Victory!

Season 3 Episode 18 of HBO's Entourage is definitely the one to watch for an uplifting feeling.  The feeling that one can relate to Johnny Drama is hits home.  From failing reviews to how what those who judge mean nothing while everyone else's (the layman) opinion mean everything.  I'm still on the Airtran flight commuting home and have another ~30 minutes until touchdown in San Diego. 

I was able to sell my David Clark Headset that I never used for a good 20% Discount of retail in just 2 days after posting them in the company classified intranet.  I'm definitely happy with the price I got and now, I'm just in the mood to cleaning out the closet again.  There are a lot of things just lying around and although the DVD sale didn't take off on Amazon.com, I'm just going to list what I can on eBay.  I've listed my older Treo 650 for $75 but got nothing so far.  It's a little disappointing since I bought the device for $600 just 3.5 years ago, but that's the way electronics depreciate I guess. 

I got my car back today from the dealership and have my job cut out for me.  Or at least I can say that Kurt and I have our jobs cut out in the fact that there are two oils leaks that I have to repair hopefully in the next month or so.  The oil pan gasket on my E30 doesn't seem that difficult, but something about the rear engine seal is definitely going to take about an entire day to work on especially since I'll have to guess what parts I need in advance so my car isn't disabled while we wait for a shipment of goodies.  Anyone out there with an '88 E30 iC just drop me a line with some DIY instructions as I'm in need to save as much as possible by not getting the stealership repair it and not buying a new car that comes with a monthly payment. 

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There Goes the Bimmer

i was driving around Atlanta today on my way to downtown when I felt the need to turn on the air conditioner for the first time in 2 months.  Everything was going all good (so I thought) until my "CHECK" light came on, I looked up and low and behold, it said "COOLANT." 

I watched the temperature gauge start to increase a little bit so I instantly shut down the A/C, stopped the fan, turned off the radio and just tried to do what I could.  I was driving on backroads for a little bit but I reached my destination and hung out for an hour or two.  When I got out of the car though, my car was leaking coolant explosively.  It was just all over the parking spot. 

To make a long story short, I then again headed off to work, but stopped as a gas station along the way, bought some 50/50 mix (2 bottles just in case), poured one of the bottles in the reservoir, took off and a little while later, my temp gauge spiked to red, then passed red. 

I couldn't wait any longer, and just continued to drive to work so that I wouldn't be late.  By the time I got to the parking lot, I had been running with the temp needle past the red (I mean like at the 3:00 position) an the car started making funny noises like clicking by the time I reached the employee lot.  Now, its just sitting there as I'm away for 4 days, and I plan on having it towed somewhere --> maybe the stealership because I don't know of any good mechs in the ATL area.  (Any help there anyone?) 

So, what damage could I have done driving for 20 miles with the temp gauge pinged at 3:00 and what else should I look for?  These pictures and the engine itself I could not really take a close look because of the time constraint, but to tell you the truth, I'm afraid.  It seems like it's going to cost a pretty penny. 

my one week off in ATL!

Well, after much effort in trying to coax any of my friends to take a week off and join me for a vacation in Costa Rica or Rio, I decided to just relax a little bit with maybe a trip back home to San Diego. Of course with the onset of wildfires engulfing the San Diego County area, it became more of a fact that I wasn't going to get home. My family is fine and we did not have to evacuate. Our tenants did which definitely must have stunk, but like I've said, its all good now. It's quite ridiculous though how much has burned. My prayers definitely go out to everyone there.

Today is now Wednesday and my mini vacation is just about half way done. It's definitely sad but I did do quite a bit around the crash pad. In a short amount of time I was able to move out of the master bedroom and into the loft. I have a lot of stuff all over the floor but I've been able to sort through a lot of junk papers and mail. I've also been able to work on my car with my friend Kurt where we replaced one half of the fuel lines (I still might have a couple of more to change out but so far its doing a lot better in terms of smell), and the biggest thing was disassembling the instrument cluster to change out batteries on the SI board. It's all working now and I'm stoked. I was able to get a complete diagnostic on the E30 and was quoted about $4000 in repairs. So far, I was able to take off the fuel lines ~$400 and the instrument cluster exchange for about ~$600. I definitely wish that I could continue to work on my car but lacking an awesome garage kind of stinks. It makes things a little more difficult without having the chance to look underneath the car.

I'm really into fixing my own car and there are still quite a few parts that I'll be needing to buy and change out, but I'm contemplating how much time it'll take for the larger items. I might be needing some new brakes and rotors in about another 10,000 miles, the oil pan is leaking a bit, but nothing too big, but the biggest item is the head gasket thingy. It's still all good though really. I'm just really looking for about 5 more years and about 50,000 miles before any other big ticket items. I'm quite excited.

Now, off to sleep! cya! maybe I'll be taking a vacation sometime soon. anyone up for a buddy pass?