More posts coming soon.

I will be working on the house and posting here about my progress.

Stupid Insurance

Grrrrrrrr.

Even though I followed all of the procedures, Our old car and house insurance didn't get cancelled. So we paid extra payments last month, and I just noticed now. And another car payment is going to come out this friday.

My new insurance company sent in the cancellation to the old company over 30 days ago. They won't cancel it over the phone, I have to fax them stuff in writing.

ARRRRGGGHHH.

That and the sears card, and my stress is peaking pretty high.

So as some of you know, Rachel and I recently moved into a "new-to-us" house ;).

So I called NKTELCO to get cable hooked up last week. The first person said it would take about 3 weeks because they have to "install" the cable modem (and charge me $60 for it). So I called Time Warner/Adelphia, they could install the next week, but were more expensive monthly, and didn't have all the channels that NKTELCO had. So I called NKTELCO back the next day and got someone who knew what they were talking about and got it schedualed to hook up to the back of the house on Tuesday (yesterday).

So yesterday Rachel called to tell me that the cable guys in the back yard got our dog barking, which woke up Ricky. So I told her to check the cable. Nothing. Hmmm. I will have to look at it at the end of the day.

So I get home. I checked out back first. We have two coax cables coming out of the ground, a beautiful 1/2" cable that looks brand new, and a crappy, dirty 3/8" cable that I wouldn't use. The nice cable is hooked to our wiring in the house.

OK, maybe the splitter is bad. They wouldn't not hook up the right cable in the back.

Down in the basement. Checked the splitter, seemed ok, but decided to swap it anyways. Hooked in a 3-way instead of the 2-way. Nothing. Shoot. Hey I have a barrel here (to connect two cables directly to each other), maybe the cable is too week. So I unhook the 3-way splitter, and I get shocked. Stupid Null Line (cable companies use these to keep people from stealing cable, they fry equipment - all of my equipment is hooked up to it :( ).

So I get the barrel in, still nothing. Hmm, maybe I need to use that nasty cable outside? I go out to the back of the house with a Rag and clean it up. I guess it is ok, it is still kinda crappy compared to the other one, oh well. Hook it up. Hey, I have TV :). Hook up the cable modem, get the cable light. Sweet :). Plugged the router in and headed upstairs.

I start up my computer and connect to my router. I open Safari and bring up google, yahoo, I have internet. So I type in www.nktelco.com to see if I need to do any kind of setup, and I get a page with a large cartoon roadrunner on it, telling me to call a phone number to sign up. Wait a minute, this isn't right, this says Time Warner. So I pull out my palm, where I had copied the channel listings down so Rachel and I could decide which company to go with. Sure enough, I had Time Warner cable. Crap.

The installers for one cable company hooked us to the other, wrong cable company!!!!!!

So I called the number, and only the internet tech support was there, he mentioned that this has happened before.

So we have cable right now, even though it is wrong, but still no internet. :(

The Bathroom

So,

The bathroom is done :)

Here are some pictures.



I am so happy that this is finally done. Too bad I don't really get to use the bathroom before we sell the house.

What a fun evening.

Had a very interesting evening last night.

As I left work, I called my parents to see if they needed me to pick anything up on the way home for dinner. Mom said no. About ten minutes later, Dad called and asked me to pick up a cucumber on my way home.

So I stop and get the cucumber. Dad had asked for some special kind, but I couldn't find that, so I bought a regular one. On my way home I called Mom to tell her that I couldn't find the cucumber they wanted, and she informed me that there was a "small" oil puddle in the garage where my car had been parked all weekend. She told me to check the car before leaving the store. I informed her that I was already on the road. Mind you, I had already driven over 60 miles since that morning, so I wasn't worried about anything going wrong.

I hung up with her, and about 60 seconds later, I hear (and feel) something hit the bottom of the car a few times. There wasn't anything in the road, so I knew that it had to come off my car. Then I started to see what looked like smoke coming out the back of my car. CRAP!!!!! So I pull over at an old school. There is a bit of smoke coming out of the hood. I open the hood and can't see anything wrong, except I smell hot oil. So I peek under the car and there is oil POURING out of my drain pan, from where the plug is supposed to be. Hmmm, seems my drain plug came loose and FELL OUT. At least I hope that is what happened.
I changed the oil 2700 miles ago, its due for another change in 2300 miles. Why would the plug get loose now????

So I call mom back and ask her to send dad with the ramps and a wrench to come get me, hoping that it is just the plug came out, and that I don't need a new oil pan.

After about 30 minutes, dad gets there, we decide that it was just the oil plug, and lock the car up and head for the auto parts store (that is right across the street from the grocery I was just at).

Both people are helping other people, so we grab the oil and the absorbant stuff and wait, as we don't know what size the plug is. (The plugs are on the rack right at the back of the store, but I don't know the size). And wait, and wait, and wait. Finally after about 20 minutes, one of the guys asks what we need.

"I need the size of the oil drain plug for a 2003 Pontiac Vibe GT," I said.

He starts typing.

"What kind of Honda was it?" He asked.

"No, a Pontiac Vibe...... GT....... 2003", I responded.

"Oh, ok."

More typing.

"Well we don't carry that. Must be a dealer part. Good luck finding one of those open at this time."

Mass panic ensues. How am I going to get the part? Who do I need to call about the car sitting there overnight? HOW AM I GOING TO GET TO WORK TOMORROW?????

"Please look up the Toyota Matrix XRS," I quiped.

"Maybe I can look it up a different way" More typing. "Hey!.....Oh, we don't have it in stock.... It's one of those quick drain attachments."

"What size is it?", I ask.

"M12-20."

I run back and grab that size plug.

I come back up, he is going on and on to Dad about how that won't fit and I really should get the part from the dealer (!!!!!!!).

"Please look up the Toyota Matrix XRS," I again asked.

More talking ensued with the guy he was trying to help at the same time.

"Please look up the Toyota Matrix XRS," I asked yet again.

"Maybe you had better call the State Highway Patrol. They have a habit of towing cars on the side of the road."

"My car is in a parking lot. Please look up the Toyota Matrix XRS or the Toyota Celica GTS, they are the same engine."

"Ok, but I don't think that we will have it either"........ Hey it says the size is M12-20."

"OK, ring me up".


We get back to the car and put the plug in, add the oil and spread the absorbant. Then we drove home normally.

I looked at the "small" oil puddle on the garage floor. It was 2 feet by 20". Not exactly a "small" puddle. She should have told me to STOP at that moment and look.

Oh well. Everything seems to be ok. I will still be changing the oil in 2000 or so miles to stay on my schedual.

The entire underside and back of the car is/was covered in oil. What I thought was smoke coming out the back was oil being dispersed by driving 60 miles an hour.

I took the car to a self car wash at lunch and power washed it off. I have to buy gas on the way home, so I will get a car wash there as well tonight. Hopefully it has a good underbelly wash.

Could be the house

The house that I posted in my last entry may just be the one. The basement flooded last year when the hot water heater failed, but there is potential everywhere you look in the house.

It needs updated, as the house was built in the 50s and is now with the original owners kids as they died in the last few years, and just hasn't been lived in for a while.

Been a long time :)

I just noticed that it has been almost two years since I posted here :).

Whoops :)

So lets see, what has happened since the last post. Well, I have a son, and have changed jobs. I now work in Minster OH. We still have our house in Chicago that we are trying to sell. If you are interested, let me know ;).

Anyways, Rachel and I just drove by a house. She and Ricky came to have lunch with me :). We are going to look at the house tomorrow afternoon. If it works out, I will be able to walk to work :).

Link to house here :)