I went down to Lumberton to check this out the other day, and it wasn't... bad. You can't see how just slightly beat up everything is in the photos, and most of it I could have fixed or lived with. But..
There was a burning oil smell after the test drive, and when I opened the hood there was visible black smoke coming off the engine. I rejected it immediately, and the sales manager came out with the mechanic that worked on it to have him explain things. Apparently it had a really badly leaking valve cover gasket which he replaced, and he used half a case of cans of break clean trying to get all the oil off everything but he didn't get it all. What I was seeing was what he missed burning off the manifold and turbo and such.
Maybe that's true, and it kinda looked like it, but if whoever owned it didn't care enough to get it fixed and just drove it around burning crazy oil off everything then what else did they not do before trading it in? Pass.
They texted the next day offering me a 2 year engine/transmission warranty at 'no cost'. That might have been tempting had I not just put a deposit on something else.... to be continued....
Back in the old days, a new vehicle would get it's own page. Now, it's just relegated to a journal entry. Here's what I finally picked to be the 'last of the manuals', a 2014 Jeep Patriot.
OK so why this? Well, other than just being a manual it's also a base model so it lacks everything. Manual windows, manual locks, manual mirrors, yada yada. The only options are 4x4 and AC, neither of those were optional on an SUV. AC isn't optional anywhere, but had I opted for a FWD SUV I would have had more choices, and not been able to live with myself.
It's practical, and because it's a Jeep (even if in name only) I shouldn't get too bent out of shape when it gets dented, scratched or dirty from sitting outside. It's also rated at 28 MPG combined, so it's more fuel efficient than the van.
Also, no turbo. I could have spent more money and gotten a renegade but even the base has the 1.4L turbo... made by Fiat. Uh, no. I'll take my chances with an unrefined noisy 2.4L chrysler block from the early 2000s thank you. It's peppy enough for what it is, and shouldn't grenade anytime soon. Shouldn't.
I've got a 5 day 500 mile return window, and a 30 day 1000 mile warranty so I'm fairly confident it doesn't suck in any major way.
First mod other than adding the temporary phone charger is to replace the dome lights. The OEM bulbs are gross yellow and dim, and the extra LEDs I had from the van fit 4 out of 5 of the sockets so I'm upgraded at no (new) cost. Perfect. Someday I'll find that 5th bulb. Someday.
We drove up to Virginia on Saturday to visit Rachel's farm (the woman used to ride with her in CA and 3 years ago they moved here to escape the Bay Area). Lotta critters.
Some rare photos of me with animals, first the giant dog that I didn't like, and then the goats that I did like.
I walked around the paddock perimeter and was feeding dried leaves to them and when they all saw they all eventually came along for the walk. When I looped back, I had all the goats following me and none by the woman. She wasn't happy that they wanted my food more than her love.
Been on a cleaning spree lately, Granite gone, tool box in place and getting organized, and selling off random stuff. So far, I've gotten rid of a bunch of things that have value but that no longer hold any (or much) interest for me. That includes:
The G20 was a bit of a sad one to see go, but honestly am I ever going to load any more 9x25? Or shoot a bunch of 10mm? OK maybe 10mm, but not 9x25 and since the barrel is matched to the gun the whole thing had to go as a package. I sold it to the "kid" who I dump my glock stuff on, he was happy to get it. I also gave him that 357sig upper that was on my poly80. I picked up the dagger 9mm slide complete and converted the frame over to the 9mm ejector and basically that's it. It's a 9mm now, and if I want to shoot 357sig I can out of my G23 with the good conversion or the cheap threaded slightly longer barrel. I'm not missing out on much, and it was a funky idea to build my poly80 in 357sig in the first place. Oh, but I'll shoot more 357sig if it's not in the G23. Why? I dunno but that's what I thought. Go figure, but I'm getting smarter.
The guy I sold the flintlock to met at the house I sold the Mossberg barrels to so I could do them both in one drive to Thomasville. The flintlock guy gave me a box of air horns to take to Scott since I was driving right by his place on my way back. Random, but I can see Scott totally wanting these things.
The cargo area dome light does use the same type of bulb, it's just mounting up a different way. The reason it didn't work the first time is that the LEDs have polarity and I had it in backwards. Turned it around and poof, we have all 5 lights LED now. Just dumb luck that the first 4 I installed I got the 50/50 chance right.
I put a note in the package for my future self since I didn't do that last time.
One of the guys in the writing group told me about "Obsidian", a writing/outlining tool. I gave it a try, and it's pretty cool. You can make all the chapters or whatever as separate 'notes' and then tie them all together in a 'canvas' and rearrange and do all sorts of things. I'm still playing with it but it's turned my story 'map' from a paper scrawl into this thing:
The new Jeep was doing that stumble thing at really small throttle openings and light load just like my 4Runner did when I first got it. Felt like it needed plugs, and at 94k on "100k plugs" it probably did very desperately. Took me 17 minutes to swap all 4 this morning (checked the gap prior to save time while outside) and I'm pretty sure it was due:
Seems to idle better, but that could just be placebo. I'll know today when I drive to BJJ and try to replicate the stumble.
Got this at Ed's yesterday, been eyeing it for a year or so. Dad, Jason, Sean and I went down before the 'steak dinner' at the club meeting and while I didn't see it on the shelf and was willing to not ask, Jason and Sean wanted me to get it so they asked.
The price in store was higher than the web site price, and the counter dude said the web site was out of date (it is) and being replaced this week (so they say but I believe them) and that price wasn't valid. We got Ed involved and he honored the old price. I was going to walk away if he hadn't, and after Jason said that he was going to hand Ed cash to make up the difference in the prices if I wasn't going to buy at the higher price. I guess they really really want me to have a single shot 300BLK takedown?
Just fiddling with it, it is lovely. Without an action it's 4" shorter than a normal 16" rifle and the fit/finish is exceptional. It's not a Ruger. Trigger is 2.75# consistently with no safety.
The last dinner at the club for the year was the big steal dinner, I think I mentioned it before. Since I'm getting sick almost every time I eat red meat I didn't actually want to eat my steak so I brought a container to bring it home. This is what it looked like:
Had a locksmith come by the house today to program up a second key for the Jeep and a new remote for the woman's car (she's somehow broken both key fobs). It was actually cheaper and faster to have this guy come out than to take the cars in, especially since the big locksmith in Apex wants ALL DAY to program keys. This guy did the job in 45 minutes for 3 keys. Since he was here I had him make me a van key that didn't have the key fob stuff. I don't use it anyway and now I can carry the Jeep and van keys around and yet have less crap in my pocket. Might just get another house key and split the rings up, no need to carry the van lockbox keys around all the time.
Borrowed a hole saw kit from the neighbor and installed the outlet under the couch today. Gotta wire up the other end yet but it's on the circuit with the router and stuff and the woman is working so I can't take it down. By using the router circuit we'll ensure it's on the generator, don't want the couch stuck in some random recline position when the power is out.
Forgot to mention that when selling the shotgun barrels I traded a can of pyrodex to him for a little sling bag. I then traded him the case the barrels were in for another sling bag. I'm sure I can come up with a good use for them. More so than the black powder substitute I had no use for and the rifle case I hated (always pinches your hand when you carry it by the handle.
Project complete.
Also, if the new Jeep is going to take the Montero's place in our hearts, it should wear the Montero's keychain.
Huh, I wonder if I should have a character in my story named Montero? Maybe a throw-away, there are a few of those.
Took the CVA out to test some loads using data recycled from the Ruger. The good news, is I had some really accurate subsonics. The bad news is the 208gr that I just bought 250 of from a forum dude are pretty much unusable in the first loading I tried. Not saying they can't be made to work with the right powder and seating depth, just saying the first outing was abysmal.
Got my political sticker for the Jeep, and sadly put it on crooked. Oops.
My Heil headset adapter for the IC7k no longer works so when I was talking to the prepper guy on 40m on Wednesday I had to stand up and put my head on the radio speaker and use the hand mic. That was awkward and dumb. So, instead of spending $100+ on a new adapter I spent $4 and got an audio cable and wired the headphone output from the face plate into the switchbox on my desk so now I can use my good headset on the radio. Then I used the 'remote face plate kit' I found in the box to remove the face plate and get it on my desk using the leftover cell phone arm mount and leftover non-wireless charging mag mount head from the van. Poof, instant solution to having to get access to the radio from my chair and being able to hear it. Using the hand mic to talk isn't a big deal, I won't be talking much.
Here's something you don't see every day, the bathroom lobby at the Subaru dealership. Not sure why it's so fancy and not 'rugged' and 'pet friendly' like the rest of the dealership image, but here we are.
Shuttled some crappy used cars from Subaru over to the shop in Durham with a few other drivers on Monday. How crappy? Well ignoring the disgusting urine soaked Corolla and oil burning Crosstrek I drove (the mid '00s escape wasn't too bad except for the color combo) we had one breakdown. This '06 LLBean edition Outback blew the radiator out half way there. Looked like there was some sort of pink slime coming out, so perhaps they used some 'leak stop' to keep it together long enough to trade in. None of these cars had even been cleaned yet, they were fresh trade-ins.
Yesterday I went to VA to get a Subaru EV, a Solterra (which none of us even knew existed). It's quite possibly the worst EV I've driven to date, just because of the funky dash that reflects sunlight right in your face from almost every angle and the total lack of buttons to let you do anything once CarPlay takes over. Annoying. Also, the "222 mile range" is utter BS. It barely made it 125, we had to divert to the Hyundai dealership in Wake Forest to recharge enough to get it to Cary. Oh, and if the 12v old school lead acid battery is dead the car doesn't work. They still haven't fixed that problem from the first hybrids. Had to 'jump' it at the originating dealership and then was afraid to turn it off anywhere before it ran out of main juice (so presumably long enough with it 'on' to charge the 12v system).
Cheapy seat covers, just enough to keep the nasty sweat off the seats from gym days. Need them on both on this since the woman rides with me to PT.
Kristen's parents have been in town so I've spent a lot of time hiding, working and generally staying out of the way.
I took the Jeep back to the dealership to have them check out the grinding noise. I had eliminated the easy stuff like wheel bearings and a 'loose heat shield' (man everyone loves to pin things on a loose heat shield) and that left the hard stuff like output shaft bearings, pinion gears, etc. After a quick demonstration of the noise in the parking lot to the service manager he had a tech look at it. The tech (a grizzled old black dude) asked me to drive it with him and see if it was fixed. I did the thing that always makes the noise (slow deceleration from 2200 to 1800 RPM in 1st) and he said "yep, it's the throw out bearing in the clutch".
Back inside the service writer agreed, said it's about a 7.5 hour job to replace and would require the bearing and the clutch to be replaced. Total cost to me... $0. Yep, all covered by the 30 day / 1000 mile warranty. So I missed the noise during the test drive, but caught it in the warranty period which is why I was willing to overpay a bit to get that second chance. So far, other than it taking 2 weeks (est) to get it done due to parts and other delays they've been pretty easy going about it. The shop probably doesn't care, the money to pay for it comes from the sales side. They just know it's work for them justifying their existence.
I drove by the dealership on the way back from a delivery and stopped in to check on the Jeep. It's still there, no one stole it. Whew.
On that Friday when I was visiting the Jeep I got stuck at the Durham Genesis repair shop for a while waiting on another driver so I went to get lunch. The only thing close at all is a Sheetz, so I went ahead and ordered my first Sheetz burrito in 3+ years. Turns out, they're not very good. The woman was right all along.
In addition to charging for the wait time (hey, I'm paid by the job not by the hour) I asked them for a bit of swag so I look like I actually work there when I deliver customer cars.
Update after the first use, look how official:
Some quality time with the father in law today since it was raining and they couldn't go do anything. We went through the rest of dad's tool dump and sorted out the keepers from the freebies for others.
I got inspired to make up a second small set of sockets, wrenches, pliers, etc for the generator shed since I found myself tightening battery terminals there with a pair of vice grips. No reason I can't have spares!
Oh, also don't think I mentioned that the battery chargers that came with the new Westinghouse generators are actually trickle chargers, the manual says you ca leave them attached indefinitely. That means the chargers I wired in are not needed there so I moved one to the scooter (it's charger is currently on the old generator). The two sets of charger leads off the two Westinghouse generators are now on the Jeep and with some mods on the van. Whichever vehicle is parked inside for the week or whatever the rotation schedule is if there is one can be attached to the charger. Should help prolong the batteries.
Delivery today, a 500 count box of 220gr SMKs which while not cheap at all are the most accurate subsonics out of the CVA to date. We're talking sub-MOA, for subsonic. They were under half in groups at 50 yards which should translate to under 1" at 100 still if I can do my part. Might just be time to put the better scope on since the rifle is capable of better than expected accuracy. Exciting!
I made a second of the Atlantic Beach Pie that I made a few weeks back. I cut the crackers down by 1/3 to just over 1 sleeve but kept everything else the same. That meant the cracker to butter ratio was off, but it was mostly OK. Next time I'll reduce the butter to match. I didn't have enough lemon juice to do a 25/75 lime:lemon ratio so it worked out to 50:50 but everyone agreed it was pretty good like that. Rachel uses a 50:50 ratio, so there is that.
Will invited me to go to lunch with the First Health guys, they've been asking about me. He said it was at the Mexican place so I assumed Casa Mexicana. Ralph showed up there, I showed up there... but everyone else went to some new place. Doh! Eventually we all ended up at the new place and here we are, 4+ years after I'm off the account. Marchi taking the photo.
Ralph retires in January, Dee in February. End of an era.
At the car dealer again. Came up last night to pick up the Jeep and the noise is still there. So whatever it is, it's not the clutch or throw out bearing like they thought. Sigh. Service manager isn't here until "8:30 or 9am" so I'm just camping out for a few to catch him and then I'm off to drive for Subaru.
The tech that said it's the bearing is here, talking to someone else.
Also, installed putty on the writing laptop so I could ssh in and do this, and found that my ssh tunnel was still intact even though the web VM has been changed/updated. Guess I remembered to update the firewall because the server IP changed. Guess I did that when I updated the http/https port redirect. I should update the web server too, just in case. Did all that work to be on a supported release of.... uh.... not centos? centos? I can't even remember the name of the linux distro I'm running!