2001 Ford Explorer XLT, needs help :( Here's the latest update..
My truck's torque converter clutch is shot and the valve and solenoid for the clutch is also shot.
Option
Price
Warranty
Clutch Repair
$3,577
12 months on parts
New Transmission
$3,921
3 year/100,000 mile
The truck has a blue book value of $9,000 and $5,000 trade-in. I still owe $3,800 on it. It currently has 95,000 miles on it and it's in great condition other than the transmission. I haven't done too much to it, other than installing a Class IV hitch and recently it had a tire upgrade (thanks aldebron!).
Other things to consider.. The dealership may give me a good offer for it as credit towards a new vehicle, but they sell only Ford, no AZN cars!
And being an SUV, fuel economy is terrible (18-24mpg), as opposed to ferian's 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid which I can get roughly 45mpg out of.
"What just hit my ankle?" Yesterday, I took a trip up to Wilmington, DE to have dinner with a friend. I was riding on I-95 doing an easy 80mph when suddenly, something strikes the inside of my right ankle fairly hard. I looked down at my ankle to figure out what had happened and I couldn't see what the heck had hit me. I was paying good attention to the road and did not see any debris ahead of me which left me very confused.
I looked down at my ankle to make sure that my boot wasn't cut open and I wasn't bleeding or anything, but the boot was fine (and it was a good thing I was wearing them). I reached down and felt the important parts of the bike feeling for anything abnormal or loose, I tested my rear break and clutch - no problems at all.
After turning my head a dozen times and looking down at my ankle, I finally leaned far enough off of the bike to get a good look at my rear swing arm and tire. I saw what appeared to be a license plate wedged between the front of my rear tire and the swing arm.
a) tell you why I friended you, b) associate you with something - fandom, a song, a colour, a photo, etc., c) tell you something I like about you, d) tell you a memory I have of you, e) ask something I've always wanted to know about you, f) tell you my favorite user pic of yours, g) in return, you must post this in your LJ.
Hockey Lessons + Camping + Rock Crawling = WIN What a HUGE weekend!
I got an email earlier in the week from one of the instructors from Elite Hockey Instruction informing me that their Saturday morning Adult Hockey Clinics were starting up on Saturday and as an added bonus, will begin at 7:50 a.m. instead of 6:50 a.m. Since I live 45 minutes away, the extra hour means a lot :)
I asked Xanie (esrolie) if he would be interested in joining me at the hockey clinic and he said yes! This was awesome because I really didn't want to go alone. I had never been to a hockey lesson before and I was lacking the confidence that I needed to go alone. I really didn't know what to expect or if I would be welcomed warmly or shunned for being such a noob at skating and hockey.
That afternoon, aldebron met us back at my place and we packed up the trucks and headed down to George Washington National Forest, just outside of Harrisonburg, VA. While driving to the campsite, my 2001 Ford Explorer experienced probably THE roughest terrain that it had ever been through in its lifetime. The only vehicles that should ever attempt to venture along those mountains are 4WD trucks with plenty of ground clearance. I was amazed at how well my truck held up along the steep rocky terrain. And, my apologies to Toby (esrolie's doggie) for scaring the shit out of him and dealing with it so well! Only other dog that trembles that much is a chihuahua!
Recently at work, a co-worker of mine out of the blue asks me, "What was that CD that you worked on before you came here?".. I had to think for a moment and I responded, "The Doobie Brothers?" and she said "Yeah! That's it! Come tell [the vendors] about it!"
Back in 2000, I worked for a web company doing the usual web development stuff and custom web applications and every now and then took on the not-so-usual project. I was approached by Byte Audio (now defunct), client of ours who I had developed some Windows Media Player DRM code for their online music shopping cart, and was asked if I could create an "enhanced CD" for their client Pyramid Records and Rhino Records that would be included on a music CD and would play a video and provide additional content such as wallpapers, lyrics and album cover art etc. AND do all this in one month. I thought, what the hell, sure!
I then was told who the enhanced CD was for.. The Doobie Brothers! Being only 20 at the time, I really didn't know much about the Doobie Brothers. I had recalled hearing a few of their songs, like Long Train Running, Black Water, Listen to the Music, Taking it to the Streets, but other than those few songs, I really had no idea really who they were. I was then informed that this CD, called Sibling Rivalry, was the first album The Doobie Brothers had released in 9 years. What pressure!
I completed the project in the middle of August and sent the final copy directly to Warner/Elektra as a CD ISO image. I crossed my hooves and hoped for the best. I got a phone call from Byte Audio informing me that the head of the group that was in charge of the album said that it was the best enhanced CD that they have ever come across!
When the CD was released, the press releases went out and The Doobie Brothers were all over the TV talking about their CD and mentioning that it contained a portion that you could watch on your computer. Everyone that knew I worked on this project was calling me up and telling me where they heard or saw a reference to the CD, it was pretty awesome.
One agreement which was made early on was that I, nor the company I worked for, would receive any credit for the creation of the enhanced CD and that credit would belong to Byte Audio. I was instructed to not place my name or company name anywhere inside of the project files, so I did not explicitly place my name on the final product..
However, my copy of Borland C++Builder automatically filled out the author information based on my registration information which then was compiled into the EXE file. OOPS! So, if any of you own a copy of the Doobie Brother's Sibling Rivalry CD, go ahead and pop it into your computer, right click on the dbvideo.exe file and click Properties. You'll find my real name on the summary tab under "Author".
The project was a lot of fun to work on and unfortunately, Byte Audio went out of business shortly after the Sibling Rivalry CD was released. That was the first and last enhanced CD project I had developed for them. Whenever I go to a job interview, I hand a copy an unopened copy of the CD along with my resume to the person I'm interviewing with and tell them a bit about the project, it wins me lots of points :)
Lost a friend My best friend's cousin and friend of mine was killed this morning when she lost control of her car after dropping her husband off at work. Her car overturned when it struck a concrete monument and she was ejected from the car. She was not wearing her seatbelt.
I first met Kristen about 8 years ago when I lived down in South Florida. She worked in the restaurant business and was a part of our close circle of friends, we had some great times together and was looking forward to seeing her again down in Florida. We had a lot memories together and she will be missed dearly.
I had just spoken to her on March 4th, and the last thing she said to me was "I miss you and give everyone a kiss from me. We need to catch up, I think my number is the same. I'll catch you later. Glad to catch you."
Please everyone, wear your seatbelt every time you drive - no matter how short or routine the drive. A great person was lost today and a seatbelt could have saved her life.
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