Saturday, April 3, 2010

Puff, Puff

Project 365: Day 365



Take a look at that title up there! Project 365: Day 365! I did it! Hooray! I am working on a wrap-up post for a little later.

Now, if you take a look at the photo, you will see the reason why this was not a completely happy day. Edward, my little-Nissan-that-could, is nearing the end of his life. Now, this is not a particularly surprising thing as he has just shy of 150,000 miles, is a 1997 model and we have had many warning signs. In fact, I wrote about my strategies for dealing with a car-on-the-verge last August, so really I should be grateful that he made it through the winter.* There is really never a good time for your car to die, but the winter in Minnesota would be an especially bad time.

Today, I started the car up to drive home from running an errand and noticed it was making a weird sound. While driving home, I noticed it smelled like exhaust/burning oil/smoke. By the time I got home, smoke was billowing out from under the hood. My novice inspection led to the conclusion that there is some sort of leak in our engine. We will bring it into the shop, but are pretty sure the verdict is going to be to get a new car. This new problem is the icing on the cake in addition to the following problems: the brakes are in bad shape, the alternator is questionable, the lock on driver's side door doesn't work most of the time, there is a rusted hole and a water leak in the trunk, the radio squeals sometimes, the cd player turns on and off at will and one mechanic said something to Paul about our front axle being weak. At this point, I just hope it is safe enough for us to drive to the used car lot so we can go car shopping!

*I noticed that when I went back to find the post from August that we have driven less than 4,000 miles in the past 8 months, which means that together Paul and I average less than 500 miles per month. Yay for public transportation, carpooling, biking and walking!

6 comments:

  1. What a drag! The little engine that could and the little blog that could!

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  2. Congratulations on completing your project. It is quite an undertaking. You can see my 365 project, all of Sally, on her blog, but that is not quite the same thing.

    You've taken some very impressive photos.
    -Mike

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  3. Congrats Trinity!!! It's quite an accomplishment!! I'll miss the daily updates.

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  4. That's really too bad about the car. Not so good timing at all, either. I'm hoping that you will find a great car that will fit your needs and continue to allow you to live locally with the little driving you do anyway. Shouldn't be a problem! We'll talk soon to set up a lunch date now that I'm on my new schedule (as of tomorrow)!

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  5. congrats! (on the blog, not the car...) and good luck with car shopping--no fun!

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  6. Very cool! I will take a look at your photos.

    I'd like to something like that but I'm scared I'd miss a day, derail and get really down on myself. (I'm not the best frequent blogger.) But I could take and post at least a picture a day, without a blog per se.

    How did you decide to do the 365 project? Are you just über creative? :)

    -Troy Blomquist

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