I'm tired of seeing that new age blather at the top of my weblog so here is a very short post just to bump the blog.
The main thing that happened this past week is that our boat broke down. It has been a horrible month for things breaking down. We put thousands of dollars into repair bills on my BMW, hundreds into our Ford Focus, and more on things around the house like our dryer. Now it is the boat, and that is not a happy thing. Our boat has run reliably ever since we purchased it used many years ago. We have only ever had one problem and that was when the fuel pump went out two years ago.
Last weekend we got it out of the water and took it to Midwest Marine. On Tuesday they proclaimed they had 'fixed' it, after putting in a new $500 fuel pump, even though the one they took out was fairly new. Turns out, they did not 'fix' anything. On Friday the repair guy worked on our boat for hours, replacing yet more parts that, to us, looked brand new. He preclaimed it 'fixed' at least once more, only to realize it was still broken. The symptoms are that the boat cuts out as if it were starved for fuel. However, when you start it cold in the morning it runs flawlessly for about five minutes. Apparently whatever the problem is, only happens once the engine has warmed up. This explains the repeated proclamations from our service guy that is was 'fixed' every time he had let the engine cool off for a sufficient period of time.
When the service guy left on Friday he determined we 'must' have some sort of bad fuel problem. So, I spent a large part of my Saturday removing the fuel tank from my boat and taking it to my house. After we emptied it, we found that the gas was crystal clear and the fuel tank spotless. We put it back on the boat with brand new clean fuel and the behavior stayed the same. Now I am back in that 'place' where if I throw any more money at this problem the boat isn't even worth it. This was the same 'logic' that led us to buy a brand new truck two weeks ago.
My wife is very dissapointed because we are going on a camping trip this weekend at Rend Lake and she really wanted to take the boat; especially now that we have a vehicle that can tow it.
Right now we are halfway tempted to just buy a new boat. Since payments are amoratized over, seemingly, several life times, they end up being quite low on a monthly basis. True you have to make that monthly payment for the rest of your natural born life, but for the first five years it is such a pleasant experience. We can't decide what to do at this point, I'm just agitated about the whole thing.
This is especially annoying as I believe Midwest Marine has now charged us for about $1,000 in parts that we didn't actually need and have not fixed the problem. Blech...throwing good money after bad always leaves a foul taste in your mouth.
On Saturday evening I took my son Alex to the St. Louis Aces to see Andy Roddick play. Suprisingly the Aces lost, and only because Roddick lost his singles match. He was playing against Ramone Delgado, who is a very talented player, but still that is no excuse. Andy had his serve broken in the first game when, at the same time, he had his concentration broken by a strange occurance on the court. A baby/toddler fell from the stands and onto the court right at Roddick's feet. Generally speaking the baby was ok, having bitten her tounge, but it was a very dramatic and scary event.
We stayed very late after the match so Alex could have his Harry Potter book signed by Andy Roddick. He figures he has the only Harry Potter book in the world signed by Andy Roddick, so that will make his copy very unique.
On Sunday I invited my two college interns over for a BBQ. It was a fairly relaxed and laid back affair and I believe they had a nice time.
This week I am back to work and this weekend I suppose I am going camping. The family we will be meeting at the camp site is looking forward to having me set up my movie screen and show films outdoors Friday and Saturday night.
That's the boring crap that has been going on in my life. At least I bumped the New Age twaddle out of the way..
The main thing that happened this past week is that our boat broke down. It has been a horrible month for things breaking down. We put thousands of dollars into repair bills on my BMW, hundreds into our Ford Focus, and more on things around the house like our dryer. Now it is the boat, and that is not a happy thing. Our boat has run reliably ever since we purchased it used many years ago. We have only ever had one problem and that was when the fuel pump went out two years ago.
Last weekend we got it out of the water and took it to Midwest Marine. On Tuesday they proclaimed they had 'fixed' it, after putting in a new $500 fuel pump, even though the one they took out was fairly new. Turns out, they did not 'fix' anything. On Friday the repair guy worked on our boat for hours, replacing yet more parts that, to us, looked brand new. He preclaimed it 'fixed' at least once more, only to realize it was still broken. The symptoms are that the boat cuts out as if it were starved for fuel. However, when you start it cold in the morning it runs flawlessly for about five minutes. Apparently whatever the problem is, only happens once the engine has warmed up. This explains the repeated proclamations from our service guy that is was 'fixed' every time he had let the engine cool off for a sufficient period of time.
When the service guy left on Friday he determined we 'must' have some sort of bad fuel problem. So, I spent a large part of my Saturday removing the fuel tank from my boat and taking it to my house. After we emptied it, we found that the gas was crystal clear and the fuel tank spotless. We put it back on the boat with brand new clean fuel and the behavior stayed the same. Now I am back in that 'place' where if I throw any more money at this problem the boat isn't even worth it. This was the same 'logic' that led us to buy a brand new truck two weeks ago.
My wife is very dissapointed because we are going on a camping trip this weekend at Rend Lake and she really wanted to take the boat; especially now that we have a vehicle that can tow it.
Right now we are halfway tempted to just buy a new boat. Since payments are amoratized over, seemingly, several life times, they end up being quite low on a monthly basis. True you have to make that monthly payment for the rest of your natural born life, but for the first five years it is such a pleasant experience. We can't decide what to do at this point, I'm just agitated about the whole thing.
This is especially annoying as I believe Midwest Marine has now charged us for about $1,000 in parts that we didn't actually need and have not fixed the problem. Blech...throwing good money after bad always leaves a foul taste in your mouth.
On Saturday evening I took my son Alex to the St. Louis Aces to see Andy Roddick play. Suprisingly the Aces lost, and only because Roddick lost his singles match. He was playing against Ramone Delgado, who is a very talented player, but still that is no excuse. Andy had his serve broken in the first game when, at the same time, he had his concentration broken by a strange occurance on the court. A baby/toddler fell from the stands and onto the court right at Roddick's feet. Generally speaking the baby was ok, having bitten her tounge, but it was a very dramatic and scary event.
We stayed very late after the match so Alex could have his Harry Potter book signed by Andy Roddick. He figures he has the only Harry Potter book in the world signed by Andy Roddick, so that will make his copy very unique.
On Sunday I invited my two college interns over for a BBQ. It was a fairly relaxed and laid back affair and I believe they had a nice time.
This week I am back to work and this weekend I suppose I am going camping. The family we will be meeting at the camp site is looking forward to having me set up my movie screen and show films outdoors Friday and Saturday night.
That's the boring crap that has been going on in my life. At least I bumped the New Age twaddle out of the way..
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