Spring and riding season has started!

 

     But so far I have not gotten much riding done, I am getting a bit more confident with that vintage scooter I won last year down in St. Louis at the Missouri Loves Company rally, and the LXV has a new spark plug and a fuel problem.  I am hoping a bit of Heat has that resolved but need a bit of warmer weather to run it some and find out.
      The furnace is down, son Ben thinks we need to research and see if we can fix it ourselves and since I can make do without it for right now and there is a good chance it’s a part we can buy and install ourselves, I am good with that idea.  Those rides of mine are eating up money as fast as they can get it.  Both the LXV and the GTS get valve clearance adjustment this spring, I have the needed valve cover gaskets, GTS is still in the bike shed but the battery is in and I have started it.  I need to pop off that valve cover and get out those gauges and check that ‘valve lash’ stuff and adjust if and as needed.  Once the GTS is done, it can come out and the LXV can go in so I can have ‘shop’ area to keep things clean when I pull that valve cover off to do the same sort of adjustment stuff.
     The vintage Vespa has gotten new correct mirrors, a replacement rear bumper, a proper tail light and center stand.  I need to chase down the horn problem and see if the turn signals and I can come to an agreement.  I want to replace the smoked gray lenses with the proper orange ones, partly because I feel that they will be more noticeable and maybe make me and that little scooter a bit safer out on the roads.
     Work is still going ok, still like going to work every day, changing jobs in plant has been a good change for me, I’ve been on the ‘crown and flush’ job over a year now and am still glad to go to work, that is a big and very nice change from when I was boxing stomachs.
     And I’ve changed cars and banks, so am settling into those changes still.  Like the car much better than I did the Mitsubishi, but it was and is a good car with great MPG which is important to me.  I dropped mpg but not much and added a LOT to the credit debt with the car change but I really like the new car, same year and about the same miles, Hyundai and extended that bumper to bumper warranty so that works for me.  
     I gained a 6 speed manual tranny, and blue exterior, more leg room for me and a hatch back which I really like, and it came with some perks and ‘goodies’ so I still have fog lights but gained a back up camera, neat feature and it’s computer smart and already knows my cellphone, when I turn on the Bluetooth.  I already bought a cover and today ordered the window vents so I can put the windows down a tiny bit and not let much in but airflow.  I will be making seat covers for both the back seating and for the front seats but did move the steering wheel cover and seat covers from the Mirage.  And I have a car I can recognize so don’t need stickers/decals or other ‘things’ on it to identify it.  That is a nice change too and I like driving it.
     I am still ‘rocking’ this single in my 60’s stuff, and when I think over all the years it took me to get to where I am and who I am, I’m good with me.  No man has ever provided for me as well as I have for myself, nor have they given me the stability that I have provided for myself.  I no longer have anyone pushing me to be what they want but get to be who I am, I really like that.
     It has been a long and hard road with a lot of bad/poor/stupid choices but that is really the past and actually the Long past.  And none of it can be changed so I have, for the most part, come to terms with all of it and moved on.

Crazy things old women do!

      On Friday, March 29 I had an S. V. (single vacation) Day and took the Mitsubishi down to St.Louis for a service appointment and did some shopping and visiting and had a really good day away from home.  Of course it rained all the way down Thursday night and started raining Friday afternoon as I was leaving the city.
     Saturday started wet and gray and didn't change all day, but I texted pal Jaime to see if he wanted to run to Jacksonville to look at flooring for his kitchen project he has plans for this year.  Instead, about 1 p.m. I picked him up and we headed to Springfield to play, and started at World of Powersports, food was the next stop and the we headed, in my car, with me driving (this is part of where you start wondering just what crazy thing I am going to end up doing) to cruise the car lots, yes, in the rain, so Jaime can indulge in his favorite hobby, drooling over cars. 
     I drive very slowly through lots, stopping often, Jaime get out and looks, might even talk to salesmen and I knit when I am parked and waiting for him.
    Of course it was late afternoon when we headed towards home, but first to Thorntons for gas and for Jaime to get a drink and snack.  The last stop of the day was Green's warehouse indoor car sale, on the last day, late in the day.  It should have been a very safe place for him to drool and me to knit a bit.
    And yes, Jaime found something he thought he might want to trade his 'bought new, hasn't had long' car for and got busy with salesman and their financial guy which left me with no 'sitter' to keep me from wandering about with knitting in hand, a sock for son Ben, and yes, I do look at cars and knit as I walk around inside. 
     So, I have (had) a very good, more warranty than payments, very good MPG economy car that I bought December 2017, in fact, Jaime went with me to Columbia MO to see that car and to drive my Neon home.  I did sell the Neon a couple days later to a guy I know at the plant.
       And it is a good, solid car that I got for about $2,000 below book, so a very good buy.  I don't like the color but the gas mileage is really good and I tossed a cover over it when riding season started it and rarely drove it last summer.   But when I went to see it I thought I was going over for something with a standard transmission, my preference and what the car was listed as.
      So, I'm knitting and wandering around and find 2 blue cars tucked into a corner, Hyundai, which I had that Accent and loved it, until some jerk in a hurry leaving the plant parking lot managed to total my car!  Pretty cars so I have to look at the first 1, black interior, 2016 and automatic, and then look at the other 1, red interior, ok, so that's interesting' and fog lights, I have those on the Mitsubishi and like them.  And Wow, it is standard, 2017 and a Veloster, which struck me as what would happen if a Tiberon and an Accent had unprotected sex.   When I bought that Accent, back in 2000, I had wanted the Tiberon, but bought the practical economy car, the Accent instead. 
      I was amazed how long it took me to corner a salesman but I finally did and talked him out the door to look at what I was driving, Yes, I did tell him that, come see what I am driving and then we can go look at what I want to be driving. . . . .I had it service (and paid for that) the day before, and had not 2 miles away, filled the gas tank. .  See, I told you, crazy old woman!   
      I did take it for a test drive, and the salesman went with me and put $20 worth of gas in it, and took it back and Jaime and I started removing My stuff from that black car I was trading in on that blue ride!   And the paperwork got done, I downgraded in mpg and upgraded ( a long upgrade) in debt load and now have a car that has 6 speed transmission and a clutch (and a LOT of payments) a color I love, more driver's leg room, a very good warranty, a local (Springfield) dealership with a very good reputation, I had taken my Accent there after moving here.   And free oil changes and car washes and it's very, very sporty , like the speedometer goes to 160 mph, and is hatchback, which I really like.  It's a subcompact so a bit bigger than the Mitsubishi Mirage and far more fun to drive!
     As I told the finance guy doing all that paperwork, very late Saturday afternoon (ok, early evening) that I had never traded in a car, much less 1 that I was still making payments on, that I have never bought a car without doing a lot of research before making a decision but  loved the color, liked the gear shift and was buying that blue car.
     It will make a tight budget for a month or so, which means I quit wasting $$ on things I don't need like more dolls, more fabrics, more books and work some overtime when it's available.  But I can afford the car, I really like the car and it's mine now!  And I will drive people crazy on the road with a very sporty, fast looking car that I put on cruise control once I reach speed limit.  I can't afford tickets and the car, and I don't need to be going much over that posted speed limit, it does not matter how fast that car will go, I do not have to try and fly down the highways around here just because I have a car that can actually go way too fast to be safe.