Nice Drive

Sandy came up with this wild idea--road trip!

So we pointed the car in an easterly direction and hit the gas.

It was a simple plan--sometime after the word 'go!' we'd find ourselves at Lake Placid.

For us, the simpler the plan is, the better it'll work.

We stopped for coffee at our usual watering hole and said 'bye' to all our friends. Then we hit the road.

Of course, the highway would be blocked due to an accident between Fruitland Road and Fifty Road. With wishes that the people involved were uninjured, we proceeded to use the service road.

So the trip after that--relatively uneventful--15 minutes at the border crossing in Queenston, and we're driving thru the states.

We passed Sandy Creek--that was kinda neat.

Sandy Creek--not Sandy Koudys

Somehow we got it in our mind that Interstate 81 would take us right to Lake Placid (and a superfluous look at the map kinda backed that idea up). Well, not so much and, with tears in our eyes, we found ourselves back in Canada near Kingston.

International Boderline

Well that was fun.

Turning around, we went back to the USA, and found the right road to Lake Placid.

The good bit--we got to see a fantastic sunset across the mountain ranges.

'Night Mr. Sun

The better bit--we got to see deer foraging just off the highway.

Dark and blurry pic of deer

The best bit--we're now in 'Art Devlin's Olympic Inn' right in the heart of downtown Lake Placid.

We have a fantastic room--the plasma screen is a nice bonus. The bathroom-with huge corner whirlpool tub--is about the size of our livingroom and it has a walk-in shower that would hold about 20 people easily.

Nice TV

We'll take more pics and try to get 'em up thru the week.

We have pics of our trip here--Day 1 of our 1 year anniversary trip - Drive to Lake Placid

Update--

From another blog--The case against first past the post--against FPTP, focusing on Canadian recent voter history.

Read the whole thing--it's better than I could have ever stated.

- - -

It's surprising--considering the election's in 3 weeks--that many people haven't even heard about the MMP bit.

See, on October 10th, Ontario citizens get to choose who represents their voices in our provincial political processes.

As well, on October 10th, Ontario citizens have the ability to change how our provincial political model is made up.

My poli-sci prof wrote a blog entry here--Ontario's referendum in which he goes into his feelings on MMP.

I agree with his writings--our current system is flawed. I'll try to explain it as thus.

Currently, we work in a 'First Past the Post' (FPTP) system--the party that wins the majority of seats after an election gets to be in charge for the duration.

Now the 'Mixed Member Proportional' (MMP) system comes along--the party that wins the majority of seats after an election gets to be in charge for the duration.

Wait! They're exactly the same!!

Not quite. See, the devil is in the details. How you vote has more significance in MMP and I'll try to explain it using the following example.

Let's make up a province called 'DaiseyLand'.

DaiseyLand has, for the sake of 'easy numbers' a million people living in it.

The political powers have separated DaiseyLand into 100 voting districts. That means, in our scenario, that there are 100 political 'seats' up for grabs each election cycle.

Each political district (in keeping things fair) has 10,000 voting people in it.

Again, for the sake of simplicity, DaiseyLand has only 2 political parties wanting your vote. 'The Bees Knees' Party and 'Dan-D-Lion' Party--each party has unique appeal to certain segments of the DaiseyLand population

So here comes election day.

After the votes are tallied, turns out that The Bees Knees had more votes in 60 ridings than the Dan-D-Lion party.

Using the FPTP system, that's all the information we would need--Bees Knees gets 60 seats and Dan-D-Lion gets 40 seats--DaiseyLand's party in power for the duration is Bees Knees.

"But", says some of the citizens of DaiseyLand, "Sixty percent of the actual population didn't vote for the Bees Knees party!!"

If we look closer at the voting results, this is what we see--

in 60 ridings, 5001 people voted for 'Bees Knees', and 4999 people voted for 'Dan-D-Lion. Therefore, Bees Knees, having 2 more votes than 'the other guy', won those 60 legislative seats.

In the other 40 ridings, however, 10,000 people voted for Dan-D-Lion (hey--they really like Dan!) and no one voted for Bees Knees. Therefore Dan-D-Lion won 40 legislative seats.

Do some quick math of votes per party, however--

Bees Knees

60 x 5001 = 300060

Dan-D-Lion

(60 x 4999) + (40 x 10,000) = 299940 + 400000 = 699940

The party in power--Bees Knees--only received 30 percent of the vote. Dan-D-Lion received a whopping 70 percent of people's votes!! Yet The Bees Knees party has 60 seats to the 40 seats for Dan-D-Lion. That's not representative democracy! 70 percent of the people voted for Dan-D-Lion and yet Dan-D-Lion has only 40 percent of the legislative seats!

See, this is where the FPTP system fails us.

Yes, the above is only an example. However, we only have to remember the US election in 2000 to look at a concrete example of this 'failed' system--The democrats (therefore Al Gore) received more individual votes than the republicans (George Bush). But the republicans had more 'electoral college' wins than the democrats. Yes, that's a little different than our Canadian system (but not by much).

Closer to home, we just have to look at our last Ontario election. There was this handy-dandy blog entry at one of the blogs I read on a daily basis--Why I'm Voting for MMP, Part 2 .

Note the chart--take a look at our last election in 2003. 46.4 percent of Ontarians voted for the Liberal party yet the Liberals have 70 percent of the seats in the Ontario Legislature. Again, this is hardly representative of what the voters of Ontario voted for.

If we claim to live in a 'representative democracy', having a party with 70 percent of the seats when they only received 46.4 percent of the vote just doesn't add up.

That's where MMP comes in.

As some opponents of MMP have stated--MMP adds more seats to government. "More government is bad!!"

That's a pretty simplistic way of looking at it, however. Yes, if we go with the MMP system there will be more seats in the Ontario legislature. However, the percentage of seats that each party has will be a closer representation of the percentage of votes each party received.

So what happens?

You vote (this is the important bit).

Then those votes are tallied.

The person (and therefore the party) with the most votes in the voting district wins that voting district, and the legislative seat that goes with it--so far exactly the same as what we do now.

However, after the votes are all in, the 'party vote' is tallied--If a political party received a larger percentage of votes than their percentage of seats in the legislature, they are, well, assigned more seats in the legislature. These additional seats are assigned as needed to make the percentage of seats per party as equal as possible to the percentage of votes per party.

Yes, technically this means that there will be members of our provincial parliament that were not 'directly' elected by the voters. These members will not be representing a specific voting district of Ontario. However, these members will be representing the party that you voted for.

I'd rather have our Ontario legislature (and hopefully our federal one someday) representing the will of all voters.

On a personal level, MMP allows you, the voter, to vote for who you want. No longer will you have to worry about 'strategic voting'--"I like the NDP guy but if I don't vote Liberal, the Conservative guy in my riding will probably win!!"

Under MMP, the make-up of legislature will be proportional to what the voters voted for.

So vote NDP--if you get 20 percent of your fellow Ontarians to also vote NDP, it doesn't matter how many actual ridings the NDP won, in the Ontario legislature after the election, the NDP will have around 20 percent of the seats.

I'll give you a 'heads up'--the people that I've heard talk about MMP and 'how bad it'll be for Ontario' either don't really understand it, or they have an ulterior motive to keep things status quo.

'Cause think about it--right now the Liberals have 70 percent of the seats on our legislature. To get bills passed in Ontario, you need a majority to vote 'yes!' on your bill. Well, the Liberals have the majority of seats. I'll remind you that they only received 46.4 percent of the vote in the last election--a minority (under 50 percent)!! Why would the Liberal party want MMP? Or the Conservatives? Again, going back into history, Mike Harris and the Conservatives had 2 successive terms in office because they had the majority of seats in the legislature. Both times, however, they didn't have the majority of votes.

All this, and more, is why I'm personally voting for MMP on October 10th. I'm extremely thankful that I live in a democratic country where I get to vote for the person I think will best represent me in our political system. I believe that the system can be better and that the Mixed Member Proportional system is a step in making things better for not only myself, but for all Ontarians.

Vote 'Yes' for MMP!

It's akin to the "shot heard 'round the world"--someone on "The View" mentioned that she didn't know if the world was round--

(video of this excerpt here--Video- “The View” co-host doesn’t know if the world is round or flat)

I'm not going into a political rant regarding how some people don't have time to think about the world being round--what, with trying to raise kids and make a living and all--but do have the time to point out how wonderful George W Bush is, how fantastically we're doing in Iraq, and "just-leave-that-poor-general-alone!!!! Bad MoveOn!!" tirades.

No, I'll leave that for other bloggers.

This conversation reminded me (leans back and strokes chin thoughtfully, reminiscingly) of Grade 5 (circa 1977).

One day the teacher asked if any of us had ever been to Africa. Being a small school in a farming/rural community, chances that the students at our public school having been outside Ontario, yet alone Canada--pretty slim.

And it was no real big surprise that not one of my classmates had ever been to Africa.

"So how do you know Africa's there?" asked the teacher.

Well, to a 10 year old, that was a very big question (almost 40,000 kilometers big)

One of our classmates went up and pulled down one of those world maps that most grade school classrooms have.

"There! It's right there in the middle of the map!" as if to say, "Well duh!"

The teacher, hopefully somewhat smarter than the students at the time, "Perhaps this map is a fake! maybe we made this map to trick you kids!"

Well that's a whole new ballgame for a 10 year old. Sure, the art of lieing for a 10 year old was getting honed ("I don't feel well enough to go to school!") but to hear a teacher--a 'pillar of truth and knowledge' to state that they could actually deceive? Didn't that turn my mind on end.

At the end of the day, the teacher assured us that there was, indeed, an Africa and that this was all a lesson for us to get something out of.

That day, however, lived in the back of my mind and sporadically asserts itself. When I watched "The Truman Show" or some of the TNG episodes where a character finds him or herself in a 'fake reality', I hearken back to sitting at my desk (behind my good friend Paul), looking at that world map and wondering if there really was an Africa.

This "The View" thing made that memory jump right out to the front of my mind in a somewhat different way.

Instead of wondering if there could be some sort of elaborate "living in your mind" thing going on, a la "The Matrix"--where maybe the world in which we think we live is just some sort of computer generated reality--or maybe everything I've been told or shown up until now is all an elaborate hoax (like the Truman Show) (see, if you're a sci-fi geek, you think these things)... instead of wondering all these things when I saw that video clip of "The View", the first thing that sprung to my mind this time was, well, Bill Cosby (yeah, my mind's a little odd sometimes)

I'll set this up a bit--During my youth, there was some time in there (not specific on the exact dates but we'll say 'before yesterday, yet after grade 5), I listened to the 'Sunday Night Funnies' on some Toronto radio station. Yes it was after my bed time, but, eh, whatever.

So here I am, in my room, listening to George Carlin, Steve martin, Dr. Demento, and a whole bunch of funny people. But the funniest one (for me anyway) was always 'The Coz'. I don't know what it was, but he always made me laugh when I listened.

There was one in particular that, again, sits at the back of the mind for the most bit but asserting itself once in a blue moon--"she was taking philosophy at school and spent her time walking around and wondering, 'why is there air?' Every coach knows why there's air--air's there to fill up basketballs!!"

My personal opinion? Two possibilities--Ms. Sheppard didn't think at all about the world being round (which is kinda odd coming from someone who has influence on many people) and the other possibility is that she thought too much about it and can't come to a conclusion--"I don't know".

Sometimes you just have to stop trying to think so hard--Occam's razor always fits into these discussions--is the world flat? Not a chance. Whoopi asked her to 'think' about it--see, there's that word--think. Any superfluous thoughts backed up by overwhelming physical evidence about the physical shape of the world on which we live dictates what the answer has to be. Sure you can get into the "higher learnin'" stuff that disputes the 'round earth' theory but "The Coz Axiom" knocks that down--air is there to fill up basketballs and the world is round--for all intents and purposes--so I can fly half-way around it to get to Africa (should I go there some day).

From me to you, Ms. Sheppard--when someone asks you if the world is flat? The only answer is 'No.'

Pretty late to be writing.

It's a Thursday night/Friday morning. Sandy is staying at the 'Saug overnight 'cause of work related thingies.

I came home after work to do the garbage/recycling thing for the morning pickup, and puttered around the house until now.

I'll say this--all those euphemisms and metaphors about the house being empty when the 'other half' isn't around--pretty much describing what I'm feeling right now.

I know my memory isn't the greatest on record, but I do believe this is the first night since the night before we got married (where I was forced--FORCED I tells ya!!--to spend the night away from our home!!!) that we've not gone to bed together.

That's what... (dis plus dat... hmmm.. carry the two... divide by a gazillion....) 11 months and 3 weeks (tomorrow).

Almost 12 months (yes, our first year anniversary's just around the corner). And this is the first time I'm sleeping alone.

So I write this little blog (at 12:05 now), not to tell you that Im feeling all lonely and going on about how Sandy makes this place a home and how I'm missing my bride and somesuch, but that my life is wonderful with just the thought of having her in it.

So here I am now with a smile on m face 'cause somewhere out there is Sandy, and my thoughts and hopes and dreams are with her, and us, and our life together.

K, this is waaaay too sappy and I'm turning off the light now.

Sleep well.

So I'm working in the shop last night (building some wooden project for a friend--love having my own wood shop )...

Sandy nipped off to the store to get some stuff and when she came back, I asked her how everything was.

"Great! Except for this..."

At which point she proceeded to open the trunk.

I could see that the normal blue interior had changed to a nice bright white interior.

Fantastic!!

Somehow, the paint that was intended for the condo ceilings had decided that it wanted to cover our trunk instead.

Judging by how much had actually dried by the time we noticed it, the paint can had been leaking and emptying contents for a few days.

My guess is that during our travels, the paint can had fallen over and, combined with the normal warmness of trunks through the day, the lid popped off. Thus--paint all over.

So Sandy and I spent the better half of last night wiping up the trunk and washing off the contents thereof. Since most liquids find themselves moving to the lowest spots they can find, the spare tire got an upgrade to 'white walls'.

The trunk lining 'carpet' wasn't happy, either. Since some of the paint had dried--yeah, that carpet's not coming clean again.

Eh, it's a trunk.

We cleaned up most of it. Thank goodness it was latex 'cause soap 'n water did soooo much good.

So a note to all of you--if you're driving around with some sort of liquid carrying canisters in your vehicle--there's pretty good odds that badness will ensue if you're not too careful.

Just so you know.

It's been on the back-burner for a couple of weeks and Sandy and I aren't looking into the matter at this time.

However, I was just doing some routine maintenance on our little website and I noticed that there were a few searches made through these blog entries looking for 'mister transmission'-related posts.

I have no idea who made those searches or why the searches were made. The fact is that some people were looking for blog entries relating to the faulty workmanship by Mister Transmission on our car and the repurcussions thereof.

Right now, the only point that I'm going to make to the people that run Mister Transmission shops--because you didn't step up when you were politely asked to, potential negative consequences ensued.

Our friends, after they've heard about our various dealings with Mister Transmission, have stated openly that they would never take their cars for service at a Mister Transmission shop.

Further--in this day and age--anyone needing transmission work has the ability to search the internet for service. And should they stumble across this little site (and according to our log files, they have), they may be disuaded in taking their car to your shops.

Just go to google and type 'mister transmission faulty' in the search field. What's the very first link in the list (at least today)? (and don't even get me started on the class action lawsuit against that particular company)

If it's this easy for us to point out the truth of how Mister Transmission failed us on many levels and get it out there to many potential customers, how easy would it have been for the owner to, well, be a professional businessman and stop this from happening when we gave him ample opportunity to do so?

I wont emphatically state that Mister Transmission has lost business due to our experiences with them. I will say that the evidence is showing that there's a potential loss of business that could have been easily avoided.

I'm just saying.

So I finished watching most of season 1--missed a few bits 'n pieces here and there (that's what you get for watching on-line...)

And I liked it.

I won't post any spoilers here for those that are still making their way thru it.

However, I will state that I was a little sdissapointed by the ending. That's all I'll say (for now)

But I "gets ta thinkin'"--out of all the various 'not normal' powers these different heros have, which one would I most want?

Let's look thru the list (and I may leave out a few 'cause I can't remember--not like the girl in the restaurant)

The Cheerleader--can't stay dead, heals quickly
Flying Politician Guy--well, he flys
Traverse Thru Walls Guy--He can get beyond any obstruction
Two People Mom--she's herself AND her sister
Electronics Kid--can manipulate any electronic device
Inviso Guy--no one can see him when he doesn't want to be seen
Paint The Future Guy--and it works now when he's not on heroin!
Cop Who Hears Thoughts--reading people's minds
Absorb Other Powers Guy--Anytime he's around other powers, is able to use 'em
Time Stop/Move Thru Time and Space Guy--wherever and whenever you want to go, he'll be there.

And then the 'one episode' ones--

Hear For Miles Girl--can hear something far away
Remebers Everything Girl--instantaneously recalls everything ever heard or seen
Heals Living Things Guy--He touches--you are healed!
Melting Metal Guy--liquifying what he wants

There are others, I just can't remember (so I should go with the 'remembers everything' power)

So right off the bat, we should eliminate the 'absorbs other powers' 'cause if there are no other powers, what good is it?

I don't know about you, but when I was younger, I used to have periodic dreams in which I could fly. So the flying power has a little pull.

But not really interested in that one--where would it get me?

Seeing the future? Might be good to get lottery numbers in advance, but knowing future catastophes and being one person to try and stop 'em? Just the thought overwhelms me.

Move thru walls and such? Like the flying--can't see in my daily dealings where that'd be a great asset. Fun for a bit, but in the end, not interested.

Now turning invisible--there's an interesting one. Though not really doing it for me when it comes down to it (unless you're a pervert 'peeping tom' type)

I really considered the manipulating electronic devices one, but I fix 'puters for a living and I don't want my 'heros' ability to be what I do anyway.

And having some sort of split persona thing really doesn't attract me at all.

And I have enough problems sorting out my thoughts without throwing everyone elses into the mix.

No, I'd say out of all the possible 'supernatural' abilities witnessed in the first seaon, the one I'd want most of all would be the ability to heal others.

When he healed the wife in the wheelchair so she could walk again, I got a little misty. Helping people--one person at a time--really appeals to me. And the ability to take away someones physical pain--I'll never be a doctor but that is wowness at its best!

Yes we need our pain--pain shapes us and moves us to strive for somethign different. Without pain and discomfort, we'd stay the way we are.

However, through my life I've witnessed people in extra-ordinary pain. It's boggling how some can endure such and still go on with their lives on a daily basis. To be able to take that pain away...

Yeah, I'd say out of all those attributes diplayed in season 1 of Heros, I'd appreciate the healing touch.

(and that guy was killed! Ooops, was that a spoiler?)

A few items of note have brought to my attention the concept of 'internet anonymity'.

See, the internet is a wonderful 'field evener'--it doesn't matter if you're Bill Gates or Joe Schmo posting something on-line--people can only go on what you've written and not who you are.

So if you write something thoughtless or wrong--again, not mattering who you are--people can--and will--rip what you wrote to shreds.

Terms such as 'flame wars' arose because people took offence to something someone had written in a post on an on-line newsgroup or internet forum.

There are some people 'out there' on the internets that like writing blogs (really? could this be true??). Some of these bloggers write about situations and ideas that may purposely anger others. Politics would be a good blogging topic that may involk the ire of those that read that particular blog.

For me, one blog that I faithfully read (very not-safe-for-kids) is 'Canadian Cynic'. CC (as he likes to abbreviate his handle to) posts about 'average joe' political issues as seen in other blogs--particularly focusing on the hypocricy of many 'right-wing' bloggers.

Yes he's harsh.

Yes he uses bad language.

Yes he's sometimes his own worst enemy.

But he speaks it as he sees it, and he backs it up with links and criticisms.

And people, shockingly, have taken offence to some of the things that he has written.

Some people are so incensed at CC that lately they have tried to 'out' CC.

See, CC is an 'anonymous blog writer'--we really don't have a clue what his real name is or what he does for a living. Because some people don't like to what CC writes, they want to publish his real name and address.

No real reason has been stated beyond the weak 'You should stand behind what you write! Put your name on it!!'

Me thinks that ulterior motives are afoot in the form of 'vigilante justice'. If someone doesn't like what you wrote, they can come to your house and cause harm. Implied physical threats for trying to find out the idenity of CC? I think that's more like the real reason.

For myself, I've always been of the opinion that it doesn't matter *who* wrote something--it matters what they wrote and whether what was written is true or not--whether it's just or not.

I don't care if Thomas Jefferson or 6 year old Shirley wrote something profound--it's what was written and how it affects me and those around me.

So I hope that people stop trying to find out who CC really is--it really is irrelevant, and actually may have a negative impact on the safety of his self and/or his family. People, rather, should focus on the issues and problems that CC writes about. If you disagree with what was written, then make your salient points. Debate the problem--don't yip about the person writing about it.

On a slightly different note, I've had a personal web page since '93. Being on the internet for this long, and knowing that the internet 'remembers' almost everything that has ever been on the internet, it's not much of a surprise, to me anyway, that anyone can figure out who I am.

For starters, one just has to do a 'whois' on this very web site name--

Whois on sandysparky.net

('whois' tells you who owns a web site name)

And we see when we type 'sandysparky.net' into whois, we get--

Yeah, we really don't live at 'Love Lane', but I'm not naive enough to publish our real address on the internet.

However, if you peruse through all these blog entries, you;d probably get a pretty fair idea where we live.

As well, there's always 411 and a whole bunch of other services at your disposal, so if you want to get into 'crazy stalker mode', have at it.

However... why???

What would make your life so abjectly off-the-wall looney that coming over to our abode would seem like a good idea to you? I mean seriously, give your head a shake.

What could I do or say that would justify any type of 'real life' confrontation? I can't think of anything 'cause you know what?? If you don't like what is written here--DON'T READ IT!

If you don't like what CC and other bloggers write in their blogs--DON'T READ IT!!

It doesn't matter what other people think, say, or do on their own blogs or in their own homes. It should only matter to you what you do, think, or say. It's a lesson I personally learned in kindergarten. By what I've been witnessing lately, many people 'out there' in the internet were asleep during that particular lesson.

I have a 'pre-internet' event that solidifies this for me.

I was pretty good friends with a kid named Jake back in school. Jake and I had a common appreciation for LEGO bricks, so we'd be hanging out at each other's places building with bricks.

Not gonna name-drop, but Jake's dad is a pretty famous Canadian musician (and a fantastic guy just to hang out with).

One early Saturday morning--it was like 8 or 9 a.m., I'm over at Jake's place and a car pulls into the driveway--Jake's dad answers the banging on the door a few minutes later. 10 minutes goes by and the car leaves and Jake's dad comes into the room--'Yeah, that's the downside to this business--that guy who just left? Drunk as a skunk and wanted to talk music with me'. We went on to talk about the various issues with fame, small-town gossip and such.

Jake's dad is one of the classiest guys I'd ever met, and is more than willing to give his time and energy to people for no thought of recompense--he funded our little 'LEGO Wars' movie that Jake and I made, and was at the school to help out when he could.

However, having some drunk guy banging on the door on a Saturday morning--not quite necessary.

I'll never for get that.

And I hope that--should you be so inclined to go on some 'stalking vendetta' 'cause you think that the stalkee would appreciate it--you'll think again and remember this little story.

I don't want to go to CC's web page one day and read a post that begins 'I was visited last night by people who didn't like what I blogged about'. If CC wanted his name to be known, he'd post it. He hasn't. That should be good enough for you to leave it alone.

I also hope that your life is full enough with happiness and caring people that you won't feel the need to figure out where we live. Again, people don't appreciate that kind of attention as much as you may think.

Some Star Trek fans are making new episodes of the original '5 year mission'--Star Trek New Voyages.

I've been watching and have liked them thus far. It's apparent that these new episodes are created by fans of Star Trek--much 'heart and soul' has gone into each show.

And since these guys aren't allowed to charge for their shows, we get to watch 'em for free (though donations are glady accepted)

Anyway, I watched the most recent one--"World Enough and Time--and I shed a few tears at the end.

I don't really know why.

I can probably peg it to the theme of naming a baby after someone who has passed recently--The West Wing did that spectacularly when Toby named his newly birthed daughter 'Molly' after a young secret service officer named Molly was shot whilst protecting the president's daughter. That one got me, too.

I also think that seeing George Takei on a Star Trek episode (even a fan-based one) one more time made me a wee bit happy. He looked very comfortable playing Mr. Sulu again and didn't hold anything back.

The story was a little contrived to get the actors to where they had to be, but that complaint was very minimal in the scope of this wonderfully produced episode. The CGI shown in some sceens puts some television shows to shame. And getting a nice look at the shuttlecraft bay--spectacular. Having Grace Lee Whitney in there as well was a very sweet touch--nicely done!

I don't know if there's a future here, but what I've seen so far gives me hope that the voyages of the starship Enterprise are far from over.

From Bill Maher's New Rules--August 24

It's a little blurry, but me thinks that's a loose bolt...

Not going to belabour the issue, but I wanted to get the pics up here for historical purposes.

Back here, we went into some detail regarding work we had done at the Mister Transmission shop in our area.

We discovered after a week of driving that a few bolts were left undone. I took some pics, so here they are--

(click for bigger pics)

As I stated before, I'm no automechanic, but to me that looks like a pretty loose bolt.

And when I tightened it and took the car for a spin, there was still some rattling, so we took the car to my mechanic to go over. He found yet another bolt--just as loose as this one. With the wiring issues that we had right off the bat, was there any justification at all for the owner of the shop to yell my ear off because we asked for some sort of settlement?

Somehow I don't think so.

Now this is where my non-mechanic lack of expertise comes into play--

See that rubber accordian-like thingy behind the bolt? I believe that's what's known as a CV boot. The CV boot, again not being car-mechanically knowledgable, protects the CV joint (universal joint) that connects the front tire to the transmission for a front-wheel drive. I remember this because I owned one 1986 Honda Prelude that needed the CV boot replaced (it had broken open, allowing grit to get into the CV joint) and the bill for that little piece of rubber was 300 bones.

And in that last pic--see that piece of metal just below the bolt? Again, not a certified mechanic or anything--but I think that's the bottom stut that holds the front tire to the car. I believe this to be true because with my own eyes I saw the front tire assembly at one end of hte strut and at the other end, well, the rest of the car.

Had I been more 'car fixing capable', I would have noted that the loose bolt in the pic really didn't hold the bottom strut in place--the bolt 'passed thru' the strut mount and was just there to hold the engine in place (as the folks at Mister Transmission explained).

So we didn't have to worry about the tire coming off the car.

Let's not talk about the fact that 2 bolts that hold the engine in place weren't tightened down.

And what's more apparent (and important right now)--"Hey everyone! Can you see what's wrong in these pictures?"

If you wanted the loose bolt to be painted red with big flashy arrows pointing to it so you would notice that it was loose, well, you shouldn't be fixing cars for a living.

I don't.

But the mechanics at Mister Transmission do. This loose bolt wasn't in some obscure hard-to-reach area of the engine compartment--the second I took the tire off I saw it right there. Easily seen from both the side (when the tire is off) and from the bottom (should the car find itself up on a hoist or something...)

And yet it wasn't noticed.

So forgive us non-car-mechanic type people if we have a slight problem of trusting those that are suppose to do this type of thing for a living after they let something as easily seen and easily remedied, such as this, go unchecked.

I used my socket set to tighten this bolt. I think the mechanics at Mister Transmission might have a few socket sets around somewhere, and if they didn't, they could have borrowed mine.

Putting in the door

What, with the extra-ordinary effort it takes to open and close the old one, along with the energy loss thru the very loose fittings, we've been meaning to put a new sliding door in for about as long as we've owned our house.

Old door

With that in mind, we nipped over to the Despot and purchased a door.

Then we set about ripping the old door out.

Big gaping hole in the side of our house!!

For recycling

Anyon want an old sliding door?

As per standard operating procedure where I'm involved, there were injuries

What's wrong with sandals? What could possibly happen???

Papa and Rick showed up to help--completely appreciated!

Squaring the door

Much discussion

We still have to do the finishing touches, but the door's secured in place.

Note to those of you who try this yourselves--even if the expanding foam container states 'low expansion'--don't believe it!! We have some cleaning of our bricks to do now...

Anyway, the door looks great and works very smooth! Minimal effort to open and close.

In place

So there you are.