thisnewday

Spent most of yesterday, as planned, in the driveway working on the car. Had bought a hydraulic jack and jack stands, to make everything easier and safer than would've been possible with the thirty-year-old, hand-cranked scissor jack and stacked-up wood blocks I'd always used in the past.

Told my wife that if I were still in my twenties, or even thirties maybe, I'd have bought the really good one that cost fifty bucks more but didn't want something that would likely outlast me by thirty or so years. But after using the POS that I did buy, I wish I'd spent the extra bucks. Never used to do that, go for the cheap, but the cold breath of the reaper on the back of your neck and the poor prospects of anyone to pass it on to sort of pushes you that way.

Anyway, I'd bought all the parts that I figured I might need, including some that they'd probably not replace in a repair shop. Always tried not to go cheap on the job itself. Did the left front disk brake, new ceramic pads, fit kit, seals, slider bolts, etc. Didn't figure to rebuild the caliper itself because the newer ones seem to hold up well and didn't want to open the hydraulic system if I didn't have to.

Got to the right side and couldn't push the hydraulic piston back in the bore, which you've gotta be able to do to get clearance for the new pads. Tried everything and couldn't get it to budge. F*ck! Called the neighborhood parts place and the closest part was in Rochester. Could have it tomorrow for about 56 bucks. Said I'd call him back and he was nice about it.

Called Toyota and their rebuilt part was over a hundred and fifty. Order today and have it in two days. No thanks, I told him. His voice, after I told him, said, "How come you're not gonna buy our over-priced parts and wait an extra day for our slow-ass delivery?"

So I called the other place back and ordered the part. Said it would be here in the morning. And thanks for calling us. No problemo, dude, nice to be able to do business locally.

Thing is, the weather is gonna be crap for the next 12-18 hours so I'll have to wait to finish the job on Thursday. Which means driving everyone around in my son's car. Him to work, his younger son to his mother's, his older son to school in the morning and back home in the afternoon, my wife to work in the evening, my son back home, etc., etc.

Plus, I feel like a damn farmer, watching the weather. Except, you know, nothin' in the ground, no crops on the south forty. So nothin' good to possibly come of it. Just waiting for the chance to bust a few knuckles, get some more of that black, greasy dirt under the nails.

I never wanted to be a "shade-tree mechanic," which is what we derisively called the amateurs who would come into the shop looking for discount parts and free advice when I was younger and "wrenching it" for a living. But this is what you do when you're livin' on the cheap. And which, in my case, may also demonstrate that "What goes around comes around."

So, yeah, ya got me there...

LPK
LiveJournal
9.26.2012 (a)