Okay, there's the tire issue. See, the Escort's been sitting for six months, and it's developed rim leaks because of it. This has led me to decide that I am never going to buy another car with mag wheels unless it's going to be garaged ALL THE TIME.
You see, the Fiero--which is generally kept out of the salt and rain and crap--retains tire pressure pretty well even though it has aluminum wheels. The MGB, which has steelies and thirty-year-old tires, retains tire pressure pretty well.
The Escort? *sigh* The flat tires are what led the code enforcement guy to cite me for it; otherwise the car doesn't have a thing wrong with it.
...what it needs is a very simple two-stage fix:
1) Inflate tires with Fix-a-Flat, top off with air. (I suspect that Slime would do as good a job, if not better.)Every time this car has developed a rim leak, this has fixed it. It's not that the tires are bad--they're not--it's just that there's nothing else you can do when aluminum wheels develop rim leaks; even replacing the tires doesn't do it.
2) Drive for about 15-20 minutes.
Here's what's right with the car:
rebuilt engine with 2,500 miles on it since the rebuildThe interior is in good shape--no rips or tears, though it's got some carpet stains and could do with a date with a vacuum cleaner--and the HVAC system works the way it's supposed to. The stereo won't play CDs any longer but it's got an AUX IN jack for an MP3 player; the rear defroster works.
New clutch
new rear struts and springs (well, 20,000 miles or so)
new tie rod ends and recent alignment
new rear stabilizer links
new left side axle shaft
*sigh*
* * *
I had myself a good sleep this afternoon, though. I put the phone on "do not disturb" to make sure I would. And I woke up feeling--if not quite refreshed--then at least not totally exhausted as I have for the past two days.
Of course, when I got up, it had begun to rain. No riding the bike tonight.
I woke up thinking about what to have for dinner, and was coming to no good conclusion; the first thought was "bacon mofo" and that'll probably be it even though hamburgers are pretty much all I ate yesterday. My arms feel like limp pasta and I don't have the energy for cooking.
...though KFC also sounds good, I think I'll hold off on that until tomorrow.
I need to do some grocery shopping, and take back the bag of dog food I don't need, but that too can wait.
My big plans for tonight involve watching as many episodes of Sketchbook as I can handle. Whee!
