(Sigh) Another Washington Trip

Friday the 21st - Took the car to a shop in Mountain View, as the check engine light was on. They replaced the ignition wiring, saying it was causing a misfire.

Monday the 24th - Leave Campbell, end up sitting for 3 hrs at an auto shop in Mountain View while they try and figure out why the temperature is spiked at hot, and the check engine light is blinking, at 7:30 AM. Replaced the thermostat, at a cost of $140. Continued our drive, 3 hrs late.

Monday the 24th - Arrived Klamath Falls, having driven the previous 60 miles with the engine spiked at hot, and the air conditioner not even working.

Tuesday the 25th - 3 hrs at a shop in Klamath Falls, while they diagnosed this problem. Leaking head gaskets. Had to rent a car (which I was trying to avoid), and drive to Ellensburg, WA, leaving the car in Klamath Falls. Estimate: $2,000.

Tuesday the 25th - Call near the OR/WA border, telling me they'd found a frayed timing belt and a bent timing rod, that needed to be replaced. Estimate: Another $500.

Wednesday the 26th - Call in Ellensburg, telling me they wanted to send out the radiator to be bored, and that my clutch had worn down to the wear plate. No way to discover this, shy of taking the engine apart or waiting 'til the clutch started slipping. Estimate: $400.

Thursday the 27th - As we were finishing up the work at the trailer in Ellensburg, I decided to impale my skull on a locking bar on the dumpster. The 1/4" blood stain on the corner of the bar, not to mention the fact that this injury came from a DUMPSTER, resulted in a trip to the ER (sigh). They cleaned the wound, said there wasn't any skull damage, gave me a tetanus, shot, and made me sit there 1/2 hr to make sure my headache didn't get any worse. And I had to inflict Kaylin with the duty of making sure I wasn't exhibiting any signs of concussion for the night.

Friday the 28th - Drove back to Klamath Falls and picked up the car. Total damage: $2,700.

Saturday the 29th - Started the drive back home. 10 mins out of Klamath Falls... the check engine light started blinking again (sigh). Since the Klamath shop was closed, I pretty much had no choice but to drive the 400 miles home. At least the overheating problem had been solved, and the air conditioner was working, but the engine was running roughly at a stop.

Wednesday the 2nd - Took the car to a shop in Campbell.

Thursday the 3rd - Called for info, as they hadn't called me yet. Was told the engine generated a P0304, which turned out to have been the same code as two Fridays earlier, when I took the car in to the Mountain View shop, where they replaced the ignition wiring. The new shop wonders why the first shop didn't catch this, and wonders why the Klamath shop didn't catch it. There's a misfire on Cylinder 4, and they'll call me back soon with more info.

Friday the 4th - Called the shop twice today, so far, and they still don't have any more info for me.

The Week of August 7th - At WWDC in SF all week. Since the auto shop is closed over the weekend, I'm going to have to rent a car (sigh). Not to mention, pay anywhere from $500-$3,500 for this latest batch of repairs (double sigh).

The Week of August 14th - Have to return to Ellensburg again. The stupid towing company won't impound the junk cars unless I'M THERE TO SIGN THE FUCKING PAPERWORK! They say I can have an agent sign in my place, but that I also need a notarized document, between my and this fictional agent, giving them authority to sign on my behalf. Further, the stupid brother in law has had six weeks now to remove his crap from the propery, and it's STILL THERE! I called his mother yesterday, to ask what sort of fire I need to light under his ass to get him to remove his stuff, and she said she'd talk to him. I asked her to tell him that if it isn't gone by the next time I'm there, it's going in the trash. He thinks that's fair, and said she'd tell him. Note that his crap includes a trailer; a boat; a shed with tools, hunting gear and fishing gear; three snow mobiles; a sled; boxes of books and games for his daughters; and two televisions. Not to mention the shed, itself (which a neighbor has offered $1,000 for -- I'm considering taking him up on it, and selling him the shed).

Anyway... it looks like we'll have to go back to Washington yet again.

This thing just WON'T END!