The Chariots of DOOM

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

This is the standard method of payment when one is dealing with supernatural beings or a grouchy yeti.

[Drunk Monk]

Hope those magic beans came with some beano.

Because...

...yetis.

Those of us who've lived with one.... we know. 

[thatguy]

This is the standard method of payment when one is dealing with supernatural beings or a grouchy yeti.

Poetry? 



--tg

[Drunk Monk]

Remember the beginning of the pandemic? I posted this in April of last year: 

Our old neighbor just handed us the key to her old car. Pink slip is coming in the mail. It's a black 2003 Jetta, stick shift, beat to hell, but it still runs okay. The back window is jammed half open which sucks. I just tried to jimmy it back but no luck. It's got one of those switchblade keys, just one, and the RC key doesn't work so it's like an old skool key. Kinda funky but you don't look a gift jetta in the mouth, right? It'll be fine for driving around town.

The Jetta has been a PAIN IN THE ASS. It runs fine, but trying to get the freakin transfer to happen has been absurd. First the pandemic shut down DMV. Then there were all these hassles about trying to do it online and by phone. Then there were trips to DMV where the unvaxxed masses were trying to catch up on the backlog caused by the pandemic. 

We got a 'move it' ticket on the Jetta. The registration sticker had expired and we got busted. Then Darth got rifled and they took my registration. So I got new registration, which cost me like $75 (if memory serves - the true number is buried here in the forum somewhere) but we also got a new sticker so we put that on the Jetta. 

Finally today after much tribulation, Stacy got it. The Jetta is almost officially ours. The pink slip is in the mail. 

I've dubbed it the Funk mobile (Funk was the last name our neighbor who gave it to us). It needs new headlights. And a serious cleaning. We're waiting for that pink slip first. But it runs well. It's got good pick up. And a cassette player. 

We now have three cars. Darth, Phoebe (which we got back from Tara) and the Funk Mobile. We even got a rebate on insurance too (Tara's insurance was higher being a student and using it to commute - we won't use it for anything).

We have another friend who says they might give us their car. WTH? We went from just Darth to three cars. 

Yuki needs to learn how to drive.

[thatguy]

You should rent those suckers out to SC tourists...I hear rental cars are hard to come by. 

https://www.turo.com

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

Interesting 

Know anyone who’s done that?

[thatguy]

no...we rented one once on a trip to Seattle. The owner had the keys in a tail-hitch key safe and after the approval process and payment sent us the code. It was difficult as we only had it for a time window and we hit some bad traffic and ended up returning it 30-45 min late and had to pay some exorbitant fees. I think my GF got banned from using the site. 

I don't know how old a car they will allow, nor how much insurance one needs to have to cover it, but my car sits almost all the time, so I'd consider it, but I'm too lazy to investigate.

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

We finally got our pink slip for the Funkmobile from DMV. Stacy washes it in Celebration. It was filthy when we got it, made worse from neglect - still had ash on it from the fire. Tomorrow I’ll fix the headlight. It’s a zippy black Jetta, a stick shift, with a cassette tape player. We now own 3 cars and we may soon own another...

[cranefly]

LCF is on the berm of 101 right now.  AAA is tending to her.  Right front tire is shredded.  WTF?

[Greg]

Ugh. The 101 was never a good place to get a flat.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

I hope that all that comes out of this is praise for AAA and nothing else.

[Drunk Monk]

AAA was great. Gotta luv AAA.

[cranefly]

The first AAA truck was too big to safely handle her situation.  Yes, it was a very bad spot.  A smaller truck was called.  An anonymous good samaritan in a pickup truck parked some distance behind her and put on his flashers, trying to alert people to her breakdown.  It didn't  noticeably slow people down.

But she eventually got towed to a service station, where they put on the temp spare tire, allowing her to drive to a recommended place to get a legit tire (possibly used), and afterwards, after some fussing with the emergency brake (it wouldn't release), she finally drove home.

But missed her Kaiser appmt.  Rescheduled.

This 2005 Prius is entering its money-sink years.  I'd like to get another car.  But it's a bad time for used cars.  What I really want is electric, and Tesla is the number 1 pick by far.  But jeez, I'm 71.  I need to ask LCF what she would like.

We'll likely limp along on this for the foreseeable future.  But it could get expensive.

[Drunk Monk]

Glad to hear LCF survived. Sorry to hear the Prius is failing. I went through that too. Mine was the 2nd year of the US Prius and after a decade the battery was needing replacing so I sold it. Now we have 4 cars if we count my mom’s, 3 are junkers but still go. Cars are such burdens.

[cranefly]

So, our Prius is a 2005.  That means its main battery pack is over 15 years old ... and so-o-o-o living on borrowed time.

But this is about the two fobs for the Prius.  They're all plastic and have worn out.  I've changed the batteries in them many times.  Now you can't really open them.  The tiny nubs for doing so have worn smooth.  You can't even slip out the key, which you need if the fob battery goes dead.  And without that key you can't unlock the door or start the car.

In the last couple of weeks, the fobs got finicky as the batteries started to die.

Fortunately, I'd bought new cases for them a couple years ago.  Yes, a cottage industry has sprung up for them.  These new ones have metal nubs and might have better longevity.  Anyway, it seemed time to finally switch over to them, because I sure didn't want LCF stranded again, out somewhere unable to unlock or start the car.

The thing is, these are just the cases.  You need to transfer the integrated circuitry from old to new.  Also a chip that's wedged inside.  And of course you'll want to move over your old key.

The whole process is very simple.  Per instructions.  To actually do it is anything but.  It requires a philips screwdriver smaller than an electron, various needle nose pliers to rip apart the old case, a vise to hold it in place while you hacksaw it next to that chip until it unwedges, and other stuff I won't go into.  Oh, yeah.  Duct tape plays a part.  On top of all of this you need a whole lotta luck to not damage the innards in the process.

The first fob took me about 3-4 hours.

The second fob was a shade faster.

Both now work.

I should start a business replacing them.