Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Look At What I Got

A Two Car Family Of One

This is my new car, a 1997 Toyota Corolla. It has already displayed hopeful chick magnet qualities -unlike my other car, the lights on my Toyota stay on after removing the key from ignition, so this afternoon I got to spend some quality time with a cute young office maiden who volunteered to help me jump-start my dead battery.
We snuck out of the office and got all tangly and electric...well, we jumped my car, anyway. Later, she fed me peanut butter cookies...yum!

Last night I hit a gaping pothole on the way home and knocked my front driver's side hubcap off and bent the wheel rim. Luckily, it doesn't seem to have broken the tire seal and it looks minor enough to bang out with a sledge and woodblock. Even better, I found the missing hubcap on the way home tonight!

As I slowly approached the pothole this evening, I saw at least four hubcaps scattered around both sides of the road- there was also a young man parked just up the road from the hole, just finishing changing a flat on his Honda. This pothole had been wreaking havoc, it seemed.

"You too?", he called to me, pointing at his tiny spare tire.

"Last night! No flat, thank god!", I replied, waving my new-found hubcap in the air. He gave me a grimacing smile and a thumbs up. I wished him luck and got back in my car.

I need to sell my Volvo ASAP. I put it on Craig's list and had quite a few replies, but no one has asked to see it yet. I may have to lower the price,but $1000 is kinda low already...

My Poor Old Volvo:

I Want My DTV!

I've been TV-Free for two weeks and I'd decided to stay that way when my buddy Dave offered to loan me a Digital Converter Box. I accepted and set it up a day or two ago.

No signal. Darn.

So I unscrewed the antennae and saw a flicker of picture as the cable was disconnected...after some experimenting, I found that all signal was lost if the antennae was securely connected and that it worked pretty well while precariously dangling from the inner pin of the RF cable.
Hmmm.

I stapled one end of an old bass guitar string to the wall and inserted the other end into the tiny hole of the antennae input and viola! I get ABC,CBS,NBC, FOX and two PBS channels, clear as a DVD! Best picture my TV has ever had, in fact, and it's FREE!

Most of the stations have two or three stations , e.g., CBS 6, 6.1, 6.2.- the extra channels are mostly weather feeds...or old movies!
Cool.













NEXT: RADIO GOODIES!

11 comments:

the blogger formerly known as yinyang said...

Ooh, pretty car.

AC'63 said...

Nice car ... have fun with the cookies

AngelConradie said...

Niiiiice!!!

schlep said...

I got the cable box and am glad I didn't get rid of my rabbit ears.

NYD said...

My wife might just make you an offer on the car. She loves Volvos. Will you ship to Japan???

When I was growing up all Tv was free. Amazing how life can change in one short generation.

Allan said...

YY- Ah, the car is working it's magic again!

AC- It's was only cookies, alas.

A- Thaaaaanks!

S- I can see your ears, you wascaly wabbit.

NYD- I'm guessing shipping is waaay more than the car is worth...but yes, I'll do most anything- except pay $75 a month for TV!

Craig D said...

Hey - I gotta try that bass guitar trick, as my DTV station constantly cube-out or just won't come in at all!

Congrats on the newish car.

I'd figure out a different pothole-free route if I wuz you. And, yep - I'm down to one wheel cover on my 1994 Dodge Shadow...

Mmmm. Peanut Butter Cookies!

yellowdoggranny said...

oh she is a beaut...cant you take another road?...call city dept of roads and get them to fix it.?
over on sagewebs blog she has a way to make one of those antennas that work as well as a box...check it out..

billy pilgrim said...

as the proud owner of a '96 corolla, i can honestly say:

excellent feckin choice.

corollas are chick magnets too!!

so you got that going for you too.

Allan said...

CD- Do you lose picture when you fasten the co-ax cable too? It doesn't make sense... when loose, it works.When secure, not so much. Hence the string.

JS- I'm calling the city tomorrow while my car is in the shop having the wheels aligned...I had it three freekin' days and it's in the shop already.

BP- I'm reassured! Good car, eh?

Craig D said...

Allan: This coax cable. Is it connected to an antenna or is it the cable system's coax?