7.7.98

    ~/~ Driving, driving in my carrrr...looking for a Jag-u-arrrr ~/~

    I love my car. A lot. It is a black, 1979, Limited Edition MGB. I haven't been driving it since I started my "temp" job because of the horrendous commute. I have been driving T.'s Honda. Yeah, the Honda is soooo dependable but it doesn't go "vroom." So, while we are housesitting I am suddenly much closer to work. (Office 97 keeps tagging "housesitting" as misspelled. First, it wanted me to hyphenate so I did and then it tagged it again and wanted it to be one word. Change it back and it doesn't like that either. Curious.) The drive is shear heaven. I just cruise with the top down on nearly-deserted freeways in a quick jaunt into the office.

    Now, T. is on the 405. *wicked evil laughter* Actually, he's taking the 405 going the bad direction towards the city. For this I am sympathetic. He seems to be happy to be in his car and I am happy to be in mine. It needs some work, though.

    Right now it needs to go into the shop for some electrical work. Something is wrong with the headlights. The left light does not come on although it will do the highbeams. The right light cannot do the highbeams. So, switching between the two makes the car do this weird, winky thing. Cute, but not practical. I tried to fix it myself but I can't find the source of the failure. It seems to me that the problem is in the connectors directly touching the headlights. If it was a fuse or a melting thing I could fix it but I have no way of testing where the problem is. Grrrr. I guess I could lick the wires and whatever doesn't shock me must be the problem. Hmmm...maybe I'll assign that task to T.

    The right side mirror is gone, victim to a drunk in a parking lot (not me). The left rear taillight lens is cracked and I'm afraid it might fall off. The left, front blinker light cover is missing. The window crank on the driver's side is broken. The cover on the steering wheel is coming off although, I have a replacement I've just been procrastinating. The windshield wipers all need to be replaced (there's three). The convertible canvas top is a shambles. And, it needs a bath. But, it runs -- yippee!

    I'm way into the MG cult. There are few other automobiles that when you pass them on the road the owner will wave at you. I don't get that in the Honda, no sir. I have stopped a few times for MG owners in distress. The cars are notorious for breakdowns and general finickyness. So, I have gone about educating myself in car repair.

    There is a lot that I can't do and some things that I can. One thing that I'm pretty good at is diagnosing. For example, when our U-Haul decided to die somewhere North of Sacramento I knew it was the alternator. I even told the mechanic that it was the alternator. He insisted on changing the battery first. It didn't work and we got a new alternator. The most amusing part of the story was that as we sat in the pitch dark with thick rolling fog on the side of the very trafficked Interstate 5 the MG held strong and flashed its warning flashers from up on the tow. And, when we had to get to the closest town to stay the night the MG acted as our getaway car.

    Vroom. Vroooom.

    P.S. Check out the new featured link today!