Like trying to diagnose a problem over the phone or talking to someone?
I’ve tried to do it literally hundreds of times.
I used to have to talk to the actual Automotive Engineers at Ford Motor Co. who designed their parts and electrical systems trying to fix crap over the phone that their service manuals couldn’t resolve.
This little story hits that nail right on the head.
Experience comes at a price.
Got up at O:Dark Thirty this morning as usual.
Did my Pre-Work routine, as usual.
Gathered up my shit and headed out the door. Just like every other work day for decades.
Got in the Big Red Truck, threw my lunchbox on the seat, slammed the door because the hinge pin bushings are shot and I have been too lazy to replace them, fumbled with the seat belt, fired it up and pulled out the headlight switch to head out.
Except no headlights.
WTF?
They worked fine yesterday all the way to work.
Fumbled around pulling and pushing the switch in and out and still nothing.
Get out and see the tail lights and front parking lights are on. Got back in and tried the High Beams. The headlights came on but only as long as I held the turn signal stalk back in the high beam position. They wouldn’t stay on unless I kept it pulled back against the spring.
Fuck me.
It’s fucking dark and it will be dark long after I get to work.
So I drove all the way in holding the turn signal stalk back.
Get to work, punch in and head to our little hidey hole we call The Shop.
Basically a corner of a huge warehouse fenced in with chain link, a bunch of shelves, desks, cabinets and a sliding door.
Get in the internet, get on Youtube and look up First Generation Dodge Truck, No Headlights.
Several videos appear and I start scrolling, looking to see if there are several with the same issue.
Most common is headlight switch.
I had to wait a couple hours for my local parts store to open. I start work at 6:30 in the morning.
They look it up and don’t have one in stock but they can have it by the afternoon run.
Stop in after work just in time for them to get it out of the truck, $31 and change.
Get home, open the hood and disconnect the battery and then start tearing the instrument cluster bezel off. Fought that sonofabitch for a good twenty minutes after I got all the screws out. It had a bunch of those damn clips around the bottom and I had to pry it out over the steering column without breaking it.
The switch is basically the same as the old Ford ones that I have changed dozens of over the years.
Fiddle fucked around trying to snake it out the bottom between the hood release and the E Brake release. Finally get it out, swap the new one in, re-insert the long triangular stem and knob so I can pull it on and go hook the battery up.
Bigger than shit, the headlights work again.
Fuck around putting it all back together and thanking Jesus that it wasn’t the fucking turn signal switch instead.
The whole time I am sweating my ass off in 90 degree heat but at the same time, thanking Jesus again because it’s supposed to go from 90 today to the low 60’s tomorrow with rain.
It was just plain strange that the old switch shit the bed without any warning what so ever but at least it was a fairly easy repair.
It would be a dream come true compared to some of the trashed out Shitbox Trailers and old leaky RV’s I’ve lived in before.
Preach it honey!
May God Damn the people responsible for this charade to Hell.
Every gun control law since then is Un-Constitutional.
There are still several very important lawsuits still pending in front of the Supreme Court yet this year but over all, the Anti Gunners have been getting kicked in the teeth repeatedly this year.
Good.
The Supreme Court needs to settle some of the bullshit in front of them in our favor and permanently shut down these cocksuckers and their desperate attempts to disarm us.
Down Under is as good a place to start as anywhere.
Can you say Nuremberg V2.0?
I sure as hell can.
This whole ‘Cashless” economic model is 100% dependent on uninterrupted electricity.
One Cyclone, Typhoon, Hurricane, Tornado, Snow/Ice Storm and you are fucked.
Welp, these Chinese people just found that out the hard way.
And this is what people in our government want to shove down our throats.
All I can say at this point is DO NOT COMPLY and RESIST AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT.
Sorry for being so late Neo, I got your letter last week, got busy and the Wifely Unit piled a bunch of newer mail on top of your letter.
I finally got back to it this morning, work kicked my ass last week.
I was so beat that I came home Thursday and Friday, walked in the door , fell down in my chair and went to sleep for three hours.
I’m still tired. But anyway, Thank you !
I would also like to thank everyone who stepped up and donated to the hosting fund drive.
The response was over the top!
You all exceeded my goal not twice over, not 3 times over but you quadrupled what I was asking for when it was all said and done.
I am humbled to my core at your support and generosity.
So I just got through renewing the hosting for this site for the next 3 years with some left over!
That included paying for Domain Name fees and everything else.
That is a huge relief and a giant load off my mind.
As for the remainder, if no one has any problem with it, I would like to upgrade to a newer laptop as this one is five years old and I have worn the letters off of several of the keys at this point.
Since I have to use the old Hunt and Peck method of typing, I wind up spending a whole bunch of time fixing typo’s because I can’t see the letters I am looking for when I am typing.
The issue I am going to have with getting a new laptop is that they are all going to have Windoze 11 pre loaded on them and I hate that with a passion. I may have to break down and try to learn Linux.
The computers at work just got updated to Windows 11 and it is a disaster as far as I am concerned.
I am in no hurry at this point, I have been fixing my typo’s on this thing for over a year now because I was dreading the upgrade.
So The Good Lord Willing and the Creek don’t rise, we should be good to go for quite a while.
I haven’t forgotten CederQ and his efforts to keep this place varied, entertaining and constantly updated either. I might have to do something nice for him despite his protestations.
Once again, I thank you all and look forward to being around for quite a while now.
