Of course, he didn’t have much choice.  We sold our 2005 Jeep Liberty LTD yestday and he had two choices…. get his car running or take the bus.  Apparently, he didn’t like the latter of the two options.

We went to the the local VW shop and purchased a used wheel for a spare ($15 for the wheel, that’s a steal!), then we went to the tire store and had them put 4 brand new 165 SM 15 all season radials on his current wheels (and the best of the old tires on his spare).  We also had them sipe the new tires for traction.

After dinner last night, we bled the brakes (6 times…. there was an incredible amount of air in the system!).  Then he changed the oil and replaced the gaskets for the oil screen (it leaked).

This morning, he put the tires back on and took it off the jack stands.  He was very excited to drive it for the first time…. a little too excited, I guess.

He made it just over a mile down the road when he suddenly realized he had made a major mistake… he forgot to torque the lug nuts on the wheels.

He found most of the lugs, but most of them are toast now.  He did get just enough on each wheel to get it back home, but now we need to get some new ones before he can drive it again.

Bummer!

Get off your butt, close your web browser, put on your cleanest dirty shirt, and go vote!  The internet will still be there when you get back.

For those who don’t vote, you forfeit your right to bitch for the next 4 years.

On a side note, today is also the last damn day you’ll be subjected to those annoying campaign adds (until the next election comes around).  I am soooo sick of them (expecially the ones for the Washington State govenor campaign).  Both Gregoire and Rossi have been slinging mud at each other for the last few months (more Rossi than Gregoire).  Each as taken what the other has said out of context and then used it against the other.

Blah….

Oh… and once again to all the Naderites out there…. voting for Nader = voting for McCain.  I’m sure you think that you’re a free spirit and that by voting for Nader, you’re attempting to send a message that you’re sick of the 2 party system and want a change, but it will accomplish NOTHING except take votes away from the Obama campaign (unless, of course, McCain is your second choice).  Don’t waste your vote.

Things have gone pretty slow, as my son has been broke, and with my income turned off for several months, there’s just been no cash to work with.

But now that my income has been turned back on, combined with the fact that my son got some high paying temp work, we’re back on it!

We’ve been having problems finding parts for the beetle that actually work.  The local import parts store has been a little less than helpful (they keep selling us the wrong parts).  But… we found a great source online, Mid America Motorworks.  They have good prices, are providing the correct parts, and the shipping is very reasonable!

Here’s a list of things that didn’t work when we got it, but do work now:

Electrical System:

• Dash lights
• Brake lights
• Turn signals
• windshield wipers
• Headlights
• Fuel Gage
• Horn
• Interior light

Suspension:

• Rear shocks
• Rear Camber rod bushings

Interior:

• Seats (the seats in the car were from a Ford Bronco, we found origional ‘68 beetle seats for it)
• Ashtray

Engine / Transmission, Drive train:

• Shifter linkage
• Carb rebuild (It leaked gas everywhere!)
• Boots for the swing arm drive
• Gaskets for the oil screen (it leaked oil)
• Brakes!! (there were virtually no brakes when we got it)

We just received an order from Mid America the other day, and now have a few more things to do.  Here’s what we got:

• Seat belts
• Wiper arms
• Front hood latch receiver (with release)
• Cable for front hood latch receiver (so it can be opened from inside the car)
• Rear hood locking handle
• Shifter knob showing shift pattern
• Emergency brake lever
• Seat rails for both front seats (the ones in the car had been destroyed)
• Battery tray pan (it’s totally rusted out back there!)

Once we get those items done, all we need to do is replace the transmission rear mount and adjust the torsion bars on the rear wheels, and get new tires.  Then it will be ready to drive and street legal.

Once the kid is able to drive it, he want’s to invest in some cool wheels.  The wheels on the car currently are rusted badly and look like hell.  He doesn’t want to go with the vintage beetle look, so we went hunting for after-market ones.  Sadly, we could only find two wheels for the beetle with a 4-130mm bolt pattern when we went to the tire stores.

So again, we went online and sure enough, Mid America Motorworks offers several exclusive wheels for the beetle.  My son picked out the ones shown to the right.  We’re not going to get then right now, but come spring… they’re the first thing on his list.

They run $599.99 for a set of 4 (or $149.99 per wheel) which isn’t bad at all.

I’ll update once again when we make more progress!

It sucks!

October 29, 2007 was the first day I wasn’t at work.  Not a day has gone by since where I wish I was.  I’m not sure what my drive is… my midwest work ethic or the fact that I believe that everyone should pull their own weight.  Regardless, I hate sitting at home, taking meds, and doing little.

I miss the people I worked with, the job itself (it was my dream job after all), and the feeling that I was contributing to something greater.  Trust me, when you’re a social creature like I am, being cooped up in a house all by yourself every day is a hard thing to deal with.

One way I’ve been passing the time is by playing RF Online.  It’s a MMORG, it’s free, and it doesn’t require the hand to eye coordination that first person shooters do (which I don’t have because of the meds).  I first started playing on the official site, but since they announced that they are closing on November 10th, I moved to a private server, Novus Sector.  It’s entertaining and it fills my day (when I’m not sleeping), so it’s a good thing.

If you decide to join in, I play an Accretian named Bioland and I’m in the Lumenaries™ guild (a fantastic bunch of people).  The game is free to download and free to play (no monthly charge).  Of course, you have to download the 1.73GB installer (I recommend using the bit torrent option, as it’s faster than downloading directly from the site).

And finally…. I voted yesterday.  In Spokane, all ballots for elections are done by mail-in only (there are no polls to go to).  While I won’t go into all the details of my vote, I can say that I canceled out every vote my sister made (which irritated her to no end!).  I’m an independent, but have a tendency to vote more Democrat than Republican.

And no… I didn’t waste my time by voting for Ralph Nader.  While he’s popular by people in Seattle who think that they’re free thinkers, unchained by the machine, and who want a change…. the reality is this: Voting for Nader is the same as voting for McCain.  All you do is subtract one vote that could have gone to the Democrat party (Republicans NEVER vote for Nader).

With that said…. if you live in Washington in an area what has mail in ballots only, get them done today and mail them in…. or you forfit all rights to bitch for the next 4 years.  For the rest of you, November 4th is next week… don’t miss it!

Yay!

I was warned, however, that they may still fight it, and to be prepared.

But for the moment… I’m a very happy monkey!

On a side note, for those of you who said you’d send me a letter about your impressions of what I went through at work, I still need them.  The letters are for my Social Security Disability hearing.

I understand that you’re trying to make a living, win a trip to Europe, or just get credit for showing me your offerings, but I’m not interested.

I do not want to buy your magazines, security system, satellite system, lawn care (did you not notice that I don’t have a lawn?!?), vacuum cleaners, or other various cleaning products.  If I wanted them, I would have already purchased them.

Why do you think that by ringing my doorbell while I’m trying to take a nap would make me suddenly reach for my checkbook?  It didn’t.  Instead, it made me reach for my size 13 Dr. Martins.

Did you not read the sign on my door? (shown above) Was the wording too complex?  Were you not able to decipher my cryptic meaning from the image??  Perhaps you are just so eager to sell your fine product that you either didn’t see my sign, or you thought I was joking.

I assure you, I was not joking.

I am more than willing to kick your junk so hard that you’ll be coughing up chunks of it for the next two weeks.  My Dr. Martins will leave a criss-crossed pattern so deeply entrenched in your groin that it’ll look like a swollen and purple billboard for Der Waffle Haus!

Choose life!

Sincerely,

Tone Parsons

That’s right kids… I’m 42 years old as of today!  yippy for me!!

I didn’t even realize that it was October until this morning when I was paying a credit card bill online.  So far, I’ve gotten a call from my sister and an email from my mom.

So… to celebrate, I think I’ll take a nap

They were supposed to have come up with a decision on my case by the 28th of this month.  There are only 3 reasons I can think of why they haven’t notified me:

1. My claims manager is either sick or out of the office.
2. The decision hasn’t been made yet
3. They denied my appeal, sent a letter, and my claims manager doesn’t want to talk to me.

I’m hoping it’s one of the first two.

Again, I’ll let you know if I hear anything.  The waiting is driving me a little nuts.

UPDATE 11:14 am

I got a call back from my claim manager.  The reason she didn’t get back to me yesterday was both #1 and #2 from the list above.

She stated that they “should” have the decision made by the end of next week.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

I’ve been in appeal since June (they take their sweet time on these things) and I’d like to get paid again.

I called my claims manager a few minutes ago and left a voice mail asking her to call me back.  Now I’m sitting here, a complete ball of nerves, waiting for her call.

I’ll update just as soon as I find out what the decision was.

Wish me luck!

I’m a total Depeche Mode fanboy.

While this comes as no shock to those who know me, I didn’t realize exactly how much I had spent buying music from this one band until I sorted my mp3’s by total tracks.

253 songs seems like a lot until you realize that I own the same song several times (greatest hits cd’s, remixes, etc).

Oh… and don’t judge me by the Eminem collection… it’s a guilty pleasure.