My old truck

My car, the source of great agony and frustration! And moments of absolute wonder!

The beast, formally known as Tweety due to her bright yellow plumage, arrived back home about three weeks ago! It was a day of great celebration as after much running between various government departments, she was formally licensed.

The celebration turned out to be short lived as the very next day; the radiator started leaking like a fountain. Bad news as this had been a brand new and expensive piece of equipment, as it sure takes a lot of cooling power to quench the raging fire within this V8. It turned out that it had been installed incorrectly, and the cooling fan had cut into the radiator vanes. Sadly, this was just one more example of the sloppy workmanship dished out by the garage in Parrow that was involved in her initial rebuilding.

I sent an email after a number of unanswered phone calls to the owner of said Parrow garage. I explained the problem and asked for his assistance to resolve. He fired back a short email to the extent that he was not responsible. Rather impressive!

My trusty mechanic saved the day; installing a new radiator and getting the beast back on the road with a minimum of fuss. Just days later and she would not start. Trusty mechanic checked the necessary and discovered that not only was the ring gear worn, but there was also a gearbox oil leak that required urgent attention. I was thrilled! Then the spray painted failed to turn up this weekend to finish his piece of work...

I was wondering what possessed me to venture into this game until I drove the beast across town to the gearbox place this morning. My smile was huge, almost as big as my petrol bill. The gearbox is under warrantee and I hope they will sort the ring gear as well. I have no doubt it will cost another small fortune, take forever to fix, and require several trips back to get the job done right!

Unfortunately this is how it has gone for almost 20 months of car refurbishment. Would I do it again? no!

But she does go so well, roar sweetly, and turn heads wherever I go!

In and out of office

Today was a fun day!

I started off with a little work and then mixed it up with the shovelling of sand on our new building site. Squatter house number three was up but had to be moved about a metre backwards so as not to encroach on a property boundary. It should be finished by tomorrow, and then onto house number 4!

After getting in the foreman’s way, way too many times, I made my way back to my office. More issues got sorted. With last night’s leftovers in my belly, I headed on my way to see the progress on my old car. She had been home for a number of weeks but my overseas parts arrived last week and so off she went for the rest of her make over. Unfortunately, I am still waiting for the statements that will unlock the SA Police Services and ensure I get new chassis and engine numbers.

I drove the old girl around at great speeds and with much joy! The steering is butter smooth, the engine sweet, and the automatic box slick. My good man Peet, the mechanic, has even refurbished her old starter motor and it now works like a charm. At long last I can see myself using this car as my daily ride; it sure is going to be fun!

I managed to get back into my office before an afternoon coffee meeting with a mate to solve the problems of the world.

Now here I sit, back in the office, the kids in bed, the television off, and absolutely nothing to do. What a wonderful change!