Back in South Carolina

Yup. Back in SC after a lovely trip to Carrboro to visit H and B. I must say, it was quite a productive little trip. Remember that battery of mine that wanted to die? The talented B used his manly expertise and knowledge base to hook me up with a new battery for a lot less than the mechanic's quote, and he was able to install it himself. What a guy! We also bought a few bookshelves for the spare bedroom/office and put them together. However, my favorite part of productive New Year 2011 was cleaning out the overgrown and many years neglected garden space. We put in a  compost corner and laid sheet mulching on the existing raised beds. Let that cook for a few months and those beds are going to be awesome for growing. Makes me realize I have a few more things to add to my own to-do list, such as:

- Sheet mulch the raised beds
- Add cold-weather raised bed to back yard
- plant 1 or 2 more blueberry bushes
- design wildflower garden

Now that I am back I have to really buckle down with my goals for the year. I am serious about making this year the most productive year ever. I will be back at work tomorrow, so many of these goals are going to be evening and weekend activities....It can be done, one thing at a time. I also want to get a fiddle. Let's hope my bid on Ebay wins!!!

Super fast so you can't tell I don't know what I am doing.

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?