Archive for "Babies"
Bebot Takes a Bath
Posted on June 19, 2013 by Ching under Babies.
We found this carwash kit at Sam’s Club on Sunday and it inspired us to give Bebot a much-needed bath. I think it’s been over a year since his last carwash. LOL.
Brian and I agreed that, though we wanted a West-facing house so that the deck and yard are shady in the afternoon, having an East-facing house is actually convenient for washing the car because our driveway is in the shade every afternoon.
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Molly and Me
Posted on October 19, 2012 by Ching under Babies.
Guess who got to see Molly on this week.
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O, Crazy Days
Posted on October 5, 2012 by Ching under Babies.
I managed to make it to work on Monday with my tires looking like this. I say tires because all four tires were low. They weren’t all as bad as this one, but none of them had the right amount of pressure. Isaac used his digital tire gauge and got 6, 13, 17, and 24 or something like that. He said he would guess that the proper pressure for my tires should have been 32 psi. He told me that I couldn’t even drive it to get air because it wouldn’t be safe to do so with all four tires being low and one being almost completely flat. I listen to Isaac because his dad is an authority when it comes to cars and so he is an authority by association. Anyway, he asked around to see if anyone had an air pump but no one did. I told him not to worry as the car shop that we take our cars to, which also happens to be where I bought my tires, is just a couple of blocks over. I told him that I would call them instead and see if they can put enough air in my tires for me to drive the car over to the shop.
Isaac was like, “Could you not tell that there was something wrong?” I admitted that I did notice the car was pulling to the left when I was driving on Kellogg this morning, but I thought it was just really windy. I promptly got made fun of. In my defense, I get to work before 7 AM and it’s still really dark. When I hopped out of the car, I got my bags and went inside. I didn’t look at the tires. I would have noticed it for sure when I walked back to the car at the end of the day, but I was glad that someone told me before hand so I could call the shop right away.
Tracy’s Automotive was really awesome. When Brian got done with his training, I told him what happened. Tracy’s was going to send someone to our parking lot to put air in my tires but Brian said that, since he was done with training early, he would just drive over there and find out what the plan was. He ended up bringing Doug from Tracy’s over in his truck. Doug put air in my two front tires (not the back ones) so I could safely drive my car to the shop where they inspected all four tires and found no holes. The only conclusion they came to was that someone was messing with my valve stems, which is not really a comforting thought, but I’m glad that my tires are fine and I didn’t have to buy new ones. Tires are expensive.
The folks at Tracy’s were really nice. I talked to Frank and Rob so I want to thank them also. Doug did the work so I owe a debt of gratitude to him. They checked my tires, filled them with Nitrogen (that’s the kind of air that it had), and even rotated them at no charge. Then again, the free air and free tire rotation came with buying the tires from them so those would have been free anyway, but I’m really grateful that they were able to send someone to my work parking lot to put air in my tires. Thank you to Tracy’s Automotive for coming to my rescue.
I posted this next picture because I want to end this blog on a positive note. I finally met Maryland’s new baby Maela and even got to hold her for a while. She is super tiny and super cute! And super sweet. She didn’t cry at all when I was holding her. Congratulations to the Fergusons on the newest addition to their growing family!
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Bebot’s Got a New Belt
Posted on August 13, 2012 by Ching under Babies, Things to Do.
Bebot got a new serpentine belt just in time for a couple of out of town trips. The belt probably could have lasted a few thousand more miles, but Brian and I are uber cautious. Our motto has always been, better be safe than sorry. Okay, we have a few mottos. But that is one of them.
It probably would have cost us less to do it ourselves. Brian watched the guy do it and he said it was pretty simple. I guess we will know for the next one.
Anyway, I’m so glad that I listened to Gil. Having a second opinion helps sometimes. Even if just to make you feel better about spending the money on maintenance.
As these things go, preventative is always better because it’s always more expensive to fix something after it’s already broken. Specially since it usually causes a bunch of other problems also. Plus, no one wants to get stranded on the side of the rode. Aside from the inconvenience, you now have to add towing costs on top of everything else. A really expensive one at that, depending on where you are.
Note to mom: It may be time to replace your serpentine belt also. But this is probably something that dad and Brian can do together. The part is usually only $20-$40. Let us know when you want to do it.
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WWGD?
Posted on July 28, 2012 by Ching under Babies, Things to Do.
I should be mayor of Tracy’s by now. Seriously. We were there a couple of times this week and it sounds like we will need to go back. Ugh.
On our way home from dinner on Tuesday night (National Tequila Day) we kept hearing a weird noise. Well, we had just driven by the potential new house to see if the satellite dish was still on the roof (and it was) so we figured we could just park in the pool parking lot down the street, hop out of the car and check out what’s going on. As (bad) luck would have it, a bolt (Brian says it’s actually a sheet metal screw) had pierced Bebot’s rear tire on the passenger’s side and that was making the weird sound that we were hearing.
I was like, “What is that? Is that a bolt?” As I start trying to pull it off with my fingers. I’m brilliant after a couple of margaritas. Thankfully, Brian managed to stop me. We agreed to take Bebot to Tracy’s over lunch the next day so they could pull out the bolt or screw or whatever and plug the hole.
We ended up spending our entire lunch break on Wednesday at Tracy’s, but it wasn’t too bad. We just sat in the comfy couch and watched TV while they worked on Bebot. I event joked that we should bring our sack lunches there everyday (since it’s just down the street from our work places).
It was my first time at their new tire center so I had to take a picture of the lobby. It used to be a marine/boat shop before Tracy’s took it over. It’s actually pretty convenient because it’s pretty much right next to the automotive shop.
Anyway, Bebot was about due for an oil change so we told Rob that we would be back on Saturday. So this morning we were back there again. This time at the automotive shop for the oil change.
You can actually see the tire shop next door in this photo.
The good news is that Bebot’s oil change was quick and painless. The bad news is that per Rob, Bebot’s serpentine belt is starting to crack and needs to be replaced. I trust Tracy’s and everything, but it’s still an auto repair shop. They’re about as bad as lawyers as their reputations go, so I can’t help but wonder. Does the serpentine belt truly need to be replaced or is this just a way for them to get more money out of me?
The first thought that came to mind was, “What would Gil do (WWGD)?” Gil is the father of Isaac, one of my coworkers. Isaac always tells me about how knowledgeable and skilled his dad is at auto repair and mechanical stuff. So I immediately sent him (Isaac, not Gil) a picture of Bebot’s serpentine belt (shown above), told him what Rob said, and asked, “WWGD?” Without missing a beat, he replied that if the belt is old and cracked then he would replace it, and that’s what Gil would say too. LOL.
Brian’s coworker Chad (Molen) said that serpentine belts typically last 100,000 miles, but I don’t really want to chance it. I don’t know that the guys at Tracy’s would have recommended that it be replaced, had it not shown signs of wear. I’d been reading online that belts are typically replaced after 6 years or 60,000 miles. We bought Bebot new in June 2006, right after my Bachelor’s Degree, so he’s officially 6 years old this year. As far as I know, I’ve never replaced the belt. Although, I did call Toyota this morning just to be sure. They confirmed that there is no record of the serpentine belt being replaced on my car, so I guess it’s time to do it.
Belt is scheduled to be replaced in a couple of weeks unless I get some really good arguments for waiting. If you have any advice, feel free to comment down below.
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