Never Know What Might Turn Up

2009-11-03T18:41:00.001-05:00

See? I'm terrible at this...

New Toy

2009-06-21T20:20:00.003-04:00

I have the best friends and family. For some time now I've been needing to get an updated computer. I have made it extremely apparent to my friends, moaning and groaning about how slow it is, and how I'm having some trouble or other with it. When the power supply died in it finally, my dad gave me an old box that belonged to my sister that was technologically worse than what I was using originally, but did actually work.

Well this week, I was finally starting to configure the hand-me-down machine to work with my Xbox 360, and moving various music and movie files around to where it could easily find them. And I complained about how slow the whole process was. I was transferring 57 gb of movie files over a USB 1.1 connection. I started the process Wednesday evening, and it finished sometime during the day Friday.

So, I complained and whined, but felt guilty about actually asking for a computer for my upcoming birthday, because of previous high dollar gifts, and a recent loan request from the parentals for other financial obligations. Well, unknown to me, a message had gone out over Facebook about a month earlier from friends who I'd probably begun to annoy with tales of how horrible it was to deal with this aged piece of hardware, asking if people would contribute to a "Get Nate a New Computer So He Can Shut Up Already" fund.

Well, to my great surprise, yesterday I was presented with my new emachine when my friend Marshall came over to hang out. I was absolutely floored. I believe I had mentioned to a few people that I was surprised Mom had not yet asked me what I wanted for my birthday, though I wasn't sure what I would have told her in lieu of a new 'puter. I had no idea that she was already conspiring with the rest of my family and half a dozen friends to get what I really wanted. So, now I'm up and running, proofreading this on my 18.5" flat panel monitor, transferring files between drives, and updating my itunes library, all at the same time! Although my actual birthday is still over a week away, I'm going to chalk it up there as one of the best ever.

To Mom, Dad, Kim, Shellie, Joy, Leslie, Chris, Marshall, and Nathan, thank you all so much. I'll be shutting up now.

Saturday, I miss you...

2009-05-29T18:52:00.003-04:00

I have to work tomorrow. I really, really hate working Saturdays. Typically it's once every three weeks that I'm scheduled to work a Saturday, but tomorrow will be the fourth week in a row I've had to go in. And then my scheduled Saturday is the following week, so that will be five in a row.
I disliked the sound of my alarm going off, and having to drag myself out of bed on the sixth day bad enough when it was only every so often. Sure, ask me any other day of the week, and I'd say, "It's not so bad, it's only every third Saturday I have to work." But when that particular morning rolls around, I grumble and moan, and drag my feet, and I'm just plain grumpy for the better part of the day.
There have been weekend shifts that have been to my benefit in the past. Sometimes you get lucky and make pretty good hours. One weekend I even had the pleasure of getting a MD state inspection on a Viper. I feel if this were a more common occurrence (the hours, not the Viper, although I wouldn't object to Viper inspections every weekend), I genuinely would not mind as much, but my recent experiences have done nothing to persuade me that working an occasional Saturday is any good for anyone.
My major complaint here is that lately, even with the extra day, I can't seem to turn a 40 hour week. Even the past couple weeks I've gone in out of turn, it was only to add a few more hours to an already miserable week. This trend began before the whole collapse of the auto industry thing, so I can't simply blame it on that. I am also aware that some of the other guys in the shop still do pretty well for themselves despite the economy, and without the need to cut every weekend in half. I can't figure out if there is something I need to do differently, or if I need to address management about it, but something has to change. I want my weekend back...

I think I need a new Brand.

2009-05-18T18:33:00.006-04:00

I work at a Chrysler dealership. Throughout this whole auto bailout/bankruptcy/carpocalypse thing I've tried to remain optimistic. I thought the Fiat alliance was a great idea, I've believed for some time now that if the Automakers brought from Europe the sporty little econoboxes they sell over there, they would do tremendously well over here. However, the more I see of some of Chrysler's most recent vehicles, the easier it becomes to see why the ship is sinking.
This morning I receive a repair order for a 2008 Grand Caravan complaining of a weird smell from the air conditioning. Having already seen A/C complaints on two other minivans, and seeing a number of the other guys in the shop dealing with the same issue, I immediately check the discharge hose from the condenser to the compressor.
Now, you would imagine when developing or redesigning a vehicle, the engineers working on it would take into consideration proper routing of hoses and lines so as not to put undue strain on the components. The guy responsible for that on the new Grand Caravan/Town & Country must have had the day off. Yes, it seems the new RT (body code) minivans have an A/C hose with a kink built right in. And when the customer uses the air conditioning a few times, the pressure gets to be a bit too much, and the hose splits, and you wonder why your A/C isn't cold on your brand new van.
Making matters worse for everyone, due to the high failure rate of this hose (number 1 in the linked picture), and Chrysler's financial situation, the hose is on back order, which means I lose a repair (albeit a warranty repair), and the customer still has an A/C problem, which generally makes the dealership look bad.
Another issue I've had with newer vehicles recently is coolant leaking from the radiator cap. There's nothing fancy about it, just run of the mill, 16psi pressure cap. And they somehow got it wrong. And now because this has become a frequent occurrence, the replacement caps are also on back order, and thus unavailable.
My last gripe for the evening isn't really even my gripe, just more of an embarrassment by association. I read online today that Chrysler is now bailing on Lemon Law buy back payments. I'm sure they were hoping those would be swept under the big bankruptcy rug. Unfortunately for those involved, it sounds like they're likely to get substantially less than what was previously arranged, even more so since they now are likely to require an attorney to get anything out of it at all...
I'm still eager to see Fiat brought over here, not just re-badged Fiats under the Chrysler marques, but the Fiat brand itself. I am aware of, but too young to have experienced first hand, the poor quality of Fiats past. From what I read online and see on Top Gear however, Fiat has reinvented itself, and become quite a powerful entity with a decent line of automobiles.
In the meantime, although my dealership made the first round of cuts, it may be time to find a new brand to stand behind. I think I'll always be a Mopar man at heart, but that is more reserved for the classics from the muscle car era. It's getting to be almost shameful to admit I work for Chrysler now, when asked what I do for a living, I simplay state that I'm an automotive technician, and a Maryland state inspector, and leave it at that.

I think there's a problem...

2009-05-01T23:44:00.002-04:00

They say to write what you know, and what I know most about at this point are cars and video games. However, apart from my work at the dealership, the most I know about cars that are actually interesting is from what I read on the internet or see on Top Gear. My first-hand experience is limited to warranty complaints from customers who don't take the time to learn how the features of their new cars work. That or how I think some of the engineers like to design cars blindfolded. This turns most of what I might write about into the annoyed ranting of an elitist mechanic, but that isn't how I would like to portray myself.

I enjoy doing the work I do, there is a great satisfaction in seeking out someone's concern, identifying the cause, and knowing how to correct it. Having the ability to disassemble major components of the vehicle and putting it all back together so it barely looks as though it was disturbed at all feels like a major accomplishment.

The problems lie in the types and (lack of) quantity of jobs. I won't cite specific examples here, because I'll get all rant-y again, but please if you have a new car, spend some time with it. Not just driving here or there, just sit in it for a while, wherever you keep it parked. Play with all the buttons and knobs and gizmos, find out what everything is and does. You aren't going to mess anything up. It's always reversible, you just need to find the right button again, which if you play around long enough, you will. Of course I'll mention that the owner's manual will tell you what to do if you're really stumped, but given most people's propensity to learn by doing, the best solution I can offer is to just play.

Old Haiku

2009-04-18T00:10:00.006-04:00

Okay, so some of the old stuff is coming out already. But it's late, and I'm too tired to think of anything new at the moment. So have some Haiku:

Kung Fu Gorilla
Death grip on an oil filter
Petroleum slings

Total lack of sleep
Makes you crazy in the head
You say silly things

Why's there no shut eye
For the one writing haikus
Insomnia bites

Maybe I should stop
I should get into my bed
That might help make sleep

Funny how it works
I should go to bed but I'm
Inspired to write this

These things keep coming
To me I can't turn them off
But I want to sleep

Ok, so there's some Haiku I wrote one night when I should have gone to bed. Which is still kind of applicable because now I'm pasting it into this blog... when I should be going to bed. So yeah. Maybe another day soon, StoryGringo will have new material. This is not that day.

Here we are again...

2009-04-17T19:59:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I've tried starting a blog a few times now, all with different ideas, all being simply forgotten about. Amazingly, my Livejournal account which I created for my StoryGringo writings still exists, although I had not logged into it for over 200 weeks. So luckily, I retrieved all my posts from that (whether I thought they were still good stories or not), and saved them to my computer. They may turn up here at some point, but I'd like to start writing new stuff again, so here's hoping take two, or three or whatever I'm up to now, works better. And that I don't forget about it.