Car Overheats

I noticed the temperature gage in the car climb during our trip to Millville on Friday and when we got off the highway the idiot light came on.  We stopped at the convenience store and bought a gallon of coolant that allowed us to limp home.

Our intention on Saturday was to rent a car and leave ours at the garage.  So, we picked up the rental but didn't make it to Foschi.  Pulled over a couple times to let the engine cool off and once I loosened the cap on the overflow and let the coolant geyser out only to refill it with cool water.  We might have done that 10 more times to get to the garage but what a phenomenal waste of time it would have been.  Called JC Towing who showed up in less than 15 minutes and towed it in.

We stayed Monday to give them a chance to work on it and it turned out to be the thermostat.  Complete repair including pressure testing the system $239.23.

The rental car was a Mercury Milan that I fit into comfortably.  Have to remember this should we find ourselves in the market for a car.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Every time I go to the theater I'm hoping for something real that doesn't talk down to me or signal when to laugh.  But what I usually get is mild entertainment.

Admittedly Vicky Cristina Barcelona has some characters that are really out there but the way they bounce off the more ordinary personalities is believable and very natural.  This movie is funny and there is no laff track.

The trailer said it was about two Women who go to Spain and are seduced by a local.  It brought back memories of Summer Lovers, a movie that I thought was too hokey, but this was just an hour and a half of fun.

Contract Signed

After being in attorney review for more than 2 months we finally have a signed contract for the condo in Weehawken. The sticking points were:

• Getting a list of fixtures, appliances, and building materials called a spec
• Getting a legal description of the property
• Changing the condo bylaws to allow pets

I doubt that we still have the property description or that the bylaws were changed. The truth is that the seller just waited us out but now closing has been moved to the end of the month which is not to his benefit.

We'll have the place inspected as soon as the kitchen appliances are installed and the loan should be approved early next week.

Back to Chestnut Neck

We cut the plastic off the boat and put up the canvas on Saturday. It is such a pleasure to have Chris help. He has a positive cooperative attitude that makes these things go fast. He and I dragged the plastic cover to the dumpster and were stuffing it in when one of the staff told us to stop. If we go back next season we'll know to just pile it up and leave it for pick up next to the boat.

We looked around for water spigots to connect the hose and found them only at great distances from the boat so we talked to a man at the marina store who told us, "The water isn't set up yet but they're working on it. There are only two guys in the yard and they'll get to it eventually." Not very helpful.

I took all the old zincs off and we stopped at Boater's World who was having a "Going out of business" sale. We were able to stock up for a couple of seasons on most of the zincs and got a good deal on the large one that goes under the swim platform - $50.

It was so windy and cold on Saturday that we had second thoughts about going back on Sunday but past experience has convinced us to take what we can get. It's easy to look at the calendar and think that there's ample time only to have the schedule close in on you. It was the right choice to go because Sunday was a great day to be outside with calm winds and temps in the high 60's.

Brought 200' hose and had ample length to run water to the boat. We boat soaped the entire hull and I used Teka on the swim platform. Afterward we told the yard that they could paint the bottom any time after after 4/20. She told us that they'd be glad to launch and do a sea trial with a week's notice.

AIG Bonuses

So, last fall you're an AIG employee sitting in your cubicle doing your job. You've heard some rumblings about tough times ahead but the first time you're sure that something is really wrong is when the bottom drops out of the company's stock price. That event is followed days later by headlines proclaiming that the company is out of money. Your reaction, "Holy shit. I better get my resume together."

Weeks go by and your colleagues are leaving. Some have been dismissed as the company cuts operating expenses to try and stay afloat. Others are lucky enough to find a new job quickly. One afternoon you're on the phone talking to a headhunter and your boss asks you into his office. "Jane" He says, "Your job is on a list of those considered crucial to the operation of the business. A lot of people around here think that the company will close its doors shortly but honestly, that's not going to happen anytime soon if ever. Just the same, to ally your fears and incent you stay through this debacle, we'd like to make you this offer." He hands you a memo with terms and conditions. "Notice that there's a bonus paid early next year should you decide to stay. Think about it and let me know."

You walk out of the office thinking, "I don't know. This is a really depressing place to work. It used to be kind of a family atmosphere but now so many of my friends have left... And I'm going to have to do the work of 3 people because the 2 other guys that had similar roles to mine are gone and they're sure not going to hire replacements."

Over the next couple of weeks you talk the offer over with friends and family. Your job search isn't taking off and reports from others you know who are looking confirm that finance jobs aren't easy to come by. Companies are laying off and nobody is hiring. So you tell your boss you're staying and you sign the memorandum that promises a bonus.

Over the next few months you get a few nibbles from people calling you about jobs and you start to think that maybe you acted hastily. But a deal is a deal. Mid March comes and you're paid a bonus. You think that now you can pay off some debt and life will be a little easier.

But all the sudden Washington is abuzz with how unfair it is that those unethical, immoral, AIG bozos who ran the company into the ground were paid a bonus. You don't know anyone that you'd classify as unethical. The accusations fly about how the company took on too much risk and should be punished for their inept behavior. Risk? You're not quite sure about risk but the water cooler gossip says that Moodys had rated most of what had been sold as A+ or better. Inept? The people you know are pretty sharp and interested in doing a good job. Now there's talk about passing special tax laws that would make you pay your bonus back to the IRS.

Diggin' in the Back Yard

What a beautiful weekend. Temperatures in the 70s both days.

We had given up running the washing machine because of the overflow problem so on Friday I contacted the septic service and they agreed to come out on Sat. When Gary got to the house he poked around in the back yard for a while but didn't locate the lid of the tank so he decided to come back on Sun with a small back hoe. He dug from the house along the pipe and eventually located the top of the tank about 10 ' into the back yard.

After he cut roots out of the drain pipe K filled the washer and drained it a couple of times without problem. Gary built up the top of the septic tank with cinder blocks so now the lid is under only inches of dirt. We were curious about whether we had a field drain or a cesspool so there was more digging to discover where the exit drain went. He found a cesspool about 15' further back from the septic tank and declared it to be in good shape. We asked him to build up the top of that too so its lid should be easy to find if we ever need to.

He pumped the tank (1000 gal capacity) and called it a day. The real test will be this coming weekend when clothes washing starts in earnest.

Total cost for digging, raising the 2 lids, and pumping was $860.

TV Continued

I had concluded that the vertical bar on the screen had disappeared and when the dispatcher called me on Tue I told her to cancel the ticket. It started to eat at me soon after I hung up the phone so I inspected the TV again and the bar was back. Whoops. I called the repair place back and and re-opened the ticket. Since then I've noticed that the distorted bar fades in and out. Sometimes it's very apparent. Other times it's not noticeable.

The tech came today and dragged in a box that was about the size of the TV but it wasn't a replacement. It was a new panel. The equivalent of a new picture tube in the old days. The first thing he said to me was, "I don't know why people buy plasmas." "Huh?", I said. He said, "They're always breaking." Wish I had known that before I bought the TV.

Took him about 40 minutes to swap out the panel. TV looks great!