Wednesday, June 21, 2006

I'm Back....

It's been an exciting couple of weeks around here, and by exciting, of course I mean exhausting. All last week, I was working on a construction project near Providence and I never really made it to the office. When I was there, it was only to check e-mail, so I missed all of my blogger buds.

This past weekend, we took a trip down to the Jersey Shore to visit my folks. Can you say, trip from hell?

First, we left later than I wanted to on Friday night. Then, when we crossed into New York, I noticed that the rear-end of the Explorer was kinda wobbly, like the lug nuts were loose or something. I pulled off the road and checked them, and both sets on the back were loose by a full turn. I jacked it up and tightened everything down and proceeded on my way.

We only got another mile or so and the wobble returned. I slowed down to about 45, and it went away. At this point, we were half-way to the shore, so I decide to limp it down there and get it looked at in the morning.

That's when we hit the traffic. One would think that traffic wouldn't be all that bad at 11:00pm on a Friday night, right? Unfortunately, that is when the DOT thought it would be a good idea to close three lanes on the upper level of the George Washington bridge. It took us an hour an a half to go seven miles. We finally made it to the shore at 3am. Uggh.

But that was only the start of the bad news. The next morning, I took the Explorer in to the dealership to get looked at. The verdict: A bent rear passenger side axle and a bad driver-side wheel bearing. Cost to repair: $906.87. Of course no parts were in stock, so they needed to order them and thought that they would come in Tuesday or Wednesday.

So I had to call my boss and tell him that I was broke down at the Jersey shore and needed a couple of days off to get the car fixed. Not even I would believe an excuse like that, but he was cool about it.

Luckily, the parts came in yesterday and they had it ready to go by 5pm, so we came back last night. On the bright side, I got to celebrate my first Father's Day with my son and my dad, so that was cool.

Comments:
My car falls apart all the time. I'm ALWAYS surprised that my boss never gives me shit.
 
jesum crimminy dude...i thought you were lost or something.....was wonder where the hell you been...sorry about the ride but yay for getting to spend father's day with your 2 favorite boys or men...hehehe my dad is still a boy so i don't know about yours
 
side axle got bent? that doesn't happen to easily.

that blows though, but at least you had a good father's day :)
 
I just love have car problems, it sure makes you want to take a trip every weekend to see what new problem will arise.

Glad you had a good fathers day.
 
BV - My car never falls apart. I maintain that thing to the balls.

Greta - It was a blast spending the day with my family, but my mother pretty much drove me insane. I'll be posting on that soon.

Elle - They are doing a ton of construction near my house and leaving the roads unpaved for days at a time. Then it rains and there are these giant potholes that play havoc with a car. Last year, my wife's car got a cracked oil pan from one of the potholes, and the contractor paid for the repair, but I can't narrow this down to a particular date.

Twisted - Good to see you man! The Explorer is a pretty decent ride, and it only has 80k miles on it, so I don't anticipate anything else going wrong any time soon.
 
Excuse me. Some of us would like to hear more about your trip to the shore. Like where you ate, what you drank, who you saw, etc.
 
ahhhhh that makes sense. all of cleveland is under construction, and i have half a mind to give the bill for all the chips in my paint, and my suspension sucking ass to the city of cleveland. not my fault, it's theirs!
 
Brooke - Alright, I ate at the White House, JoJo's and Angelo's this time in town. I also had a few beers at Robert's Place. I could not bring myself to ride by 21 S. Washington Ave. though. It's still too painful.

Buttah - Next big pothole that you hit, call the DOT and tell them about it. Take a digital picture of the pothole and follow up with an e-mail. Then, go get an alignment and send them a bill. They'll pay it. I guarantee it.
 
I'm going to cry.
 
I'm not going to the Greenhouse until you are in town.

I'll be back down there from 7/28 to 8/7. On 8/6, my father's Lion's lawn party is at the Log Cabin in Margate, so you'll have to come by if you are up by then.
 
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