The Random Ramblings of Spanishearl

Happy Canada Day! 141 Years!!

2008-07-01T11:06:00.003-06:00

Today is Canada Day!

A time to reflect back on where we came from and honor this great country of ours.

OR

Be a pervert and watch this lovely young woman celebrate Canada Day for us...

Happy Canada Day

God's gift to us truly is Canadian Girls!

Subliminal Messages?

2008-06-27T13:39:00.004-06:00

I've always been interested in what some companies do to sell products. Whether it be on purpose or not.

Take Yahoo! for example... Has anyone ever noticed that the search bar looks remarkably like a cigarette? Here... See for yourself:

Now to be fair, this looks like it could be from anywhere... So here you go...

I find this type of thing odd... What's next, Pregnant women drinking beer?

Auto Mechanics - Why such a difference of opinion?

2008-06-09T14:31:00.003-06:00

In preparation for our road trip coming up, I decided that I had better get a safety inspection done on the car. I don't want anything falling off while in the mountains... Previously, Babe's father had the car inspected and was told that the brakes and the rack&pinion needed to be replaced, and the muffler had a leak.

Cost to replace the rack&pinion?
$700.

Brakes we can do ourselves, and that is precisely what I set out to do the other day, I started with getting everything I needed. Babe's sister's boyfriend provided us with the brakes they were going to use on their car which is the same make and model. I pull off the wheel, and inspect the brake pads. They had squealed a bit for a while, but I hadn't really heard them in a while, so I figured that I had gotten used to them. I looked at the pads, and they are still thick, the disc isn't scored, and I can still see my reflection as the articles online say I should. It's not a mirror mind you, but it's not supposed to be. Without removing the pads from their location I compared the pads on the car with the new pads, about 2/8th difference... Why are they squealing? I checked for any other damage anywhere, nothing. I rotated the disc's to see if something was amiss... nothing... All the pads were thick and in good condition it looked like...

Well, I wanted to get a second opinion on the inspection anyways, make sure nothing was missed. I took the car into a mechanic not far from home, and told them I needed an inspection (Their 59 point inspection, which included oil and filter change) because I was heading out of the province and didn't want anything surprising me. They took the car in, lifted it up, did the inspection, oil change, and billed me. Total cost: $62

What did they find?

A rack&pinion in need of repair? No.
Brakes need to be changed? No.
Muffler Leak? Yes, a small one that I can fix myself.

Other than that, a couple small things like the plug wires I had were the original, and I should get new ones next tune up, which they also said would fix a lot of troubles I noticed while driving. It was odd... I wonder if it was Babe's father who took it in, or her mother, or one of her sisters...

Why would an inspection change so drastically from one mechanic to another? It's ridiculous.

A tip? Always get TWO inspections. Yes it costs a bit more to go to two separate garages on different ends of town that are not owned/operated by the same people, but it just might save you on unnecessary repairs, like a $700 bill for just a rack&pinion that is actually fine. Maybe it'll need to be replaced in a year or two, but not currently.

Also make sure that you get down in writing what will be done, this way if you end up at one of "those" garages, you won't pay through the nose for things that they "fix" when you didn't ask. An ex of mine once went to a garage for an inspection, dropped it off, and came back a couple hours later, they told her that they had to replace her alternator, couldn't release the car without doing it, and since she needed the car that same day, decided to just do it.

Cost her more than she could afford, and they held the car till she could pay. Me, I would have called the cops and the news.

Blood Donation

2008-05-30T16:01:00.001-06:00

I gave blood for the first time today; it was a good feeling to do a little something for others. It actually put me in a better mood knowing that my blood might save a life. My blood might allow a husband to kiss his wife good morning, or a mother to hug her child. It wasn’t anything to spectacular; I registered in their system, answered a few questions, and then lay back while they prepared me. You don’t even really feel it, just don’t look if it makes you queasy.

My advise? Drink lots of water before hand, get yourself nice and hydrated, it’ll make the process happen faster. This one person next to me was there for 20 minutes, drank coffee that day. I drank water, I was there 5 minutes 20 seconds. Now, you may vary, depending on who knows what…

Anyone have any experiences they want to share with blood donation? This was my first time ever, and I’d love to hear your experiences.

If you want to learn more about blood donation or become a donor:

In Canada: http://www.bloodservices.ca/

In U.S.A: http://www.redcross.org/donate/give/

Calgary > Powell River > Comox Road Trip

2008-05-26T19:13:00.001-06:00

Well now....

I'm going to be taking a much needed vacation soon, something that I desperately need. I'll be heading out with my girlfriend, who shall be named "GF" in order to keep some sort of anonymity online.

This will be the second road trip that GF and I have taken, last one being a trip to visit my best friend in Regina, Saskatchewan. This time, we're taking our own car rather than a rental, and that means maintenance time. Gotta be sure that clunker is up to par, and not going to leave us stranded in the mountains. I'm hoping that I'll be able to blog a bit as I go from day to day, but that's only if we're anywhere near a computer with an internet connection. Part of our plan is to camp for a few days prior to the visits that are the purpose of the trip. You see, this will be the first time that GF meets my parents. Yes, we've been dating two years and I have come to think of GF's family as a second family, but she has yet to meet mine. Primarily because of where they are located, and partially because I'm still getting adjusted to actually having good relations, and contact with my family.

I'm planning out the idea of taking the scenic route to Powell River, this way we both get to see scenery that neither of us have seen before, and then perhaps spend a few days camping along the Powell Forest Canoe Route. I've only just heard about it, but it sounds like my version of heaven.

More to come on that later as we travel! Going to be a while yet, and the blog may not complete the trip until we get back home as the areas we're off to, we won't quite have a readily available internet connection!