Saturday, September 18, 2004
Selling Damon's 3000GT
We urged him to get it ready. We took it to a car detailer that did a poor job. We paid for an ad on the Internet. Finally, Damon got a call and a man wanted the car. He negotiated us down from 8400 to 8000. Through further negotiations, he got the price reduced to 7800 because Damon has lost the back seat, which he stored at Ben's. The upper seats were left with me so we had them to reinstall.
Damon had to be pushed to remove the stereo equipment. The man didn't want all that and he thought he could sell it on ebay later. He finally removed it all but the OEM radio/cassette/cd could not be operated because we didn't have the code. Damon had a wedding to go to and tried a few times to get the code from the dealer but failed. He left.
The man told us he was picking up the car on the Saturday morning. It was going to rain because hurricane Ivan was coming up the Appalatians so we cleaned and preped the car the night before. We hoped we could contact the dealer in the morning.
Well...I called several times to get the service department in the morning and when I finally got through they told me I had to take the stereo out and read off the serial number and the model number to get the code. I was getting pretty upset because by the time I reached a live person it was an hour from the time the man was to pick up the car. I tried to call Damon but he was sleeping in Harrisburg before the wedding of his friend Josh was about to begin.
In desperation I tried a few things and fortunately the cover around the stereo pried off. I took out the stereo, wrote down the numbers and eagerly called the dealer back. Of course, it took several attempts to reach the service department again, but when I finally did they rewarded me with a security code number.
I thought we were ready but I was mistaken. I tried to turn over the car to juice up the battery before going through the procedure and found it didn't have enough juice to start the car. Damon had parked it in the driveway so I could not jump the battery, so I put a trickle charge on the battery in hopes that it would be enought to get it started. It didn't. We decided to get a new battery. I lugged it back in time to find the man and his wife waiting for the car with Donna. I frantically tried to install the battery and they took the time to go to the DMV to register the car. When I was successful in putting the battery in I started the car thinking that we were finished with this sale. But I was again mistaken.
The radio read "off" instead of "code e" as it was supposed to. Calling the dealer I found that I had to keep the car in the "on" position for an hour before the radio would reset itself. We did that and waited. I was growing more tense as the moments went by. Donna talked about my retirement and the amounts of taxes we had to take out of the check to relax me, but it didn't help much. She asked if she could do anything, but she could not. I had to bear this myself. Would I ever get rid of this car?
When the couple came back with proof of ownership of the car I had to either tell them how to set the radio or do it before they left. I took off the trickle charge I put on the new battery and tried the radio. Suddenly, the "code e" appeared and I carefully put in the code to allow the radio to operate. It worked the first time! I gladly turned over the car to the man and happily saw him start the motor and back out of our lives forever. I did not regret seein that car disappear from Bonnell Street!
Damon will never know how much work it took to get him that car, keep the car, pay for the repairs and finally sell the thing. He is now driving my Toyota commuter car all around; the car he should have had in the first place. He will not have a car like that again until he is middle aged. I hope he enjoyed it. He never got a ticket in it although every cop in the county knew him. I liked driving that car when I had to take it for an oil change, but it is too much horse power for me. Goodbye 3000 GT.
Damon had to be pushed to remove the stereo equipment. The man didn't want all that and he thought he could sell it on ebay later. He finally removed it all but the OEM radio/cassette/cd could not be operated because we didn't have the code. Damon had a wedding to go to and tried a few times to get the code from the dealer but failed. He left.
The man told us he was picking up the car on the Saturday morning. It was going to rain because hurricane Ivan was coming up the Appalatians so we cleaned and preped the car the night before. We hoped we could contact the dealer in the morning.
Well...I called several times to get the service department in the morning and when I finally got through they told me I had to take the stereo out and read off the serial number and the model number to get the code. I was getting pretty upset because by the time I reached a live person it was an hour from the time the man was to pick up the car. I tried to call Damon but he was sleeping in Harrisburg before the wedding of his friend Josh was about to begin.
In desperation I tried a few things and fortunately the cover around the stereo pried off. I took out the stereo, wrote down the numbers and eagerly called the dealer back. Of course, it took several attempts to reach the service department again, but when I finally did they rewarded me with a security code number.
I thought we were ready but I was mistaken. I tried to turn over the car to juice up the battery before going through the procedure and found it didn't have enough juice to start the car. Damon had parked it in the driveway so I could not jump the battery, so I put a trickle charge on the battery in hopes that it would be enought to get it started. It didn't. We decided to get a new battery. I lugged it back in time to find the man and his wife waiting for the car with Donna. I frantically tried to install the battery and they took the time to go to the DMV to register the car. When I was successful in putting the battery in I started the car thinking that we were finished with this sale. But I was again mistaken.
The radio read "off" instead of "code e" as it was supposed to. Calling the dealer I found that I had to keep the car in the "on" position for an hour before the radio would reset itself. We did that and waited. I was growing more tense as the moments went by. Donna talked about my retirement and the amounts of taxes we had to take out of the check to relax me, but it didn't help much. She asked if she could do anything, but she could not. I had to bear this myself. Would I ever get rid of this car?
When the couple came back with proof of ownership of the car I had to either tell them how to set the radio or do it before they left. I took off the trickle charge I put on the new battery and tried the radio. Suddenly, the "code e" appeared and I carefully put in the code to allow the radio to operate. It worked the first time! I gladly turned over the car to the man and happily saw him start the motor and back out of our lives forever. I did not regret seein that car disappear from Bonnell Street!
Damon will never know how much work it took to get him that car, keep the car, pay for the repairs and finally sell the thing. He is now driving my Toyota commuter car all around; the car he should have had in the first place. He will not have a car like that again until he is middle aged. I hope he enjoyed it. He never got a ticket in it although every cop in the county knew him. I liked driving that car when I had to take it for an oil change, but it is too much horse power for me. Goodbye 3000 GT.
Thursday, September 16, 2004
The Nuclear Stress Test
I was being paid by the day as an interim principal of the Branchburg Middle School when I had to take a physical for the job. My doctor told me that he detected a heart palpatation and was concerned, so he ordered a nuclear stress test. I didn't want to lose money, so I scheduled the test on Rosh Sha-Na-Na because I wasn't being paid for that day anyway.
I went in prepared for a real workout, sneakers, shorts, and snap pants. Before getting on the treadmill I had to get injected with some nuclear liquid. After that got circulated in my veins, I was put into a contraption like an MRI. The devices came very close to my chest and I had to be perfectly still. The problem was that I needed to relax, so I started breathing deeply. That was a mistake because I distorted the images. That meant I had to go through it again!
Finally, I got strapped up for the stress test. A technician plugged me in and took my BP. Then a nurse practitioner monitered the vitals. A third blond girl sat at another machine, which I couldn't know what it did and with gloved hands worked some controls. the treadmill wasn't too bad; in fact I appreciated it when it got faster. When is started breathing heavy, they stopped it.
Later, the NP explained that I had a visible heart palpatation when I began the exercise, but when things got hot and heavy, it disappeared. This was a good sign because if it got worse, that might mean that I might have clogged arteries.
I felt better about the test. I left feeling like having a few classes of red Australian wine.
I went in prepared for a real workout, sneakers, shorts, and snap pants. Before getting on the treadmill I had to get injected with some nuclear liquid. After that got circulated in my veins, I was put into a contraption like an MRI. The devices came very close to my chest and I had to be perfectly still. The problem was that I needed to relax, so I started breathing deeply. That was a mistake because I distorted the images. That meant I had to go through it again!
Finally, I got strapped up for the stress test. A technician plugged me in and took my BP. Then a nurse practitioner monitered the vitals. A third blond girl sat at another machine, which I couldn't know what it did and with gloved hands worked some controls. the treadmill wasn't too bad; in fact I appreciated it when it got faster. When is started breathing heavy, they stopped it.
Later, the NP explained that I had a visible heart palpatation when I began the exercise, but when things got hot and heavy, it disappeared. This was a good sign because if it got worse, that might mean that I might have clogged arteries.
I felt better about the test. I left feeling like having a few classes of red Australian wine.
Monday, September 13, 2004
First Day at the temp job
It didn't take long to get there, even with the traffic jam. That was unusual. I had been spending my life on the road in my last full time job. The building was clean looking and modern. I knew this was a "meet and greet" day so I took out to the halls and introduced myself. The staff was friendly and introduced themselves.
I had a hard time pronouncing "Interim Principal" for a few encounters, but soon got it rolling off my toungue. The principal's office had a squeaky air vent and a very high table. I asked questions and looked around. We took frequent tours and I watched a meeting about a "504" dispute.
Walking down the hallways, I realized that the school is big and clean. It has lots of rooms for computers, conferencing, etc. The band room had more stands in it than my high school in Texas. There were two cafeterias and a faculty cafeteria. I walked the halls and introduced myself to staff members all day. Len walked me around some as well, but he was just as happy to see me disappear for awhile.
By 4:00 I had had enoungh and couldn't wait to go home.
Sunday, September 12, 2004
New Job Eve
Tomorrow I begin my new job. I do not fear it, but I have trepidations; afterall, I am only human. I talked to God tonight. I told Him that I was worthless and the He had to make the changes in my life. I believe that God wants me to help others, to make positive changes in people's lives. I believe I did so in my past jobs and was punished accordingly. Donna thinks me a failure, but only God can know your heart. I want to open people's hearts to God, if I can. I am not an evangilist; I do not get on a soap box on the street corner, but I do show people the love of God. What else can I do? Life is short. God is love. Why should we look further for peace?
We shall see what I can accomplish at Branchburg before they throw me out.
We shall see what I can accomplish at Branchburg before they throw me out.
