| Author | Message | ||
     Brokengq |
Hey all. Just a small rant about the season screwing me over and the woes of working as a mechanic in general. It seems like the day the weather turned cold my work truck decided to commit suicide. It was horrific. Coolant and oil everywhere the screaming of an overheating motor, you get the idea. It was an old 97 s10 that I've let get the better of me. You see, once upon a time I had 7 cars. I had 3 of my own, and then my father passed away and left me all of his earlier this year. Well. Nobody, I repeat NOBODY has a need for 7 vehicles so I had a fire sale. I gave one to my step dad, one to my brother in law, one to my sister, and sold the rest for pennies. I could've made some money but I would've felt bad profiting from my fathers passing. Regardless, I kept 2. My s10, and my camaro. Well as I said before, the s10 committed bloody suicide and is going to need a motor. Not worth it on the old step side. So I began the process of trying to get a new truck. In my life I've worked as many different types of a mechanic. Most notably an A&P and machinist. These days I run a small shop doing basic work but it pays the bills and keeps me close to my family. I don't plan to be here long and figured a good work truck was in order. Now, how to pay for such a truck? Again, fire sale. I put up my old panhead for sale. Got lucky on that one selling. But what else could I sell? Ahhh the old street car. I have no use for it. I barely drive it. I built it to put those piddly high school kids in their place. But alas CHRISTMAS TIME has basically closed the market on car buying/selling until at least the second week in January. And guess who's walking to work? I could ride the Buell, but I feel bad for the old girl (who's due for a valve service) making the freezing trip 4 miles down the road and back every day, barely far enough to warm up. I rode my shovelhead for a few weeks...but yeesh talk about impractical. Going out after work in ~25 degree weather and trying to kick her to life. But hey, is what it is. So that's my rant about how christmas is continuing to screw me over. Feel free to skip over this or delete it at will. Sometimes ranting helps. Not to mention that somewhere somehow I'm sure I still have it better than others and have no reason to complain. End rant. | ||
| Strokizator |
I hear you, man, but it ain't Christmas's fault. Just be careful you don't ask "What else could go wrong?" because you might just find out. Hang in there. You're still a young pup and believe me, this is nothing compared to what's coming. You need a character-builder like this to prepare you for the future. | ||
| Crusty |
My old shovel would always start on three or four kicks when the temps were above 20°. Once the temperatures got into the single digits, it got balky; and it wouldn't start when it was below zero. It was the best winter bike I've ever had. I rode home from work in a blizzard once. It was on April 6, 1982. I was passing cars that were gridlocked all the way home. What normally took me 15 minutes took 1 hour and 45 minutes that day, but not one car passed me all the way home and I didn't drop the bike once. | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
its not Christmas, three years ago I sold my MR2 Turbo on Dec 20th. Maybe no one wants your car? Or its priced too high? Buyers are out there | ||
| Brokengq |
Thanks guys. Maybe I am asking too much for my car? I'm not sure. It's an 01 Camaro SS model with bolt ons and a cam. Pushing about 400hp. It runs strong and has a fresh trans in it. I'm asking $6k. Not the best looking car in the world, but DEFINITELY not the worst. A blemish in the paint and a bent rim. I paid $5k for it prior to all of the fresh work. The shovel is a different story right now. I was riding it to work a few weeks ago but someone pulled out in front of me and I slammed on the brakes so hard I locked up front and rear. Kept it rubber side down but when I got home I noticed brake fluid running down. Tore it apart to find a cracked master...parts on order. Don't worry. I won't ask the bad questions. I know it could get much worse. But ranting helps and I like the people here. I don't just like to use BadWeb to try and fix my scoots. I like talking to other people too. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Big purchases are tough right now - people focus on "couple hundred buck" purchases for Christmas. TV's, game consoles, computers, iPods, stuff like that. I sell RV's for a living - we die around the last week in November, but go like gangbusters as soon as we reopen for new years. Go find yourself a beater for cheap. I bought an XJ Cherokee when I got divorced - at the time, the only registered vehicles I had were a softtop wrangler, and my Buells. That was...oh...2010? I think? Bought the Jeep for next to nothing, it had a dead misfire that turned out to be a cracked piston. Fixed that, put a radiator in it a year or so later (it's got 250k+ miles on it), have beat the living crap out of it on a regular basis...and it still starts every time and runs like a champ. Drove it tonight, actually, to the beer store. Things will come around. You just...need to be creative sometimes. Use your energy for THAT, and not for getting angry, and you'll have much better results, much more quickly. | ||
| Ourdee |
If I was in NC, I'd pick up a cheap small older rice burning bike with no character for a winter ride. It doesn't get cold there.  My TW200 would be over qualified. An old Honda CB can be cheap fun. Hang onto the car for a backup ride till you polish it enough that someone buys it. If you are still feeling down, There are options: Go kick santa in the n..s Volunteer in a soup kitchen Make some wooden toys for an orphanage Give an extra coat away \advice off | ||
| Brokengq |
TO THE SOUP KITCHEN! I'll kick Santa in the nads on the way home. | ||
| Ourdee |
That's the spirit! | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
When I arrived in Montreal I picked up a wj grand cherokee with the 4.7 v8 & 2 sets of rims for less than 2k. Still going strong. All I've done is a set of shocks. | ||
| Crusty |
A street car?  | ||
| Griffmeister |
Named Desire? | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
So if its only 8 miles total ,why not take a bicycle!? it's good exercise and also saves you fuel | ||
| Dwardo |
I hear you, but things will get better. After my uncle's passing I decided to get rid of the Hudson Hornet that we shared because I don't drive it much and it reminds me of him. I also had to dispose of a Hudson Super Wasp that belonged to the estate and was stinking up my garage. Then I decided that I hate my 2012 Focus so much I would replace it with something older and bigger, namely a Grand Marquis. In addition to that, my uncle left a homebuilt airplane project in my garage. I sold the Super Wasp for a pittance but nobody was stepping up to buy it and the money wasn't going to me anyway. Otherwise, none of this stuff was moving at all (it's been more than a year) until two weeks ago when a guy offered to buy the plane. He didn't give me much for it but he showed up a week ago with a trailer and I'm happy to see it go. Then, last week a guy from Texas I've been talking to about the Hornet called to say he had sold his other car and wanted to make me an offer. The market is weak for sedans, so his offer was a lot less than my uncle would have believed, but he is a young guy and will do something with it so it's going to a good home. A truck is coming next weekend to get it. Lastly, I am almost sure I've sold the Focus as a friend came by and said he needed a car for his sister. That was the last thing I was expecting - it just fell into my lap. So, hang in there. You probably won't get as much as you'd like but you will eventually be able to sell. The market does suck right now but at the right price point you can do it. |
