Flaming First Thread

The French Biscuit · Post by **The French Biscuit** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 9:06 pm

It has been. Nothing beats having your own place.
I don't have to hear people walking around in the apartment above or beside me (or both, that was a fun time).
I don't have to keep quiet to keep from disturbing other people cause, guess what? My nearest neighbour is across the street!
Even with utilities included, I'm paying less than if I'd stayed in the basement apartment so financially this was the best option.

The place still looks like I'm living in poverty. I just moved all my old furniture from my parents' place in, so there's nothing for living room or dining room furniture as of yet. But I have my good ol' desk so at least my computer is comfortable.

And I have Hope! One of my Poms from the farm is living with me (semi-illegally since I haven't gone to the town office to get her a license. I can't help it if it's only open one day a week.). She also has more furniture for her than I have for me. My priorities are clearly in order.

Bought an old washer and dryer from my former landlady, but have yet to get them into the house. I can't use my itty-bitty Taurus to haul a washer and dryer, and the cover she has on her truck bed is frozen on so we can't use her truck. So I have to beg for one of the company vehicles. Hopefully after a failed attempt last weekend (my landlady was out-of-town) this weekend will proove more fruitful.

Which would be awesome seeing as I'm running out of clothes.

The French Biscuit · Post by **The French Biscuit** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 9:21 pm

Alas, poor Taurus...

My car may be on her last legs.

I took her to the Ford in town to investigate a mysterious brownish leak coming from underneath the front of the car. The prognosis was not good. There are in fact three things leaking under there and all of them are expensive.

So I have two options:

1) Put another little over $1,000 into it to fix it

2) See about getting a new or slightly-used vehicle

Ford has a Recycle Your Ride promotion where you get money towards another vehicle if you retire your old one. The guy at the shop said my car should qualify because of the year (1997) and kms (over 200,000), but I'd have to talk to a sales guy to get the facts and figures.

My initial reaction is to try for a different vehicle, preferably an SUV or a small truck. Cars just don't do well in winter, especially in semi-rural settings like Fleming and roads aren't that great in Moosomin either. The Taurus is 14 years old already, so it's not like stuff like this isn't going to stop happening. In fact, it would likely only get worse as more important parts start to break down.

I would least have a reprieve for a while with a newer vehicle, since they all start going to rust anyway. And if I can swing even a smallish-SUV it would make it much easier to get stuff for the house, like furniture, rugs, all that stuff, without having to rely on delivery services or the company cars.

It would be a little sad to put the old girl down, I've had the car since high school and it has been nice not to have a car payment every month or two weeks. It still runs, at least for the mean time but the decision will have to be made soon.

Any thoughts or opinions on the matter would be appreciated.

wolf_2099 · Post by **wolf_2099** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 10:10 pm

I just had this problem, I went the new car route.
My girlfriend did this by buying another junker, and also fixing up junkers.

If you can afford the car payments, just get a new (or slightly used) vehicle, it saves a ton of headaches in the long run.

MGM · Post by **MGM** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 1:00 am

A $1000 fix for a 14 year old car just isn't worth it. Very likely it's the first of several repairs that all cost hundreds of dollars.

XIII · Post by **XIII** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 2:43 am

Ditch the Taurus and invest the money you would have paid for repairs into a new car!

The French Biscuit · Post by **The French Biscuit** » Sun Jan 23, 2011 8:26 pm

I have taken everyones advice and I'm in the process of getting a new truck. With winter driving on sometimes questionable roads, and my need to haul furniture, a truck is more suited to my lifestyle now.

I went through my home town's Ford instead of the one in Moosomin because my neighbour told me a very scary story about her dealings with them while we were on our way to see Tangled (which is a fun movie by the way). And we sold a dog to the sales guy at our hometown Ford, so my dad knows the guy and we can finaggle.

Small towns are fun sometimes.

I'm pre-approved for financing, so this Saturday I'll head on over to the dealership. I'll also get some money off by using their Recycle your Ride promotion (turn in your old ford and get money off a new one).

It's a 2011 Ford Ranger (see here). The one I'll be looking at is blue.

XIII · Post by **XIII** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:26 am

BIG car!!

The French Biscuit · Post by **The French Biscuit** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 7:12 pm

Not that big actually. It's a little taller than me (like most things are) and not much longer than the old Taurus.
It's been great to have it though. No more trail of fluids, no more getting stuck in snow drifts or my driveway, it's great. I finally got the washer and dryern that I bought from my old landlady into the house, with the help of my dad, younger brother and the new truck. Huzzah for trucks!
The maintenance deal that Ford has on (pay up front and your basic maintenance costs are covered for the first 5 years) did eat up my small decorating budget which has been a bit of a downer. Just means I have to live with hand-me-down furniture and the pre-existing paint colours for awhile longer.

The French Biscuit · Post by **The French Biscuit** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 10:55 am

I found my old glasses* and my old action figures today. This may be one of the best days in my life.

*I lost my other ones back around Christmas and have been sans-perfect sight since

wolf_2099 · Post by **wolf_2099** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 2:36 pm

The French Biscuit wrote:I found my old glasses* and my old action figures today. This may be one of the best days in my life.

*I lost my other ones back around Christmas and have been sans-perfect sight since

What action figures!?

The French Biscuit · Post by **The French Biscuit** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 4:42 pm

I've got Goliath, Brooklyn and Lexington from Gargoyles, two Wolverines, three Piccolos, Cpt. Jean-Luc Picard, Commander Will Riker, Counselor Diana Troy, ensign Wesley Crusher and two Lietenant Worfs. Oh, and a godzilla from the newer movie not the old one.

It's the Star Trek ones that make me feel like a super geek. :-X

The French Biscuit · Post by **The French Biscuit** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 3:18 pm

That'll learn ya

So I teach now...sorta...sometimes.

I taught an, I'm not kidding, "Introduction to the Internet, E-mail and Facebook" course back in November and have since been assigned a few more courses to teach. I had TWO whole students to teach and I must say, it was quite enjoyable. Mostly because teaching the internet was a freakin' snap.

I also showed them around their snazzy new laptops which both my students had recently purchased. It's good to see the older generation (both of em were into their grandparent years) picking up the shiny fun tools of the youth.

Alas, I was to teach the course again this Monday and Wendnesday but nobody enrolled. *sad face*.

BUT the Introduction to SLR photography, and Intro to Photoshop Elements 9 are still a go.

To the best of my knowledge my Introduction to Design is still on the schedule. Now, if I can just get the course book finished. I'm actually coming up with that course myself, all the other ones had a outline already prepared by someone else (someone probably far better at making these course thingies).

It would be a heck of a lot easier to get the thing written if I wasn't in the middle of reading the Game of Thrones series.