Bloody car... (and WORK too for that matter)

I have been wanting to upgrade my car for a little while now, actually, since January this year to be precise! But, with work deleting my position (and YES, it has been going on THAT long) I have been in somewhat of a limbo land, so I have put it off. Back in January, I was looking at a Toyota Prado and a Mitsubishi Pajero, both are about the size I am looking at. Simply put, Bronty has out grown my car, a Suzuki Vitara!

now, I have still been looking as the months have rolled on, and now that the redundancy is looming closer, I am now a little more anxious as to what is going to happen. Additionally, come September, I will no longer have to pay a bill that I have been paying for the past few years, so that is also good, but without a job, there is an added pressure. I am still thinking a Prado or a Pajero is the ideal car for me...

Well, the other day, whilst driving along on a VERY BUSY peak hour M4, the inevitable happened; I broke down again, it was the clutch. You may remember from THIS POST a few weeks back that the clutch went, but in fact, it was just the Slave and Master Cylinders that needed replacing. The mechanic also mentioned to me that the 'Pressure Plate' is looking as though it is also on the way, but considering that I am looking at getting rid of the old girl, they made adjustments to it, and we were on our way again. Brakes were also done at the same time!

Anyway, I am driving in the fast lane, very inside lane, and as the traffic was crawling along, it wanted to keep going even though my foot was ON the clutch pedal. I simply put it into neutral, and rolled to a stop. BUT, I was in the inside fast lane, and I had to cross over a lane to get into the breakdown area. I let the traffic move a little bit, put it into first gear, and started the car and put the hazard lights on, turned them off with my left blinker ON, and managed to get across pretty easy actually! I then called the NRMA (roadside service). initially, it was a discussion, but when I said what the problem was, rather than send a serviceman out and THEN a towie, they just sent a tow-truck to pick me up and take me to my mechanic (which is within the 20klm area I get free towing).

in the end, it was a linkage problem between the clutch pivot point, and the slave cylinder, and it was a cheap repair at $190, but needless to say, the search begins, in earnest, for a new car!!

Hoo roo for now...

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Clutch Problems...

Over the weekend, I started to develope a problem in the car; the clutch was begining to give out... The amount of 'resistance' or pressure in the pedal was getting less and less to the point where on Sunday morning when I went over to the shops, I was sitting at the traffic lights (First Gear - clutch IN) and the car was wanting to move forward on its own!! So it was becoming urgent!

So my days plans changed, and instead of going to a 4yo birthday party (and getting stuck either on the way there or home afterwards), I stayed at home.

Monday morning, I dropped the car at the mechanic's (2nd gear all the way and only about a 2-3 min drive), dropped the key in the mailbox, and headed into work. Around 7.30, I called Leo, and asked him if he was "surprised to see my car waiting for him"? We chatted about what it was doing, and I resigned myself to upwards of a $2,000 mechanics bill!

Late in the afternoon, around 2pm, I got "THE CALL", and to my relief, it wasn't the clutch at all, but the 'Slave Cylinder' that assist's the clutch's operation; the seals had gone and had been losing fluid into the cabin; between the firewall and the carpet!

So, even though it had a service at the same time, replacement of the slave cylinder and fluids etc, I got the car back about 5pm last night, and I am only $786 the poorer!!

Hoo roo for now...

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Thematic Photographic - Retro

Last week, when heading down to Woolloomooloo for lunch, I spotted this old car, of which I think is a 'Type 34, Karman Ghia'. The Naval Officer seemed pretty 'chuffed' that I was taking a snap with my iPhone whilst waiting to cross the road!

This is, of course, a return to Thematic Photographic, and this week, has a 'Retro' theme, and I think this car fits the bill nicely. Certainly a distinct departure from the modern cars of today!

Hoo roo for now... ------

Photo a Day Challenge - Day 34 Hands

I had an idea today as to what to do for 'hands', my hands, not that photogenic, I thought of having a 'hand' using a deck of cards, couldn't find a deck of cards, so I had to think for a bit... I was lost, so I rummaged through my flickr account for something. You know what, there wasn't much to pick from!

Now, Geoff Field (2dayFM news reader) is a friend of mine, and in March 2009, he did a promotion for a charity event, and Jeff Fenech (3 x World Champion, Australian Boxer) was there as well. I can't for the life of me remember now, but there was a few people there!! I also love it how Geoff (news reader) is wearing a pair of very fancy sunnies!!! Luckily for both Geoff's, he has padded boxing gloves to protect his 'hands'!!

The 2 G(J)eoffs

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In other news, today is KW's b'day, so I wish him a very happy birthday - I hope you've had a great day mate!!

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Its also STILL raining here in Sydney - I'm now officially over it! But, its forecast to be this way for some time to come :( so we had better get use to it I suppose!

Jasmine is curled up in a ball next to me on the lounge, whilst Bronty is snoring away in her bed... Its dark, no lights on in the lounge room and the cricket (20/20) is on the TV. For what its worth, Australia looks as though it will go down in this match against India :(

I'm also considering, and entertaining the thought, of a new car... Not that there is anything wrong with the Suzuki, I just thing that before it depreciates to much, I might update! I had a twin of it parked in-front of me today at work!

Suzuki Twins

Hoo roo for now...

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