Car Trouble

In the nearly 7 years I have owned my little VW Golf, it has caused me very few problems. Which is surprising given the extent of my neglect. Oil change? Tire rotation? Check engine light? Pshaw. Well, last week I got in my car only to discover that in addition to the check engine light that has been on for the last two years (more on that in a minute), two additional error lights were twinkling at me from the dash. Sigh. One was for the airbag, and the other one was too cryptic to even guess what was wrong. I've also noticed over the last week or so that the car has really been struggling to start on these cold mornings. After three years of Vermont winters, I knew the little car could take much more than 20 degree mornings. So, with all this and since it had been slightly over a year since my last oil change (I can justify this), I decided to take it in for some new oil and a quick check under the hood.

The upshot is owning a diesel car is expensive when it comes to replacing things that are dying. I need a new battery (never replaced the one that came with the car) and something called an air flow sensor. The battery power was intermittent which was causing at least one of the check engine lights, possibly the one for the air bag as well.  A quality battery for diesel cars seems to cost a little over $200. I knew about the air flow sensor....that is the light that has been on for 2 years. Sounds innocent enough, but not at over $300. So the car people have scraped the sensor and the light goes away but eventually comes back. Sigh again. Oil change and diagnostic? Nearly $100.

The thing is, I really want to go to Carrboro this weekend. I like getting away from Columbia from time to time. Hell, I am up for getting out of Columbia whenever I can. But....well....errr..

So, it might not be the best idea, but I am going to speak sweetly to my little VW and ask it to take me on this one last trip. And then I will take VW to the car spa, get a new battery, take care of a few other things. One more week, little one. One more week. Please. You are on my 2011 to do list. Front and center.

Did I mention that I am due for a new timing belt as well?

This is a test....

Hi there. Remember me? It's been, oh, say....three years or so. I recently came to the conclusion that I am going to blog.  I am going to try to be intentional with it...as in, use it as I contemplated in my post of many years ago...as a measuring stick. A reference point. Each post on the continuum of before and after. I know I have only one reader (hi S.S.).  Sorry if this is boring. :)

Initially my plan was to restart this on January 1st. However I will probably be out and about on that day, hopefully hiking in the mountains somewhere, so I figured I would start now. Today. Christmas Eve.

One of my goals with this is to use it as an ongoing checklist of things I need/want/hope to do. I found 2010 to be somewhat of a dud, though I am blaming no one but myself. I took the year off, so to speak. I floated through it without much thought. Because of that, there is little I feel I have done to improve myself, and that is a constant I don't want to be without.

So, let's start off at the beginning. These are some of my goals for the new year, in no particular order or degree of importance.

2011. I am going to tackle you.

- Start a blog
- Try something new every week
- Send in one job application a week
- learn Spanish (with the aid of an, ahem, gifted copy of Rosetta Stone)
- Volunteer as a conversation partner at the library downtown (will help with the Spanish as well)
- Rejoin the Columbia art center so I can make pottery again
- Paint bedroom #2 and hallway

There will be plenty more as time goes by. And I will devote certain posts to expand on the theme. I just wanted to get something down on paper. This is just a start. Baby steps, ya know?