My car is back in its rightful parking place tonight and I'm only $156 more in debt than I was before. Luckily, the only belt that snapped was the one that controls the power steering. I say luckily because the mechanic called and said that the other 2 belts were in really bad shape. So, there could have been much more damage which would have cost a lot more money and put me in a much more dangerous position when the car broke.
The Lord definitely took care of me last night...just as He does every day. I just have to focus more on leaning on Him.
Showing posts with label car. Show all posts
Showing posts with label car. Show all posts
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Melanie and the horrible, terrible, no good, very bad week...
It has been a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad week since I woke up on Monday morning. It started when I woke up late, not much, but even a little throws me off. I had a migraine and am out of medicine, so I had to suffer through it. Thankfully it subsided on it's own sometime during the super stressful, very frustrating day.
We started a new free breakfast program at school and they were supposed to start serving at 7:30 so that by 7:45 kids were ready to take their sack breakfasts to class to eat. They didn't start serving until almost 7:50 and my kids didn't walk into class until 8:05 - 20 minutes late - so I was then behind 20 minutes. This is bad when you only have the kids for 2 1/2 hours before they go to the next teacher. Half the students in each of my two classes did not bring their homework which was to read and write about the story. They were talking constantly so we didn't get done half of what we needed to do. Tuesday, 9 in my morning class came without reading journals and/or no spelling homework - the same was true for 6 in the afternoon class. I am at a loss for how to make them do their homework and bring it back to school. I've yelled, threatened, the principal has yelled, I've sent notes home and made phone calls. Nothing has helped. I've never had so much trouble getting homework from so many students.
Then today...I had a meeting after work in Fair Park at the Women's Museum. The meeting was for school coordinators for Arts Partners, a program that funds field trips for Dallas ISD students. I am the coordinator for my school and my teachers have been waiting to find out how much money they have to spend. At the meeting I was supposed to find out how much money our school gets and the process for scheduling. However, I probably only spent a total of 30 minutes in this 2 hour meeting because on my way, my car broke.
I was driving along I-30 in the mix master when I heard a pop. I didn't know if I had run over something or if something broke. A low hum started a few minutes later and I knew something was wrong. Luckily, my exit was just up ahead and I was experiencing no real trouble. As I exited and slowed down, the low hum turned to a grinding and as I approached the light at Parry Ave and Grand by Fair Park, the grinding was so loud it sounded like I was dragging something metal along the pavement. I was having trouble steering, but I managed to get into the turn lane and stop but even when I stopped, the grinding kept going and I had lots of people staring at me. I called my mom sobbing and hyperventilating - "I don't know what's wrong and I can't afford to fix it..." She could hardly understand anything I was saying.
I turned on my flashers and jumped out and look under the car but there was nothing dragging. I got back in and slowly turned into the parking lot in front of the Science Museum. I kept driving around to try to find where I was going so I could make it to my meeting while watching all my gauges to see if anything more was going to happen. Once I reached about 10 mph, the grinding stopped, but it took every ounce of strength I had to turn the steering wheel to get around corners. I finally got to the right place and was starting to calm down after talking to my stepdad and then my mom again who started making phone calls to my insurance for a tow truck, an automotive shop so they would know it was coming and so forth. When I finally parked, I popped the hood and saw that I was missing a belt - shoot! And when I looked under the car again, I saw what remained of the belt hanging down.
I left the meeting at least 10 times to take phone calls from my mom, insurance company and the tow company updating me on when the tow truck would be there. However, it's Dallas, at rush hour, in the rain, and the guy was coming from Grand Prairie - the closest truck according to the tow company.
I sat in the parking lot for 45 minutes after the meeting was over. Thankfully, a sweet lady sat and talked with me while I waited so I didn't have to sit alone. Once the tow truck got there and loaded my car, the lady told me to pay it forward - which I intend to because she certainly didn't have to sit there.
I told the tow guy about what happened and he was puzzled at how the belts could break with no overheating and full functioning except for the power steering...We got to the shop around 7:30 and popped the hood again. Only one of the belts was broken - the one that controls power steering - the other two were fine. Thank goodness.
So I'm without a car, depending on others for a ride to and from work tomorrow and back to the shop to get mine (hopefully it will be done tomorrow).
I sure do hope the next two days are better than the first three of this week...I need them to be better.
Now, I'm going to bed early...
We started a new free breakfast program at school and they were supposed to start serving at 7:30 so that by 7:45 kids were ready to take their sack breakfasts to class to eat. They didn't start serving until almost 7:50 and my kids didn't walk into class until 8:05 - 20 minutes late - so I was then behind 20 minutes. This is bad when you only have the kids for 2 1/2 hours before they go to the next teacher. Half the students in each of my two classes did not bring their homework which was to read and write about the story. They were talking constantly so we didn't get done half of what we needed to do. Tuesday, 9 in my morning class came without reading journals and/or no spelling homework - the same was true for 6 in the afternoon class. I am at a loss for how to make them do their homework and bring it back to school. I've yelled, threatened, the principal has yelled, I've sent notes home and made phone calls. Nothing has helped. I've never had so much trouble getting homework from so many students.
Then today...I had a meeting after work in Fair Park at the Women's Museum. The meeting was for school coordinators for Arts Partners, a program that funds field trips for Dallas ISD students. I am the coordinator for my school and my teachers have been waiting to find out how much money they have to spend. At the meeting I was supposed to find out how much money our school gets and the process for scheduling. However, I probably only spent a total of 30 minutes in this 2 hour meeting because on my way, my car broke.
I was driving along I-30 in the mix master when I heard a pop. I didn't know if I had run over something or if something broke. A low hum started a few minutes later and I knew something was wrong. Luckily, my exit was just up ahead and I was experiencing no real trouble. As I exited and slowed down, the low hum turned to a grinding and as I approached the light at Parry Ave and Grand by Fair Park, the grinding was so loud it sounded like I was dragging something metal along the pavement. I was having trouble steering, but I managed to get into the turn lane and stop but even when I stopped, the grinding kept going and I had lots of people staring at me. I called my mom sobbing and hyperventilating - "I don't know what's wrong and I can't afford to fix it..." She could hardly understand anything I was saying.
I turned on my flashers and jumped out and look under the car but there was nothing dragging. I got back in and slowly turned into the parking lot in front of the Science Museum. I kept driving around to try to find where I was going so I could make it to my meeting while watching all my gauges to see if anything more was going to happen. Once I reached about 10 mph, the grinding stopped, but it took every ounce of strength I had to turn the steering wheel to get around corners. I finally got to the right place and was starting to calm down after talking to my stepdad and then my mom again who started making phone calls to my insurance for a tow truck, an automotive shop so they would know it was coming and so forth. When I finally parked, I popped the hood and saw that I was missing a belt - shoot! And when I looked under the car again, I saw what remained of the belt hanging down.
I left the meeting at least 10 times to take phone calls from my mom, insurance company and the tow company updating me on when the tow truck would be there. However, it's Dallas, at rush hour, in the rain, and the guy was coming from Grand Prairie - the closest truck according to the tow company.
I sat in the parking lot for 45 minutes after the meeting was over. Thankfully, a sweet lady sat and talked with me while I waited so I didn't have to sit alone. Once the tow truck got there and loaded my car, the lady told me to pay it forward - which I intend to because she certainly didn't have to sit there.
I told the tow guy about what happened and he was puzzled at how the belts could break with no overheating and full functioning except for the power steering...We got to the shop around 7:30 and popped the hood again. Only one of the belts was broken - the one that controls power steering - the other two were fine. Thank goodness.
So I'm without a car, depending on others for a ride to and from work tomorrow and back to the shop to get mine (hopefully it will be done tomorrow).
I sure do hope the next two days are better than the first three of this week...I need them to be better.
Now, I'm going to bed early...
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Maintenance
Car maintenance that is. I've become fairly adept at maintaining my car on my own. I can change the air filter, the battery, the headlights, taillights and windshield wiper blades by myself. I could even change a flat tire if I needed to, but on the side of the road I would probably still use USAA. I would like to learn to change my own oil, but until I can find someone to teach me, I'll stick with paying professionals to do that.
Two years ago, my stepdad and I replaced the belts in my car. A year and a half ago, I learned how to change my own brakes and shocks when they needed to be replaced and I didn't want to spend the money to pay a professional to do it. My stepdad patiently stood over my shoulder and told me what to do while I did the work and then checked just to make sure all the bolts were tight enough before I drove off. Six months after that, I replaced my own O2 sensor so that my car would pass inspection. It almost killed me last February when I needed a transmission overhaul, my clutch replaced and my a/c fixed because those were things I couldn't do myself and it ended up costing me over $3000 - OUCH!
Well, now, those same belts that were replaced 2 years ago are squealing again at fairly regular intervals, but only when the a/c is turned on. I checked them myself this morning and they look ok to me - no cracks visible to my eye and they didn't look loose - but still they squeal. Problem is, I don't really have the money to replace them right now. Not that they are terribly expensive, but to a dried up pocketbook, just about anything is expensive. I'm wondering if there is anything I could do, possibly lube them, that would help with the squealing. Does anyone out there have any ideas or suggestions? It would be a great help...
By the way, the first week of school went really well - only 35 more to go!
Two years ago, my stepdad and I replaced the belts in my car. A year and a half ago, I learned how to change my own brakes and shocks when they needed to be replaced and I didn't want to spend the money to pay a professional to do it. My stepdad patiently stood over my shoulder and told me what to do while I did the work and then checked just to make sure all the bolts were tight enough before I drove off. Six months after that, I replaced my own O2 sensor so that my car would pass inspection. It almost killed me last February when I needed a transmission overhaul, my clutch replaced and my a/c fixed because those were things I couldn't do myself and it ended up costing me over $3000 - OUCH!
Well, now, those same belts that were replaced 2 years ago are squealing again at fairly regular intervals, but only when the a/c is turned on. I checked them myself this morning and they look ok to me - no cracks visible to my eye and they didn't look loose - but still they squeal. Problem is, I don't really have the money to replace them right now. Not that they are terribly expensive, but to a dried up pocketbook, just about anything is expensive. I'm wondering if there is anything I could do, possibly lube them, that would help with the squealing. Does anyone out there have any ideas or suggestions? It would be a great help...
By the way, the first week of school went really well - only 35 more to go!
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