Uhm... Anyone have a spare tranny?

Yeah, so my transmission's pooched.

I was driving around Mississauga today when I noticed that the Integra was being a bit of a bitch to shift into different gears. Then, two blocks away from home...

Crunch.

Nothing. The clutch pedal felt funny and I could pull it out of gear into neutral, but then couldn't get it back into any gear. I coasted to within a half block when gravity, wind resistance, and tire friction brought me to a stop.

I turned the engine off and shoved the shifter around. It popped into whatever gear I wanted it to be in. Just not so much with the engine running. I put it in first, and got it into the driveway.

...fuck.

I had my doubts about the clutch already so I'm not too surprised, I just really wish it would have gone a few months at least before crapping out on me. My bank account's not happy having had to fund this damned car already... Anyway, hopefully it's just the clutch, they're not too expensive.

Heh, I'm SO cursed.

...Art

...h'okay.

First off; "But I don't WANT to punch a hooker in the face!" -Iza

Secondly, I might not be blogging for a while. My folks have sold their place, which essentially leaves me looking for storage, a place to live, a place to park a phone line, and a place to forward mail to while everything gets sorted out. The kicker? It's a September 1st closing date.

...I took longer than that to find a fucking shitbox car.

I told them to ask for a later close, but was told that, well, the offer might not go then. Well, shit, ask anyway and see what happens. They didn't ask.

They have less than a month and a half to find a place to live.

I think my mom just today realized the shit she's in when I asked her if she realized that she's going to be homeless. There's no way, I explained, that they're going to find a new place to live in a week and a half, then negotiate a 30-day close. There's no fucking way. Which means, they'll be out of here without a place to go TO. I guess they'll be crashing at the cottage for a while... heh, that's a shitty commute to work.

What's worse is that since it seems I'm the only one that's realizing what's going on, it seems as though it's only me that's looking into arranging an address to forward mail to, a place to store shit, and a place to park the phone line... like VoIP, I guess, seems to be the only way to keep the number. Let's face it, they're not even going to get in touch with everyone in the next month to let anyone know that anything's going on.

...fuck.

So yeah, I'm a bit stressed.

And so... might not be blogging for a while. Or, who knows, maybe I'll get blogging about every stressful moment for the next two months.

Who knows.

Keep suggesting names for my car though. The ideas so far... well...

...Art

The Integra.

Well, the "new" car is a bit too riced-out for my own liking, but... it fucking runs and I'm glad to be done with the car search.

Here's the problem though... I don't know what to call it. The Acura EL was named Ellen, and now I open it up to you blog-readers.

The car is an Acura Integra. And now I ask you loyal Blog-heads to submit your name suggestions.

Chatterbox is okay, though I think I'd prefer an email. You all should know what that address is.

Submit away, and help me identify this hunk of metal parked on the driveway!

...Art

Wait, still more.

So I went to make an outgoing call on my cell and get routed to Bell Mobility's Accounts Receivable department. A message then tells me, IN FUCKING FRENCH FIRST NO LESS, that the department's now closed. Well, no shit. So I can't make outgoing calls at all now. I can still get incoming ones though, which is odd.

I'm SO going to rip into someone tomorrow morning, which probably means I'll be looking for a new carrier in the afternoon. 'Cuz life's like that.

Fuck you world.

Fuck you, very much.

...Art

Yeah. There's more.

Yesterday was pretty shitty.

I went to go see the results of the bodywork done to the Integra, and let's put it this way: The guy knew how I felt the moment I saw it and asked me if I wanted my deposit back.

I asked him to send it back to get two more spots done, but really, it's shitty work. The actual bodywork, the rebuilding of the skin, isn't terrible. But it's clearly not quality work. Not even close. Add to that the fact that the shop used factory spec paint and it's a 13 year old car... well, the parts that had the work done are a purple-blue grey, not the sort of straight-up grey colour the rest of the car has become after 13 years exposure to the sun.

I sucked it up. I can't bring myself to look for another car at this point.

Yesterday I also bought a router to replace the routers I'm shipping back to US Robotics. Went out to Markham to get it, and I also wanted a high-gain directional antenna or two. Well, shit out of luck, they didn't have any. I'd need to order online and have them shipped to me. Sucks. So I bought the router. It failed out-of-the-box.

I was pissed.

Then I found out that it didn't really matter since the laptop I bought it for died.

My sister found this place looking for someone like me with my qualifications and experience, and well... my resume is on that laptop.

You know, I'm starting to believe there IS a God. And that fucker HATES me.

Hope you're enjoying the heat. I know I'm loving this two week 35C streak working in an un-airconditioned warehouse. Good times.

...Art

The light at the end of the tunnel.

Okay.

It's coming to an end.

Today I put a deposit on a shitbox.

So. It's a conditional sale of course, 'cuz really, how else would I have it? Got to complicate issues, right? Anyway, assuming that I'm happy with the results of some minor repairs and body work which should be all wrapped up by Tuesday or so, I'm the owner of a '93 Integra. Sort of a charcoal grey four-door.

I really took it for a test drive as an after-thought. That dealer had a Honda Civic I was interested in, but after taking it for a test drive and discovering that the clutch was really worn and that the seat was sort of warped, I passed on it... What I mean is that if you're seated comfortably in the seat with the lumbar supports on either side of your body, the steering wheel isn't where you expect it to be. The hinge seemed fine, and the bottom of the seat is level, but the wheel's at least 4 inches to the left of where it should be. After looking at the gap on both sides between the door and the edge of the seat, yeah, there was a difference there. It wasn't large, but I guess it was enough to point my long arms in the wrong direction.

I can't even imagine what would cause such a thing other than maybe a severe accident that warped the passenger compartment. Fuck, I dunno. Anyway, I looked at the Integra even though it's got that homo aftermarket exhaust tin can. When I drove it, I realized that the stick shift was super tight and had a really short "throw" from gear to gear. I figured the homofag that put the stupid exhaust can on probably installed a short-shifter so he could smoke his buddies on the streets of Woodbridge at night. It took some getting used to, but after about 10 minutes I not only felt better with it, I almost enjoyed it. Apparently, the dealer said that's the way 5-speed Integras are; they have a factory short-shifter. Meh.

Should be interesting. It was definitely a fun driving car.

Hope it lasts a few years...

Wish me luck.

...Art

Happy Canada Day

Title pretty much says it all. Hope you guys enjoy the long weekend; I'll be babysitting Iza's dog Lucky as she's gone camping with The Girls at Sandbanks, her parents went up to my parents' cottage, and her sister's gone camping with her "ex-boyfriend" because she's spineless and insane.

I had nothing else going on, so I volunteered to hang with my buddy Lucky.

Cheerio.

...Art