Life, The Universe, and Everything
Sep 6, 2007 Blog General, Unordered Miscellany
Pardon me, I’m going into journal entry mode. Isn’t that what blogs once were, online journals? Feel free to keep reading though, my thoughts are public for reason.
Today wore me out. Physically, Mentally, Financially and Spiritually.
Life at work was fast paced and busy. So much so that I’m worried I may have missed details. A lot got accomplished, time flew, and before I knew it the day was over. Well, almost. There is a project happening after hours that I hope goes seamlessly. I seriously did my best today. I was focused and productive. Exhausted me to the bone, but I made it through.
During the day, my auto technician called me to tell me what was wrong with my car. He said it looked like someone did some damage and I knew immediately what he was talking about. This part of the day sucked. It turns out that when I replaced the radiator last summer, I snapped the seal on the A/C manifold line to the condenser AND bent and kinked the ATF cooling line. It wasn’t the fault of any of the shops working on my car, it was all mine. I actually was aware of this, but in ignorance decided that since it seemed to be working fine, it must be ok. Next time, I’ll leave it to the pros. They can run tests that I can’t. That radiator was no small task, and I had a sense of accomplishment completing it on my own. Now I know the mistakes I made, it doesn’t feel as much of a triumph.
It handled fine for a year, but the lack of flow in the transmission line lead to more wear and tear on the flywheels. The seal on the A/C line was sitting there fine as long as no one moved it. It wasn’t fastened, but it still was passing freon OK. Well, when they replaced the transmission, they tested the transmission lines. When that happened, they bumped the A/C line and knocked the seal off center. Normally this wouldn’t have been a problem, but since I had already snapped it, there was nothing holding it in place except for friction. It was like snapping a dead twig from a tree.
The total damages for my stupidity this time is going to be about $880. If you count the radiator and all the possible side-effects from my errors, we’re probably looking at close to $4000 total in damages for what should have been a $800 job if the dealer did it. Man am I doubling over in pain taking all this in.
But that’s not all. Unfortunately, the rest of the night’s events will remain private. Let’s just say I had some opportunity to do some provoked soul searching. It wasn’t pleasant. I still have a rush of feeling cornered scouring through me from discussing things and discovering things I didn’t really want to talk about. But in the end, I support my wife and did it for her. I know I’m leaving a lot of open holes here, but trust me, soul searching is much better when you initiate it on your own.
Thank you DG for helping me sort it out. Your words of encouragement were priceless.
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