I have a love-hate relationship with my car. Mostly, I hate it. But it's carried me all this way, it's done better than I expected, and I feel more wholly responsible for this car. But it's red, and it's tiny, and it has horrendous decals, and it's not a pickup truck. It gets great gas mileage, even with all of my belongings weighing it down. It moves just a little more quickly than my truck (but not a whole lot).
It did okay over the summer, but when winter came around it needed new tires because the ones it had were bald. I went to replace the front two tires, because the car is front wheel drive so those should be changed first, and was told that the tires weren't even the right size for my car, and the two back tires didn't even match. That was a moment of severe hate towards my car.
Then my car picked up this really cute habit of stalling on hills. I would come to a stop at the top of a hill--very common in Ithaca--and when it was time to go again, the car would sputter and die. And a hill is obviously the best place for this to happen. When it rained I took the very, very long way home so I could avoid traffic and the steeper inclines. Another moment of severe hatred towards my car. Several times over. That caused me to get really nervous every time I was on a hill.
This cough that my car came down with has gotten worse. It doesn't die on flat ground, but it does cough a little when I need to get going. It doesn't like to accelerate around a turn. It doesn't like to move much at all, really. On the advice of several people (plus the internet) I decided to give my fuel filter a change because that can lead to sputtering and slower acceleration. It's one of the cheapest things to fix first, so it's not a bad place to start.
And today is the day that I changed my fuel filter. I did not get my fuel filter changed; I changed my fuel filter.
I went to AutoZone and had them look up which filter I needed. I bought the "quick disconnect" parts (more on those later). I bought a wrench set to get the one bolt off that would likely need to come off (it didn't really). The man helping me gave me a look and asked why I knew what those quick disconnect parts even were.
I got back and depressurized my fuel line. I shimmied under my car and started to disconnect the tubes. I covered my hands in gasoline (but don't worry, I wore my protective sunglasses to keep my eyes clean). I'm staying with family of family right now, and the man of this family came out to see how I was doing and this was also the point at which things stopped being so easy. For no particular reason. These "quick" disconnect tools are little plastic rings that are supposed to slide along the tube and into the fuel filter to release the little clips inside holding the tube in the fuel filter. They are supposed to slide right in. I wrangled the clip onto the tube and tried to slide it in. Tried to shove it in. Tried--while squeezed under my car, which is very low to the ground and not jacked up because I don't have a jack nor do I know how to safely use one--to leverage myself enough to put at least a good portion of my body weight into that tiny piece of plastic to wedge it into the fuel filter.
So the man of this family (his name is Les) says "I have a jack, let's see if more room makes it easier for you." And he jacks my car up for me. It's a little easier, but I'm still making no progress. So he decides to give it a try. 15 minutes of pushing, wrenching, etc., right as we're about to give up, the fuel filter finally comes off. There was no "sliding" and nothing "quick" about that part of the process. The old filter is off. The new filter snaps on and I reconnect the rest of the tubes. New fuel filter installed! I start my car up, re-pressurize the fuel system, check for leaks (none!) and let the car run a minute.
And that, my friends, is how one replaces a fuel filter.
I am so proud of myself. I smell like gasoline. I've washed my hands three times and they're still dirty, but I did something to my car. Something most people pay to have done. What a moment!
I haven't driven my car yet, so I don't know if this will help anything. But even if it doesn't, the fuel filter should be replaced every 50,000 miles or so, and I'm at 60,000 right now and I'm sure it wasn't done before I bought the car.
I still dislike a lot of things about that car. And if this doesn't change the sputtering, I'm still going to hate it pretty regularly. But when it comes time to sell it sometime in the future, I know I'm going to look at it and think about that tiny little fuel filter that's only there because I put it there. It wasn't very hard to do, it doesn't take special skills, but knowing that I did instead of paying someone else to do it is a really awesome feeling.
Also knowing that I sort of impressed the guy that works at AutoZone is a nice feeling, too. He had to check the size of my engine and when he saw my plates were from New York he asked if I was coming or going. I told him I was coming, and probably going to New Orleans. He asked "You drove all the way? By yourself?" (By the way, I think it's funny when people ask "By yourself?" when they're in sight of my car because the passenger seat is just as full as the backseat so it's obvious no one could ever fit in that car with me). I said yeah. He said "Whoa. You're brave." That was a nice feeling, too.
Showing posts with label road trip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label road trip. Show all posts
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Mississippi!
I'm working on my plan for the next part of my road trip and I am so, so excited because this part of the trip--which was completely unplanned until a few days ago--has so many really cool features.
I'm going to Mobile, AL from where I am now, then to Biloxi, MS, but mostly because these places are on the way to where I really want to go. After that, I'll be heading up to Jackson, MS (there's a zoo there) and then I'll be taking the Natchez Trace Parkway up to Tupelo, MS. It's an 8,000 year old path and commercial vehicles aren't allowed to drive on it. It's part of the national park system, so I'm pretty sure it will be awesome. (nps.gov/natr in case you're interested) There's a swamp on the way and I'm totally going to stop and walk through it.
Then, from Tupelo I will go to Oxford, MS. Where William Faulkner lived the last 30 years of his life!!!! Beyond excited! It's also where Ole Miss is, and their center for the study of southern culture, which I might check out since even though I'm not sure I'll ever do it, I'd like to find out more about their Master's program in Southern Studies. There's also a supposedly awesome independent bookstore that focuses on Southern writers. I. AM. SO. EXCITED.
From Oxford--if I can pull myself away--I will go to Memphis, TN to eat my weight in barbecue. THEN! (this just keeps being amazing!) I will followed the Mississippi River back down to New Orleans. I thought I was going to have to use my map and do this the old school way but it turns out that there is actually a guide that directs you along the roads to take you down the Mississippi. Mississippi River Experience! On my way down, I'll stop in Vicksburg, Natchez, and Baton Rouge, and probably Vacherie to go to Oak Alley Plantation since that place is so freaking picture perfect.
I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait.
I got an email about an internship at the Audubon Zoo, the curator telling me when he would be free to talk on the phone. I responded with when would work for me, asking him to tell me what would work best for him. No response for two days! SIR! EMAIL ME BACK! I've been checking my email compulsively. I want this internship so bad! It's with tigers, lions, and elephants! What a really cool experience! And in New Orleans. And it's August-November, so I would be done before Christmas and could come home. If I don't get it, though, I still think I'm going to try to move to New Orleans and start volunteering at the zoo since I need experience and that will at least be a start.
I keep thinking about the AZA conference in September and haven't made a decision about whether or not I'm going to go. I really want to and I think the networking potential would just be enormous, but it's expensive and in Atlanta which could be expensive to get to. I don't know.
Anyway! I'm excited. So very excited right now.
EDIT:
I hit post and then went to check my email and I got a response! Interview tomorrow at 4! Hooray!
I'm going to Mobile, AL from where I am now, then to Biloxi, MS, but mostly because these places are on the way to where I really want to go. After that, I'll be heading up to Jackson, MS (there's a zoo there) and then I'll be taking the Natchez Trace Parkway up to Tupelo, MS. It's an 8,000 year old path and commercial vehicles aren't allowed to drive on it. It's part of the national park system, so I'm pretty sure it will be awesome. (nps.gov/natr in case you're interested) There's a swamp on the way and I'm totally going to stop and walk through it.
Then, from Tupelo I will go to Oxford, MS. Where William Faulkner lived the last 30 years of his life!!!! Beyond excited! It's also where Ole Miss is, and their center for the study of southern culture, which I might check out since even though I'm not sure I'll ever do it, I'd like to find out more about their Master's program in Southern Studies. There's also a supposedly awesome independent bookstore that focuses on Southern writers. I. AM. SO. EXCITED.
From Oxford--if I can pull myself away--I will go to Memphis, TN to eat my weight in barbecue. THEN! (this just keeps being amazing!) I will followed the Mississippi River back down to New Orleans. I thought I was going to have to use my map and do this the old school way but it turns out that there is actually a guide that directs you along the roads to take you down the Mississippi. Mississippi River Experience! On my way down, I'll stop in Vicksburg, Natchez, and Baton Rouge, and probably Vacherie to go to Oak Alley Plantation since that place is so freaking picture perfect.
I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait.
I got an email about an internship at the Audubon Zoo, the curator telling me when he would be free to talk on the phone. I responded with when would work for me, asking him to tell me what would work best for him. No response for two days! SIR! EMAIL ME BACK! I've been checking my email compulsively. I want this internship so bad! It's with tigers, lions, and elephants! What a really cool experience! And in New Orleans. And it's August-November, so I would be done before Christmas and could come home. If I don't get it, though, I still think I'm going to try to move to New Orleans and start volunteering at the zoo since I need experience and that will at least be a start.
I keep thinking about the AZA conference in September and haven't made a decision about whether or not I'm going to go. I really want to and I think the networking potential would just be enormous, but it's expensive and in Atlanta which could be expensive to get to. I don't know.
Anyway! I'm excited. So very excited right now.
EDIT:
I hit post and then went to check my email and I got a response! Interview tomorrow at 4! Hooray!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Lemurs
Yesterday was fun but I didn't take a lot of pictures because my camera died on me.
I went to the Atlanta History Center, which was really nice, and toured their Civil War exhibit and their Atlanta exhibit. They also have some historic homes on the grounds and I wandered through those as well. Pretty cool, but no photography allowed in the grand mansion. A museum is just sort of a museum so there isn't really much to say, but I did like this particular museum a lot in relation to some of the ones I've been to so far.
I did learn a few things, though. There are no Civil War-era buildings in Atlanta. The city was hit pretty hard by General Sherman and what wasn't destroyed didn't survive the growth of the city anyway. And none of the battlefields have been preserved because by the time they got around to thinking about it the land was too expensive for the government to buy. Progress makes me sad. Being at Gettysburg and thinking "It happened right here. Soldiers touched these same rocks." is really awesome. But then, at the same time, there's something to be said for being on a residential street that seems so peaceful and thinking "This was once completely destroyed by war, but look at what was able to grow back." It's a different feeling, and it's not without meaning.
After that I went with the family I'm staying with to Stone Mountain park which is about 30-40 minutes northeast of Atlanta. I wanted to go there originally but was going to bypass it since it was in the opposite direction of all the things I wanted to do here. Stone Mountain is the "Mt. Rushmore of the South." It's a huge granite "mountain" and carved into the side of it are Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson all on their horses with their hats over their hearts. It's lovely.
We hiked to the top of the mountain which gives incredible views of the surrounding area.
We hiked back down and drove the car around to the front of the mountain where the carving is and where a big lawn is. Every night they have a laser light show with fireworks on the side of the mountain. Part of it is a tribute to Atlanta, part of it is a tribute to the South, and the end is a tribute to the United States. They had a Civil War segment, too, which was pretty cool. How many places in the country are there Civil War themed laser light shows? I love it here!
Here are the pictures from yesterday:
Not quite the top, but close. By the power lines is the Atlanta skyline. If you click on the picture you can see it bigger and better.
It's so steep here that there is a railing to hold on to.
Highest point.
And the view from there.
Baby warthogs!
Lemurs! And in this picture you can see their fangs. Did you know lemurs have fangs?! Neither did I until today.
He started to fall asleep like that.
They were so cute!
Baby panda!!! In case you didn't know, baby pandas are a really big deal.
A white peacock! I thought he was very pretty, I'd never seen a white one before.
In case you hadn't gathered from the rest of the pictures, I went to the zoo today. Atlanta has got a pretty awesome zoo. It's laid out a little funny and the map isn't super accurate, but the exhibits are good and it's in a nice park. I had a good time there. And my AZA membership got me 50% off admission! It's doing pretty good paying for itself. I also got a snow leopard Christmas ornament in the gift shop. I plan to have an animal themed tree. At first I thought "this is ridiculous, it's not even very Christmas-y" and then I remembered the cheetah ornament I bought last year and I decided I was already getting myself into it so I might as well keep going.
After the zoo I just explored for a little bit, then went and got ice cream and read a book for a few hours. Went and found dinner. A place called EVOS that is just burgers and fries, but they're grass-fed burgers and baked fries so it's a slightly healthier burger and fries, but the cost isn't any different and everything tasted really good. That was a good, random fined. I saw a Panda Express in a shopping center so I turned in but then I saw a sign that said healthy, fresh fast food and thought I should at least check it out before I committed to fried Chinese food.
I'm leaving for Tampa in the morning. Going to be a long day. It's an 8 hour drive and I'm going to try to leave early so I can get there at a decent time, but we'll see how that goes. Good thing I'm tired right now, hopefully I'll get to bed early so I can be up by 7 and on the road by 8, in Tampa a little after 4. That's the plan!
Time to pack up so I can read and then get into bed early.
I went to the Atlanta History Center, which was really nice, and toured their Civil War exhibit and their Atlanta exhibit. They also have some historic homes on the grounds and I wandered through those as well. Pretty cool, but no photography allowed in the grand mansion. A museum is just sort of a museum so there isn't really much to say, but I did like this particular museum a lot in relation to some of the ones I've been to so far.
I did learn a few things, though. There are no Civil War-era buildings in Atlanta. The city was hit pretty hard by General Sherman and what wasn't destroyed didn't survive the growth of the city anyway. And none of the battlefields have been preserved because by the time they got around to thinking about it the land was too expensive for the government to buy. Progress makes me sad. Being at Gettysburg and thinking "It happened right here. Soldiers touched these same rocks." is really awesome. But then, at the same time, there's something to be said for being on a residential street that seems so peaceful and thinking "This was once completely destroyed by war, but look at what was able to grow back." It's a different feeling, and it's not without meaning.
After that I went with the family I'm staying with to Stone Mountain park which is about 30-40 minutes northeast of Atlanta. I wanted to go there originally but was going to bypass it since it was in the opposite direction of all the things I wanted to do here. Stone Mountain is the "Mt. Rushmore of the South." It's a huge granite "mountain" and carved into the side of it are Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson all on their horses with their hats over their hearts. It's lovely.
We hiked to the top of the mountain which gives incredible views of the surrounding area.
We hiked back down and drove the car around to the front of the mountain where the carving is and where a big lawn is. Every night they have a laser light show with fireworks on the side of the mountain. Part of it is a tribute to Atlanta, part of it is a tribute to the South, and the end is a tribute to the United States. They had a Civil War segment, too, which was pretty cool. How many places in the country are there Civil War themed laser light shows? I love it here!
Here are the pictures from yesterday:
That's the carving! Davis front, Lee in the middle, Jackson in the back.
In case you hadn't gathered from the rest of the pictures, I went to the zoo today. Atlanta has got a pretty awesome zoo. It's laid out a little funny and the map isn't super accurate, but the exhibits are good and it's in a nice park. I had a good time there. And my AZA membership got me 50% off admission! It's doing pretty good paying for itself. I also got a snow leopard Christmas ornament in the gift shop. I plan to have an animal themed tree. At first I thought "this is ridiculous, it's not even very Christmas-y" and then I remembered the cheetah ornament I bought last year and I decided I was already getting myself into it so I might as well keep going.
After the zoo I just explored for a little bit, then went and got ice cream and read a book for a few hours. Went and found dinner. A place called EVOS that is just burgers and fries, but they're grass-fed burgers and baked fries so it's a slightly healthier burger and fries, but the cost isn't any different and everything tasted really good. That was a good, random fined. I saw a Panda Express in a shopping center so I turned in but then I saw a sign that said healthy, fresh fast food and thought I should at least check it out before I committed to fried Chinese food.
I'm leaving for Tampa in the morning. Going to be a long day. It's an 8 hour drive and I'm going to try to leave early so I can get there at a decent time, but we'll see how that goes. Good thing I'm tired right now, hopefully I'll get to bed early so I can be up by 7 and on the road by 8, in Tampa a little after 4. That's the plan!
Time to pack up so I can read and then get into bed early.
Friday, June 10, 2011
The ATL
I left Knoxville late this morning and made the drive to Atlanta.
I think I like Atlanta more than Knoxville. First impression is better anyway. I got a little used to Knoxville by the time I left it, since I get oriented in new places pretty quickly, and getting that sense of where things are makes me feel settled a little, but I don't know. I like Knoxville, but I don't know if it's the place for me. When I went to New Orleans last year it took me 2 hours into the first day to fall in love with it and from there my love for the city just grew. That's what I want it to be like when I pick a place to live now. The cost of living in New Orleans is pretty high, but I think I'm going to look again and look for some jobs and see if I have any luck.
If I haven't figured out what to do or where to go by the end of my time in Tampa, I think I'm going to do a drive through the Deep South to get a look at some places there. And I'm going to look on my way down through Georgia because on the way through near the coast I liked it an awful lot. We'll see. I'm back to square one, I think.
I've been thinking, again, some more, like always. And I have myself more confused than ever before. I know what I would really like to do, but I don't know if I would really like to live on those wages, living month to month and not having room in my budget to make me feel safe and comfortable. I did that in college for 3 years and it's stressful and unpleasant. I think a job I really loved would make it worth it, but I don't know if a mediocre job would. If I'm working two jobs to make ends meet, I want one of those jobs to be the thing I really really want to do. Not cleaning kennels at a vet clinic. If I'm running my savings out, I want it to be for a really awesome internship. If I went to the Himalayas to save snow leopards all I'd want is shelter and food, I wouldn't care about anything else because I'd be doing the coolest thing in the world. But if I'm miserable at my job, I at least want to be able to go to the bookstore once a week without thinking about how it's going to mess up my finances for a whole month.
So I don't know where to go, what to do, what to settle on. I hate the idea of just barely coming out on top every month and I hate the idea of giving up the idea of what I want to do just to make a little more money. I don't know where the compromise is.
That's what I have to figure out. On top of the whole where-in-the-world-do-I-want-to-live thing.
So there's all of that. Tomorrow I think I might go to the aquarium. They have a whale shark!
I think I like Atlanta more than Knoxville. First impression is better anyway. I got a little used to Knoxville by the time I left it, since I get oriented in new places pretty quickly, and getting that sense of where things are makes me feel settled a little, but I don't know. I like Knoxville, but I don't know if it's the place for me. When I went to New Orleans last year it took me 2 hours into the first day to fall in love with it and from there my love for the city just grew. That's what I want it to be like when I pick a place to live now. The cost of living in New Orleans is pretty high, but I think I'm going to look again and look for some jobs and see if I have any luck.
If I haven't figured out what to do or where to go by the end of my time in Tampa, I think I'm going to do a drive through the Deep South to get a look at some places there. And I'm going to look on my way down through Georgia because on the way through near the coast I liked it an awful lot. We'll see. I'm back to square one, I think.
I've been thinking, again, some more, like always. And I have myself more confused than ever before. I know what I would really like to do, but I don't know if I would really like to live on those wages, living month to month and not having room in my budget to make me feel safe and comfortable. I did that in college for 3 years and it's stressful and unpleasant. I think a job I really loved would make it worth it, but I don't know if a mediocre job would. If I'm working two jobs to make ends meet, I want one of those jobs to be the thing I really really want to do. Not cleaning kennels at a vet clinic. If I'm running my savings out, I want it to be for a really awesome internship. If I went to the Himalayas to save snow leopards all I'd want is shelter and food, I wouldn't care about anything else because I'd be doing the coolest thing in the world. But if I'm miserable at my job, I at least want to be able to go to the bookstore once a week without thinking about how it's going to mess up my finances for a whole month.
So I don't know where to go, what to do, what to settle on. I hate the idea of just barely coming out on top every month and I hate the idea of giving up the idea of what I want to do just to make a little more money. I don't know where the compromise is.
That's what I have to figure out. On top of the whole where-in-the-world-do-I-want-to-live thing.
So there's all of that. Tomorrow I think I might go to the aquarium. They have a whale shark!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Roughin It
So tonight I'm camping. And currently updating from the wonder that is my iPhone. I woke up this morning frustrated by the idea of staying in Knoxville another day just on case there was an interview with another dog shelter. There isn't. Anyway, I also awoke thinking that all I wanted to do for the day was sit in a park and read a book.
I've been talking about camping this whole time but every night when it gets close to the time I would have to we out to do it I just feel tired and lazy and would rather go someplace where a bed has been prepared for me. But since I wanted to be outside all day anyway it made sense to set up a campsite early and just stay for the night. And that is what I did.
Of course, it rained for the first time since I've been here today. And rained quite a bit. And of course my tent leaked in no less than 3 places. But sitting in my tent reading and listening to the rain was still a good time.
I had planned on staying at a campground 10 minutes from town so I figured I would just drive in for dinner. That campground was actually more of an RV park and I didn't think I would fit in there. So I decided to move on and look for someplace else. Now I'm about 30 minutes out of town and don't want to drive all the way into town for dinner. So I had a mango for dinner. I cut it up using my handy dandy Cornell ID tag which is a sharp enough to double as a box cutter.
Also important to note is that my phone won't let me scroll to where I want and type so I can't see what I'm typing and I'm using my phone. Excuse nonsense phrases.
I decided to reorganize my car a little bit. Towards the end of the packing experience I just started throwing thins in and over the course of my journey things have gotten pretty jumbled. I made some changes in where things were and made some progress, I think, at getting everything stacked neatly instead of thrown in. And some things I need to get to are in better spots now and things I won't need for awhile are more hidden away. It looks better, anyway, and befell like I did something useful today.
I think I'm getting camping neighbors. Maybe they'll share some food.
What else!
I have no idea what I want anymore. None at all. Going down to Tampa, tomorrow probably, to stay while I figure it out. I also might rethink Knoxville. I like it, but I don't love it. Who knows. This is why I need to keep thinking. And applying for jobs. I don't like not having a plan. It makes me uneasy.
One of the reasons I thought this trip would be good for me is because I always plan everything out and want to learn how to just go with it better. But I had a scheduled itinerary for the whole trip down and two days into Knoxville without a plan and I was going crazy. Now that I know I'm going somewhere else I feel better, but I've got a plan in my head already. So it's not really working. But I think I should still try. I want to explore the deep south some. We'll see.
I've been talking about camping this whole time but every night when it gets close to the time I would have to we out to do it I just feel tired and lazy and would rather go someplace where a bed has been prepared for me. But since I wanted to be outside all day anyway it made sense to set up a campsite early and just stay for the night. And that is what I did.
Of course, it rained for the first time since I've been here today. And rained quite a bit. And of course my tent leaked in no less than 3 places. But sitting in my tent reading and listening to the rain was still a good time.
I had planned on staying at a campground 10 minutes from town so I figured I would just drive in for dinner. That campground was actually more of an RV park and I didn't think I would fit in there. So I decided to move on and look for someplace else. Now I'm about 30 minutes out of town and don't want to drive all the way into town for dinner. So I had a mango for dinner. I cut it up using my handy dandy Cornell ID tag which is a sharp enough to double as a box cutter.
Also important to note is that my phone won't let me scroll to where I want and type so I can't see what I'm typing and I'm using my phone. Excuse nonsense phrases.
I decided to reorganize my car a little bit. Towards the end of the packing experience I just started throwing thins in and over the course of my journey things have gotten pretty jumbled. I made some changes in where things were and made some progress, I think, at getting everything stacked neatly instead of thrown in. And some things I need to get to are in better spots now and things I won't need for awhile are more hidden away. It looks better, anyway, and befell like I did something useful today.
I think I'm getting camping neighbors. Maybe they'll share some food.
What else!
I have no idea what I want anymore. None at all. Going down to Tampa, tomorrow probably, to stay while I figure it out. I also might rethink Knoxville. I like it, but I don't love it. Who knows. This is why I need to keep thinking. And applying for jobs. I don't like not having a plan. It makes me uneasy.
One of the reasons I thought this trip would be good for me is because I always plan everything out and want to learn how to just go with it better. But I had a scheduled itinerary for the whole trip down and two days into Knoxville without a plan and I was going crazy. Now that I know I'm going somewhere else I feel better, but I've got a plan in my head already. So it's not really working. But I think I should still try. I want to explore the deep south some. We'll see.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)