Charlie Foxtrot

Today I told US Cellular that they can take their craptastic service and cram it where the sun don't shine!! I am now with AT&T wirless,contact me if you want the new number. If you are in my phone I will be making the transfer of numbers, but you will need mine. zakrogers@charter.net

In an attempt to stay in touch with my manliness, I decided to change the spark plugs in my truck. This event was undertaken starting at about 11am this past Tuesday. I have now learned that this should not be done on a day that you have to work.

I started out pretty good, changed the oil with no hitches. Now on to the spark plugs. My truck is a V6, so some of the plugs are hard to get to. I had to disconnect a bunch of crap to get to them. In the process of trying to get the air intake hose which connects from the air cleaner to the throttle body off, I broke the damn plastic thingie that goes inside the hose on the air cleaner end!!! I said screw it for now and continued on, this is NOT going to stop me.

On to the plugs..plug one, no problem. Plug two, no problem. Plug three, why the hell do they put stupid dumbass wires all over the place? Ok, plug three is now done.

Around to the other side. Plug four, what a breeze. Plug five, I have more stuff to disconnect. Plug six, there is that damn firewall again!!!

So all the new plugs are in place and I managed to get everything back in place without any hardware left over.

Now, to fix the air cleaner hose connector thing. I tried super glue, put it on, held it in place for about a minute. "Holds everything" MY ASS!! Now what? I found some silicone adhesive sealer crap and smeared it all over where it broke apart. I haven't checked it in a while but it was holding when I last checked.

My Father would have been proud. I think he haunts me. Everytime I think of doing something half-assed in the garage, I hear his voice "Oh, why did you do that" or "What are you thinking". One of these days I think I am just going to trash the joint just to irritate his hovering soul.

So, I haven't even started cleaning-up and it is 1:15pm and I have to be to work by 2pm. I eeked it out and made it to work on time.

I now understand why they rape you at a repair shop for labor charges. Oh be assured, I didn't learn a big lesson here. I will continue to do what I can when it comes to vehicle maintenance. I just hope I don't screw it up so bad that I can't drive it to get fixed.