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Jen: Bri, do you think your brother loves me?

Bri: Well, technically babies don’t start loving and longing for someone until they’re six months old, so…..no.

Tags: quote, santiago

Tags: baby, birth, santiago

Tags: baby, due, pregnancy, santiago

In years past, I regularly worked on our vehicles. It was an economic necessity. As a lower enlisted man in the Navy, I simply didn’t make enough money to pay someone else to work on my car. Hell, I could barely afford to do it myself.

With each newly acquired vehicle, I purchased the appropriate Haynes Repair Guide and learned my way around the car. I replaced alternators, starters, shock absorbers, brake pads and rotors and performed my own tune-ups. Once you gain a sense for how a car actually works, it really isn’t very difficult. But it can also be insanely frustrating. Lacking an expansive toolbox, I scraped plenty of knuckles, stripped plenty of nuts and swore and cursed enough to make my sailor buddies proud. Fucking cars.

Anyway, Jen drives a 2000 Volkswagen Jetta nowadays. Back when it was new and under warranty, we naturally sent it to the dealer for service. But once the warranty expired, Jen continued to insist on dealer service, believing it to be head and shoulders above the rest.

Until they droped the ball, that is.

For some reason, I’d always believed repair shops to be full of crooks and con artists just waiting for the next sucker. And, in my mind, “Authorized Dealer” repair shops were the worst. After one $600 repair bill after another (no matter the symptom), I think Jen came to agree with me. Bloodsuckers, all of them.

In my eternal quest to avoid dealing with scum, I’ve taken to paying cash for my vehicles, always used. Naturally, I maintained them as well. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve lost interest in sticking my head under the hood, even if it means keeping more of my hard earned cash.

Recently, my 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee began to act up. As I sat at stop signs and traffic lights, the transmission slipped out of gear. Most times, it corrected itself once I hit the gas. I quickly realized that if I shifted to neutral, I could avoid the delay altogether. I *knew* the jeep needed to be serviced, I *knew* I couldn’t do it, but I *still* dealt with the inconvenience, not to mention the risk of costly repairs later on, rather than drive down the road to see my arch nemesis, the car mechanic. When it began to slip out of gear at speed (meaning, while I was moving), I was like “Uh oh….”.

Almost simultaneously, the Jeep began to stall randomly. Just as with the transmission issue, it acted up mostly at rest, with an occasional stall at speed. Stalling while in motion is no joke. That’s when I swallowed my pride and called Jen’s mechanic, who’s actually a pretty honest, trustworthy guy.

Having said that, I think it’s pretty clear that today’s mechanic relies upon the ever-present computer to tell him what’s wrong. This case was no different. He pulled the diagnostic codes and made his recommendations. There were two issues, an unrelated sensor issue (Evaporative Emission Control System Purge Control Valve Circuit) and the ignition coil. He explained that the ignition coil could cause the stalling issue, by interrupting spark. It sounded plausible, it really did. And besides, the computer said it needed to be replaced. $400 later, I was rolling out of there, content in the fact that I wouldn’t be left on the side of the road.

From there, I took the Jeep to Capitol Transmission, in Hartford. They found that the transmission issues were caused by leaking transmission fluid cooling lines. Thankfully, I didn’t need a transmission rebuild. $300 and I’m outta there. I was generally happy with the whole experience.

Two days later I was on the side of the road, on the phone with AAA.

I’ll save the rest of this story for a follow up post, mostly because I’m tired of typing. Don’t touch that dial.

Tags: 1997 jeep grand cherokee, computer, cooling lines, grand cherokee, intermittent, pcm, stall, transmission

Overheard in a public restroom today…..

Man 1: …..I don’t understand why these gay guys feel they have to do that.

Man 2: Well, it must be hard for them, having to hide it all the time.

(as they head for the door, it occurs to him they weren’t alone.)

Man 1: We gotta stop having gay conversations in the bathroom.

Tags: bathroom, gay, quote

HA!

Tags: humor, xkcd

Wow, check this pair out. I think I am officially a fanboy.

They have a sort of odd story: a couple Mexicans with a background in the metal scene go to Dublin, of all places, hit it big there and have now come back across the pond to critical acclaim here in the states.

He’s good, but she is just amazing.

Here they are on Jimmy Kimmel Live performing ‘Diablo Rojo’:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUoijlfDPhk[/youtube]

Here they are performing ‘Tamacun’ on some overseas tv program:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-qgum7hFXk[/youtube]

and ‘Juan Loco’ on the same show:

[dailymotion]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6nz3g_rodrigo-y-gabriela-juan-loco_music[/dailymotion]

Finally, if you’re not into the style but you’re into guitar, be sure you check these next two out.

The first is their cover of Metallica’s ‘Orion’:

[googlevideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=462228549119194921[/googlevideo]

And here’s Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNc5o9TU0t0[/youtube]

Bri: Daddy, that old guy that just drove by was listening to an ipod.

Dave: Old people listen to ipods, too………..

Bri (incredulous): What do they listen to — Eye of the Tiger?!?

Check out this video of airplanes landing at the airport in St Martin. When I was in the Navy, my buddies and I sat on this beach and watched them come in.

In the video, you can see all sorts of tourists standing around, amazed at the proximity of the incoming planes.

When we were there, it was just a bunch of guys on the beach and it went more like:

“Wow, that runway comes all the way out to the……………HOLY CRAP!!”

Tonight, the Travel Channel showed the Madrid episode of Samantha Brown’s Passport to Europe. She toured the city, as she tends to do, and hit the usual spots you see on any travel show, places like the Prado, Retiro Park, etc.

Then she went into the food, glorious food. A big deal was made about the fact that the Spanish eat dinner at 10pm or so, preceding it with tapas and drink. Jen and I salivated as Samantha sampled chorizo al vino, calamares, and croquetas, then followed that up with a huge dish of paella.

However, the bit that moved us to act was about a favorite treat of ours when we are in Spain: Churros con Chocolate!

As soon as the segment was over, Jen asked me to find a recipe online. I did as I was told and found this (reproduced below after the jump, in case the site disappears). But then I took it to the next level; I said let’s make some now! Since fried carbohydrates covered in sugar accompanied by the thickest hot chocolate you’ve ever seen makes perfect sense at 9pm, I ran out to get a couple ingredients and voila!

If you’ve never had it, the chocolate is a thick, viscous beverage. I can’t really drink the stuff. As a matter of fact, I don’t recall ever finishing a cup, and tonight was no different. I tend to use it for dunking the churros into, as this is where it shines. Mmmm. See how it coats the spoon? We’ll be making this again.

While in Spain, Bri and I had it last in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain, next to the second-oldest hotel in the world (yes, we stayed there). In 2004, we enjoyed some in Barcelona on Las Ramblas. It was awesome, but we were essentially ripped off, having been charged just under $30 for two servings of churros con chocolate, two orange juices and a serving of toast (or something similar). Ah, the memories.

Check out the recipe below.

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