I don't have photoshop, so you'll have to use your imagination. the rims on the jetta-
on my car tomorrow! Or soon....whichever one comes first!

Night Drives

Somewhere between 1&2 am.
Night time. The best time to drive.
The Air flows cool and crisp through your open window.
All lights seem green, the road is yours.

Nightdriving.
It's soothing, it's effortless.
It's for the joy of driving.
No rush.
No need to be anywhere at a certain time.

Just feeling the road, the car, and nature itself.

Give yourself time.
Indulge.
Let every moment linger.

The music floats along,
Mirroring the rhythm of the engine.
Never thumping, never overpowering.
Just softly underlining every passing tree, house, and hedge.
And transforming your simple journey into a beautiful memory.

Slowly tiredness sets in.
You turn,
Arriving before the sun,
Leaving your Volkswagen
Until another night,
A night perfect for driving.

-from the Night Drives website, but I edited a few things to make it flow a little better and to echo my feelings a bit better...

Yippee Ki-Yay!

Just finished doing a bit of maintenance on the GTI - for the past few months I had been unable to see what the temperature of my car was. I didn't really worry about this during the winter or spring, as neither were particularly warm. But now we're entering summer, time of overheating cars. As I don't want to replace my engine immediately, I kind of wanted to know how hot and bothered my engine is getting! So I delved into my engine bay with a vague idea of where my CTS was... a couple of misses later, I scored a direct hit! And discovered the problem in the process. You see, the CTS is a single nail head sender, meaning it has a clip that sends the info to my temp guage. But due to my car being over 20 years old, the wire connected to that clip had slowly degraded until it finally gave up the ghost and broke right at the clip! So I went down to my good friends at Napa and picked up some new single head female couplers, stripped down some of the old wire and clipped it back up! Took the Beast for a little spin and lo, and behold my guage works! Rock and Roll! Now to find my allen wrenches so I can take out my Idle Stabiliser Valve (ISV) and give it a good clean with the quick-evaporating electrical cleaner I picked up last night. Hopefully that will remedy the erratic idle I've had in stop and go traffic since it was in the shop last time!

Stealership!

So on Thursday I went to the VW dealership here to pick up an oil filter for my impending oil change this weekend - no biggie. While I was there, I thought I may as well pick up the Coolant Temp Sender (heretoforth referred to as the CTS) that I also need to know how hot my car is running! So I ask for that as well. He hands it to me - $67! Okay, whatever. I leave and get to thinking that I thought they were like 10 bucks elsewhere... So today I went online to see if I could find a better price. And I did. I found the CTS for $3.95 Canadian! I could buy five of them and still come out on top! This goes to show that you can't trust your friendly neighbourhood dealership because some things are dirt cheap, while others are just bending you over the block! That is an insane profit margin!

A better day!

Well today I got up bright and early on my day off to go meet a guy and pick up more centre caps for my summer rims - I was missing one or two and you can never have too many just in case! Now to decide whether or not to paint them?!!!!

What a day!

So today I had a great day at work. It was busy, I took a late lunch seguing into a late final coffee, and I was feeling great as I walked out of THD. Went to Canadian Tire (right beside my job), picked up some Semi-Synth oil so I could do an oil change, but could'nt find the Mothers Back to Black trim rejuvenator for my arches - great. Buy the oil, leave. Go to the VW dealership to pick up and OEM oil filter because I don't want to use the Shi-ite FRAM filter I have sitting aside (I did'nt buy it, the previous owner gave it to me. Only Bosch, Mann or Mahle filters will touch this car from now on). But no, the parts desk has gone home for the day and won't be open until Monday. I work on Monday - great! So my plans have all gone to the dogs. I go to the Cambodian Tire by the dealership to pick up the Back to Black. They have it, but they also have something else - mile frickin' long lineups! Three tills open to serve like a hundred people - I'm not exaggerating! So I had to wait like twenty minutes to buy 10 bucks worth of stuff. I leave and drive home. Enter the house and proceed to go feed the cat. Only to dicover Mika has decided to protest Aubrey and Colin's departure to Vancouver by taking like three dumps and a number one in front of his litter box. For those of you in shock, his litter box was clean and this is a regular protest that the little dickhead takes pleasure in!

So yeah, a good effing day! Frick Frick Frick Frick Frick Frick Frick!!!!!!!

Epiphany

So last night when I was lying in bed listening to a delectable Sufjan Stevens mix, trying desperately to shut my brain off, I came to a realization. I think I may have been slightly out of it, but my epiphany was this: I realized how much time I had spent in the past few years reviling my time at Bethany, when the truth is that while my time at Bethany may not have exactly brought out the best in me or caused me to mature, it was indeed some of the best times of my life! I've been telling people, "Don't go to Bible School, it's a huge waste of money." While it isn't cheap, I think that the things I did gain from my two years at Bethany were definitely worthwhile: solid, lasting friendships, a love for napping (granted, I was already a solid napper when I arrived at BBI), and just a ton of solid memories. Memories like Chorale tour freshman year, making grilled cheese with my boy Kent, and planning devious pranks on Timmy D, not to mention the frequent late night walks and climbing on the roof of Hepburn School with Darren, Carly, Michelle and everyone...And who can forget the yearly beer after the swim party ritual! Good times...

So enough waxing philosophical. For now, I have to go BBQ some chicken!