2022-06-29 — Turn the Ship

Not sure what to write today. Supposedly have a meeting with my Modern English peeps tomorrow about 3. For the record, I have this feeling like I shouldn’t do it.

(sigh)

So tired of those feelings. I’m… probably gonna do it anyway because… 😕 I’m tired of those feelings, tired of getting dammed up when I try and do things like this. But… gonna be transparent. I had a strong feeling not to have the meeting tomorrow–or… something like that. Don’t know if the feeling was about the meeting or about the efforts with Modern English… or both… or?

I don’t know. Guess we’ll see.

Or not.

Anyway, 4 cars today. First one was a 2010 Dodge Stratus that wouldn’t start. Wouldn’t crank. Nothing. Turned out that the transmission shift cable bushing was busted, and it wouldn’t crank because it was stuck in drive even though the shifter was set to park. Put in a new bushing, and then… it would crank but not start. 🙃 Gave it some brake cleaner to suck on, and it started, but then unexpectedly, it… stayed going. So… that was nice.

They were also crazy low on coolant, so they are going to top it off and watch their levels.

Second car was a 99 Ford Ranger that had a misfire. Turns out he’d replaced his plugs and wires, but one of the wires he’d put on was too close to the exhaust manifold, so it hardened, cracked, and leaked electricity against the manifold causing the misfire.

Third car was a 2014 Hyundai Elantra that they’d accidentally driven off the road. They had it at a body shop and wanted me to go look at it to see if it would be an easy fix to get them back on the road. He talked about a flat tire and a damaged bumper. He didn’t tell me the body shop had quoted them an enormous amount of money. Why? Let’s see… bumper broken, radiator smashed, AC condenser smashed, radiator support smashed, AC line bent, coolant overflow busted, and the kicker… the the oil pan was demolished–so badly, in fact, that it tore the pan away from the bolts themselves. Engine could be shot.

😶

Yeah.

So… not just a bumper and a flat tire. 😬

Last car was a 2008 Infiniti G35 that wouldn’t start. Turned out to be a bad starter, and it looked like a nightmare to get out, but I managed to find a way to wriggle it out past the motor mount and the AC compressor. Super glad I was able to find that way out.

The hardest part was actually getting it back in. I don’t know why it kicked my butt. I thought I’d paid attention to how I got it out, but I guess not. Probably took me 45 minutes or more just to fenagle it back through. I guess there must have been like one position with a millimeter to spare, and if it wasn’t angled perfectly at the exact rotation, it wouldn’t go through.

But hey, it was better than having to disconnect the steering column and remove the motor mount.

Any day.

Heard that someone is likely going to accuse someone close to me of something completely untrue, something that could land that person in jail and have their life be at risk.

I’ve been accused of things I didn’t do as well, ruining my reputation in certain circles. Gratefully, I made it through without anything more than a shattered reputation in one circle of people I cared a lot about. Some of those pieces, over the years, have come back together. Some likely never will, and the things I lost because of it are part of the pain I live with every day at the loss I’ve been unable to get past to this point.

I loathe injustice. Makes the blood boil. Lies… taking advantage…

My mom got cheated recently. AC stopped blowing cold air in the upstairs AC unit. AC people came out. Didn’t look for leaks. Just topped off the system, added a system sealant, and charged my mom like $750.

I was… not happy. And to top it off, the tech was talking up how wonderful the company was, that they don’t overcharge people like others, don’t charge exorbitant prices, marking up their parts in a massive way.

I understand marking up parts. It takes time to find them, order them, etc. Marking up pays you for the time it takes to deal with all that, plus a little on top. I’m okay with that. So when they told my mom they mark up 20%. That’s fine. I get it. No worries.

But my sticker shock last week was confirmed today when I called some AC supply companies. The sealant they charged my mom $149.99, plus tax for? As a DIY customer (without a commercial discount), it’s $40.31, plus tax. In town, local. That’s like… a 375% mark up.

One pound of R22 refrigerant? Over $450. Supply company said 30 lbs for about $2000. That’s… $66/lb, by my reconning. I can get it even cheaper online, but I understand that convenience of buying something local and getting it now costs extra. Fine. I know that from car parts. Customers google online prices and want me to give them those prices. Sure, if you want to wait a week for the parts to be shipped. Go for it. But if you want it today, you have to pay what the local suppliers charge.

I get it.

But over $450 for one pound?!?! That’s over 600% markup for refrigerant. To top it off, no pun intended, the supplier I spoke with was like, yeah, those are the companies that give the industry a bad name, and then he said, they probably didn’t even use R22. They probably used 427a as a drop in. He said they’re not supposed to, but he said lots of AC people do it. It’s compatible with R22 systems. You’re just not supposed to mix refrigerants, but a lot of companies, I guess, do it anyway because it’s quick and easy and cheap.

So… I went by the AC place today, and as coincidence would have it, the man who came to talk to me recognized me as a mobile mechanic who’d been out there to help them with one of their trucks a few years ago. Crazy he remembered me. Guess we talked baseball.

I was calm but firm and let him know that I was extremely unhappy with what I felt was taking advantage of my elderly mother (sorry, mom, I know you’re spry and often have more energy than I do, but… you’re not 39 anymore. 🙃). Don’t worry, folks, my mama ain’t sensitive about her age. 😊

Anyway, the gentleman said he’d communicate with the manager in the morning. Guess we’ll see what happens.

Hate injustice.

Anyway, it’s after 2 a.m. again. I keep getting to bed late. Need to talk to the urgent care people again. Wrist still screwed up badly. Still really painful when someone with a firm grip shakes my hand. Sends me through the proverbial roof. So… obviously, it’s damaged pretty significantly. And the thumb on my left hand is still must up from an injury last year some time, probably a torn ligament or something.

(sigh)

But we’re good. We’re good. All is good. We’ll keep fighting. Want to get some shirts made with encouraging messages about coming together and focusing on our beautiful shared values.

Gotta turn this ship around. Gotta stop listening to any media and any leaders who communicate messages of division. Gotta stop believing the crap those kinds of people peddle. We’re not so different. We’re not on a real precipice: We’re on a fabricated one, a construct.

Lift the World

~ stephen