Sunday 3/7
My wallowing in self-pity seems to have taken the form of sleeping. Not only did I sleep all Friday night, but I took a nap Saturday afternoon for about an hour, and then I dozed all evening through whatever was on TV, and then I went to bed about midnight and slept till 7am.
Today, I borrowed Caleb's car to run errands for a few hours. I paid him by filling his tank up -- he must have a huge gas tank as it was half full and it took $37 to fill it all the way up! He's going to let me use his car once a week until I get my new engine. I'm very grateful.
I stocked up a little on foodstuffs as I'll only be going once a week instead of twice. And i went to the cafe and did my email, got my bank statement downloaded, etc.
Watched the Oscars this evening. Enjoyed Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin as hosts. I wish Baldwin would quit taking his shirt off (which he's done in lots of movies, including this past year with Meryl Streep) as he's so hairy. Some hair is okay but when it mats up so you can't see skin and looks like it's about to become the chest hair that ate Chicago -- ick ick ick. There's only a very few places that thick hair is okay and, yes, the head is one.
No job offers as yet.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Bad bad news
Friday 3/5
Bad news. I talked to a mechanic (highly recommended by other mechanics) who said that the rod knocking down in the engine could only be fixed by replacing the engine.
Shit shit shit.
Seems the looseness, indicated by the knocking sound, means that it's messing with other parts and putting nasty stuff everywhere, like metal bits etc. So there's no fixing it, just replacing the whole thing.
And they have no way to let me stay in the rig so I'll have to stay in a motel for a couple of nights. More expense.
So I called the company who did the remanufacture of this engine, Jasper. This company has the best reputation in the business. And this engine, which was installed in July 06, only has 25,000 miles on it.
They were ever so sorry but there's nothing they could do about it as it's out of their 18-month warranty. Even though their brochure says because their products are "remanufactured" not just "rebuilt" they should work just like a new product. I don't think a rod should fail at 25k miles -- these engines should work fine for 200k miles.
So I'm screwed.
I will be posting this to the Toyota RV yahoo group, made up of long-term owners and master mechanics. I told the Jasper guy I was going to tell them and he was outraged. I said I'd bought this RV because it had one of their engines in it and I expected mechanical reliability and longevity and am not getting it.
I'm deeply depressed and plan to wallow in self-pity, at least for a while. This also means that I'll have to stay with this job until I have a definite job elsewhere, as my savings are about to be wiped out.
Sigh.
Bad news. I talked to a mechanic (highly recommended by other mechanics) who said that the rod knocking down in the engine could only be fixed by replacing the engine.
Shit shit shit.
Seems the looseness, indicated by the knocking sound, means that it's messing with other parts and putting nasty stuff everywhere, like metal bits etc. So there's no fixing it, just replacing the whole thing.
And they have no way to let me stay in the rig so I'll have to stay in a motel for a couple of nights. More expense.
So I called the company who did the remanufacture of this engine, Jasper. This company has the best reputation in the business. And this engine, which was installed in July 06, only has 25,000 miles on it.
They were ever so sorry but there's nothing they could do about it as it's out of their 18-month warranty. Even though their brochure says because their products are "remanufactured" not just "rebuilt" they should work just like a new product. I don't think a rod should fail at 25k miles -- these engines should work fine for 200k miles.
So I'm screwed.
I will be posting this to the Toyota RV yahoo group, made up of long-term owners and master mechanics. I told the Jasper guy I was going to tell them and he was outraged. I said I'd bought this RV because it had one of their engines in it and I expected mechanical reliability and longevity and am not getting it.
I'm deeply depressed and plan to wallow in self-pity, at least for a while. This also means that I'll have to stay with this job until I have a definite job elsewhere, as my savings are about to be wiped out.
Sigh.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Mystery phone call turned out to be my emergency road service company. Bet they want me to renew.
So it's Wednesday and instead of going to see the petroglyphs, I had to wait until the delivery truck finished at the back of the store so I could get out. Then I decided it was time to get my hair cut, so I now have had it whacked severely, in what the stylist liked to call a "pixie" cut. We'll see how it looks when it comes out of shock in about 10 days. Also did grocery run and dump stuff at thrift store run and am now eating lunch and blog posting (to keep my many fans happy).
TTFN
So it's Wednesday and instead of going to see the petroglyphs, I had to wait until the delivery truck finished at the back of the store so I could get out. Then I decided it was time to get my hair cut, so I now have had it whacked severely, in what the stylist liked to call a "pixie" cut. We'll see how it looks when it comes out of shock in about 10 days. Also did grocery run and dump stuff at thrift store run and am now eating lunch and blog posting (to keep my many fans happy).
TTFN
Tuesday 3/25
Tuesday 3/2 5.30am
Nothing exciting or even interesting has happened since Friday. The weather was rainy and windy on both Sat. and Sun., so I just holed up and ate aspirin. Was going to go out on Sun. but decided being broadsided by 40mph winds was not going to be fun.
Kenn and Carol took off in their RV yesterday for an overnighter, so he hasn't seen my self-evaluation yet. Caleb said Alfred (director of operations) is going to be here in two weeks to let us know what "going to happen" with the staff here. Supposedly, Kenn already knows but isn't saying. Ooh, tenterhooks!
It'll be interesting to find this out. Caleb is expecting to be named Asst. Mgr. I could be fired. But who knows. It doesn't really matter to me as I'm already working on my letter of resignation.
Got a mysterious call (missed) call yesterday from Denver CO (they called twice). I haven't applied to anybody in Colorado so have no idea what that's about. I'll return the call today and find out. Maybe I won a sweepstakes or lottery (though I haven't entered any, but hey, who knows).
Am determined to go to the petroglyph site on Wed. Determined, I say.
Nothing exciting or even interesting has happened since Friday. The weather was rainy and windy on both Sat. and Sun., so I just holed up and ate aspirin. Was going to go out on Sun. but decided being broadsided by 40mph winds was not going to be fun.
Kenn and Carol took off in their RV yesterday for an overnighter, so he hasn't seen my self-evaluation yet. Caleb said Alfred (director of operations) is going to be here in two weeks to let us know what "going to happen" with the staff here. Supposedly, Kenn already knows but isn't saying. Ooh, tenterhooks!
It'll be interesting to find this out. Caleb is expecting to be named Asst. Mgr. I could be fired. But who knows. It doesn't really matter to me as I'm already working on my letter of resignation.
Got a mysterious call (missed) call yesterday from Denver CO (they called twice). I haven't applied to anybody in Colorado so have no idea what that's about. I'll return the call today and find out. Maybe I won a sweepstakes or lottery (though I haven't entered any, but hey, who knows).
Am determined to go to the petroglyph site on Wed. Determined, I say.
February RIPs
How did I miss the death of Howard Zinn last week? He wrote A People's History of the United States, the best history book you'll ever read.
And Pernell Roberts, who was the only reason to watch Bonanza way back when. A handsome man with a great voice.
022110 And I've just learned that Dick Francis died on Valentine's Day. He was 89. He had an amazing career overall. A small man, not good-looking, who became a champion steeplechase jockey and rode for the Queen Mother for many years. After a short stint as a journalist reporting on horse racing (what else?), he started writing mysteries, most with a horse or racing related plot. He is one of my go-to guys when I want a decently written mystery with interesting characters and complicated plots and a leavening of dry British humor (I have about a dozen of his titles in my permanent library, and just today got three more at a thrift shop). After his wife's death, he tried writing without her and it wasn't the same. Then he tried writing with his son, a physicist, and that wasn't a good fit either. So I suppose he's left us to join his Mary wherever she is.
And Pernell Roberts, who was the only reason to watch Bonanza way back when. A handsome man with a great voice.
022110 And I've just learned that Dick Francis died on Valentine's Day. He was 89. He had an amazing career overall. A small man, not good-looking, who became a champion steeplechase jockey and rode for the Queen Mother for many years. After a short stint as a journalist reporting on horse racing (what else?), he started writing mysteries, most with a horse or racing related plot. He is one of my go-to guys when I want a decently written mystery with interesting characters and complicated plots and a leavening of dry British humor (I have about a dozen of his titles in my permanent library, and just today got three more at a thrift shop). After his wife's death, he tried writing without her and it wasn't the same. Then he tried writing with his son, a physicist, and that wasn't a good fit either. So I suppose he's left us to join his Mary wherever she is.
Old Photos
Old Photos
Ran across two old photos. Have no idea why I'm carrying these around instead of having put them in storage before I left. Anyhow, thought they might be amusing. The resolution and focus aren't great as I shot them with my camera, so don't try to blow them up.
The first is me at my 40th birthday party (1983) in Tucson, thrown by John Gaines. I'm holding the bottle of vintage port he gave me.
It was a splashy affair, with a champagne fountain, a tub full of ice and bottles, fabulous food like salmon mousse, and a bunch of us winding up naked in the garden hot tub about 3am with a police helicopter circling overhead. We all waved.
The second is from 1978 in Tucson. Chuck's cousin and his girlfriend came to visit us from Chicago. Their first visit to "the West." Neither had ever so much as touched a firearm of any kind, so a bunch of us decided to take them out into the desert for some target shooting. We brought every gun we owned (I brought my shotgun, a 20-gauge pump, and I brought the .38 revolver Chuck gave me for my 35th birthday -- which I still have). We laid them all out on pickup beds and watched their eyes pop.
Anyhow, we decided a "wild west" photo would be a good souvenir. Don Young, the guy in the photo (our next-door neighbor), outfitted me with the holster and the rifle and I'm holding my own shotgun. I'd bought the Coors t-shirt at a 7-11 store (orange! shudder!). Don't we just epitomize the rabid western gun nut?
The girlfriend, small and thin, wanted to try shooting, so Don, out of pure meanness, gave her a .357 for her first shot. You could see the recoil ripple through her body. The shock made her really want to throw that pistol as far as possible but she hung on to it, to her credit.
Ah, the good old days.
Ran across two old photos. Have no idea why I'm carrying these around instead of having put them in storage before I left. Anyhow, thought they might be amusing. The resolution and focus aren't great as I shot them with my camera, so don't try to blow them up.
The first is me at my 40th birthday party (1983) in Tucson, thrown by John Gaines. I'm holding the bottle of vintage port he gave me.
It was a splashy affair, with a champagne fountain, a tub full of ice and bottles, fabulous food like salmon mousse, and a bunch of us winding up naked in the garden hot tub about 3am with a police helicopter circling overhead. We all waved.The second is from 1978 in Tucson. Chuck's cousin and his girlfriend came to visit us from Chicago. Their first visit to "the West." Neither had ever so much as touched a firearm of any kind, so a bunch of us decided to take them out into the desert for some target shooting. We brought every gun we owned (I brought my shotgun, a 20-gauge pump, and I brought the .38 revolver Chuck gave me for my 35th birthday -- which I still have). We laid them all out on pickup beds and watched their eyes pop.
Anyhow, we decided a "wild west" photo would be a good souvenir. Don Young, the guy in the photo (our next-door neighbor), outfitted me with the holster and the rifle and I'm holding my own shotgun. I'd bought the Coors t-shirt at a 7-11 store (orange! shudder!). Don't we just epitomize the rabid western gun nut?
The girlfriend, small and thin, wanted to try shooting, so Don, out of pure meanness, gave her a .357 for her first shot. You could see the recoil ripple through her body. The shock made her really want to throw that pistol as far as possible but she hung on to it, to her credit.
Ah, the good old days.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thur 2/25 & Fri 2/26
Thursday 2/25 8.30am
Not sure whether I'll make it out today as there's a front moving in so the knee hurts and I just put in two days at work so it's a little stressed, too. And there's supposed to be wind gusts up to 40mph later today. However, it's starting to be Spring temps here, mid to high 60s. El Paso may hit 70 by the end of next week. And I'm starting to see greening all around. When the time changes on 14 March, we start the summer hours in the store (oh yah!)
Really want to check my emails to see whether I have a job offer from anybody, but may just do it early tomorrow.
Kenn was gone for three days to the Manager's Meeting in Las Cruces. Got back late yesterday and said we're going to be getting lots of new stuff from new vendors. Where we're going to put all the new stuff is a puzzle. He says the powers-that-be are pleased with the way this store is going. Ask me if I care, go ahead, I dare you.
The most baffling thing about this corp. is why they haven't implemented POS scanning so they know what's really selling. Every item is required to have a barcode tag on it, which they use when they do the main inventories, so it can be done. Why we're not using scanners when selling is a mystery.
Two other things don't make any sense either. One is leaving items on the shelf when the date code says they've been there for over a year and haven't sold. Why isn't that stuff pulled and sold off to jobbers? The other is the lack of a photo catalog, either printed or digital, so that managers can see what they're ordering. As it is, they only get a truncated name and description, so it's sort of "I don't know what that is but I'll give it a try" ordering system. And sometimes the warehouse sends unordered stuff to try to get rid of it (I guess), like sending "Arizona" souvenirs to this store.
Worked with Carol (Kenn's wife) yesterday and it went fine. We both have the same attitude about the stuff and the systems. She talked about what a skinflint Kenn is (great, yet another wonderful character trait). Ah well. She said evaluations are supposed to happen this week or next -- it'll be interesting to see how that process goes and how he'll rate me. I think workers should be able to evaluate their bosses, too. And if corp. bigwigs paid attention to that, it wouldn't hurt. She also said that she'd told Kenn he needed to work with me to train me on stuff; he said he knew it but then he wouldn't get his time off. Awww, poor baby. But that's the reason he's going to lose a good worker (me).
Am thinking now that I'll do a dump/flush today, then tomorrow am will leave fairly early and go to the petroglyph site, then do groceries and email late in the day. Or vice versa. The light will be better for photos in the afternoon but there's no twilight in the desert so it would mean getting back after dark, backing in and getting hooked up. Which I can do, of course, it's just a little trickier.
Have to start trying to find a mechanic to fix the rod knock in the engine, too. No idea what that's going to cost. Sigh.
Later:
Got called into a store meeting for 1pm. It was supposed to take 15 minutes but I got to just stand for a solid hour (really good for the knee) listening to Kenn drone on about all the wonderful things he'd learned at the conference. There was a throwaway line tossed in "no gossiping" that almost made me laugh out loud. Don't they know that's what people do? all people? No wonder they have so much turnover. All the people who have stayed with them for any length are local people, not RVers, but they are set up to handle RVers, with spaces at each store, and they advertise for them. Was handed a self-evaluation form to fill in -- I'll do my best to be diplomatic as I do want to get a good reference out of this company.
Fri 2/26
Got a late start. Took a shower, fed the cats, and was on the road about 11.30 or so. Stopped by Hastings Entertainment (bookstore/movies/music) as I'd been told there were lots of sale DVDs. Managed to find Hell is for Heroes, one of my favorite WW II movies (Steve McQueen, Fess Parker, Bobby Darin, Nick Adams, etc.). They could special order What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? for me but it's almost $20 so I said no thanks. Then off to grocery shop, and now at the cafe (where they've had a mechanical failure so cold food only).
Best thoughts to B. If all goes well, she'll soon be able to see us coming and going.
Not sure whether I'll make it out today as there's a front moving in so the knee hurts and I just put in two days at work so it's a little stressed, too. And there's supposed to be wind gusts up to 40mph later today. However, it's starting to be Spring temps here, mid to high 60s. El Paso may hit 70 by the end of next week. And I'm starting to see greening all around. When the time changes on 14 March, we start the summer hours in the store (oh yah!)
Really want to check my emails to see whether I have a job offer from anybody, but may just do it early tomorrow.
Kenn was gone for three days to the Manager's Meeting in Las Cruces. Got back late yesterday and said we're going to be getting lots of new stuff from new vendors. Where we're going to put all the new stuff is a puzzle. He says the powers-that-be are pleased with the way this store is going. Ask me if I care, go ahead, I dare you.
The most baffling thing about this corp. is why they haven't implemented POS scanning so they know what's really selling. Every item is required to have a barcode tag on it, which they use when they do the main inventories, so it can be done. Why we're not using scanners when selling is a mystery.
Two other things don't make any sense either. One is leaving items on the shelf when the date code says they've been there for over a year and haven't sold. Why isn't that stuff pulled and sold off to jobbers? The other is the lack of a photo catalog, either printed or digital, so that managers can see what they're ordering. As it is, they only get a truncated name and description, so it's sort of "I don't know what that is but I'll give it a try" ordering system. And sometimes the warehouse sends unordered stuff to try to get rid of it (I guess), like sending "Arizona" souvenirs to this store.
Worked with Carol (Kenn's wife) yesterday and it went fine. We both have the same attitude about the stuff and the systems. She talked about what a skinflint Kenn is (great, yet another wonderful character trait). Ah well. She said evaluations are supposed to happen this week or next -- it'll be interesting to see how that process goes and how he'll rate me. I think workers should be able to evaluate their bosses, too. And if corp. bigwigs paid attention to that, it wouldn't hurt. She also said that she'd told Kenn he needed to work with me to train me on stuff; he said he knew it but then he wouldn't get his time off. Awww, poor baby. But that's the reason he's going to lose a good worker (me).
Am thinking now that I'll do a dump/flush today, then tomorrow am will leave fairly early and go to the petroglyph site, then do groceries and email late in the day. Or vice versa. The light will be better for photos in the afternoon but there's no twilight in the desert so it would mean getting back after dark, backing in and getting hooked up. Which I can do, of course, it's just a little trickier.
Have to start trying to find a mechanic to fix the rod knock in the engine, too. No idea what that's going to cost. Sigh.
Later:
Got called into a store meeting for 1pm. It was supposed to take 15 minutes but I got to just stand for a solid hour (really good for the knee) listening to Kenn drone on about all the wonderful things he'd learned at the conference. There was a throwaway line tossed in "no gossiping" that almost made me laugh out loud. Don't they know that's what people do? all people? No wonder they have so much turnover. All the people who have stayed with them for any length are local people, not RVers, but they are set up to handle RVers, with spaces at each store, and they advertise for them. Was handed a self-evaluation form to fill in -- I'll do my best to be diplomatic as I do want to get a good reference out of this company.
Fri 2/26
Got a late start. Took a shower, fed the cats, and was on the road about 11.30 or so. Stopped by Hastings Entertainment (bookstore/movies/music) as I'd been told there were lots of sale DVDs. Managed to find Hell is for Heroes, one of my favorite WW II movies (Steve McQueen, Fess Parker, Bobby Darin, Nick Adams, etc.). They could special order What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? for me but it's almost $20 so I said no thanks. Then off to grocery shop, and now at the cafe (where they've had a mechanical failure so cold food only).
Best thoughts to B. If all goes well, she'll soon be able to see us coming and going.
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