apart from the visit to the hospital, I think I’ll make a batch of chicken soup for supper, and maybe an apple crisp, using up the apples I bought and didn’t use last week. And I may run a load of jeans. Take it from me, retirement truly lives up to the term “golden years” - yeah… :stuck_out_tongue:

so Happy Monday. Now I need to find some caffeine.

15

Up, caffeinated, off to irk. No non date tonight.

Lancia, glad you got some wheels. Sorry about the accompanying in-law drama.

FCM, gt, glad you guys had a good time. I got to [del]be axe murdered[/del] meet up with kopek last year in Pittsburgh.

{{{{SCL}}}}

swampy, Gordie reminds me to go buy beer, does that count?

16

I am so embarrassed to say that I forgot the most important part about meeting **gt **- she brought chocolate love offerings!!! :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: Three different kinds - all imported!! Made me feel so special!! :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

17

I wish D.C. wasn’t so far so we could go more often. The whole time you’re there no matter how ferverently you scamper around you’re never going to see but a fraction of what’s available. And yeah, one of the cool things was just walking around the streets off the mall and saying "Look… the Federal Reserve, look… the American Red Cross, etc. Our last visit was about a month before the inaguration when all the stage lumber was piled up on the steps. It, like every other time was the perfect time to visit.

Woah, I didn’t even know there was such a thing. That would be awesome.

18

:grumble:… 5am comes too damnn early. Need more caffeine.

**FCM,**my BIL came and got the old van. What he did with it I don’t know and I don’t care. It isn’t in my carport anymore, and that is all that’s important.

Swampy, when I say my FIL talks to Jesus, I mean that literally. But, he’s Pentecostal. So he’s convinced God literally speaks back. Last Thanksgiving he invited his pastor to dinner. Talk about a surreal evening.

What’s with the nicknames? Do I get to choose my own? :smiley:

Need to go study Spanish. Play with my verbs.

19

You may not pick your own nickname - sorry. They must be inspired by your username, something you’ve shared, or the phase of the moon and the price of Bolivian dental procedures. Also, they don’t need to make sense. So if I decide your nickname should be Betty, that that’s that.

:smiley:

20

So long as you leave some verbs for the rest of us…