Jerry Loggins » Automotive

Problem solved

Jerry — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:30:31 +0000

My wife is supposed to go to a convention next weekend down to Durham, North Carolina. She has recently been told that she has narcolepsy, a sleeping disorder, and that she is in danger of falling asleep while she is driving a car. As you can imagine, this has put our entire family into a tailspin. If she is in danger of falling asleep while she is driving, then we have to come up with alternative ways for her to get back and forth to work, and to and from the convention.

So we looked into having her take the Megabus from DC to Raleigh/Durham, and then a bus from the station to the hotel. Well the bus stops a couple of blocks away from the hotel, so she could use that for the trip down, but the bus that would return her from the hotel back to the Megabus station does not run on Sunday, so that would not work. A taxi from the bus station to and from the hotel would be very expensive, and since she has never been there before I am a little bit concerned about her being stranded someplace. Another concern is how many suitcases is she going to need to take with her; we don’t know yet what clothes she is going to be packing. We need to find out if she needs to pack any formal wear, or just business/casual attire for the entire weekend.

She’s already found a couple of ladies to share the hotel with the nights that she is going to be there, so that is good. I sure hope none of them snore! She is a very light sleeper. And I hope none of them need to sleep with the television on, either, because she never manages to sleep with any kind of flickering light or noise. That reminds me, I’ll tell her to be sure to pack some ear plugs and a sleeping mask to wear.

Our youngest son found out that she needs to go to the convention and that we’re having issues getting her there, so he volunteered to use a hertz coupon to rent a car, splitting the cost with us, and driving her to and from the convention. It turns out that he has a girlfriend that goes to college at Duke University and he wouldn’t mind going down there and visiting with her for the week-end! Problem solved!

Alternative lifestyle

Jerry — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 02:06:21 +0000

Aunt Martha sent us a postcard from Nashville, telling us that they are having a layover there for a couple of extra days due to unexpected motorhome repairs that had to be done as a result of the damage done to their RV from the big storm that uprooted a tree and dropped it onto their roof. Thankfully they were in the other end of the RV when it happened, so they weren’t hurt, but the damage is fairly expensive and they had to order some parts. In the meantime they are staying in a motel and planning out where they want to head to next. They are enjoying their new life as retired nomads! I’m glad for them, after raising their three daughters and selling their house they deserve to have all of the fun they can get!

Removalists – Movers

Jerry — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:52:14 +0000

It always fascinates me on how different people, in or from different areas or countries, have different words and phrases that they use. The Internet is a good way to see how various things are done or said in different locations. Since the good folks in the “land down under” in Australia use a language that isn’t too awfully hard to understand I enjoy checking out various websites from there. Last night I landed on a site that offers various quotes for Removal Companies, which turns out to be their version of Moving Companies. What a strange word to use for Movers, Removalists, I guess it makes sense though, they do come and offer Removals of all of your belongings!

Of course you can always go to sites over in England and read what is going on over there without too much hassle. I have to admit I still crack up though when I read or hear the word fag that they use for the word cigarette over there. I know, silly me.

I was just a little kid!

Jerry — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:04:26 +0000

Guest post by Linda Branson

When my parents took the family on one of their “we’ve just bought ourselves an RV” trips, we went to some kind of group outing. I guess it was an RV club that they joined. All I remember about it is being bored out of my mind, all of the RVs parked close together in a camp ground and going to a pot luck dinner (we took Swanson’s frozen macaroni and cheese) and then playing a couple of rounds of Bingo. I was very upset because I won the Bingo game where the prize was a curt trailer hitch, and I had no use for one of those! My parents were thrilled, but they didn’t give me anything for it, they just took it from me. I guess maybe that’s why I am not a Bingo fan! Win a dumb prize and have it taken away, why would anyone want to play a game like that!

Custon Luxury Motorcoaches

Jerry — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:07:03 +0000

I found myself at a site that has manufactured and sells some of the nicest Luxury Motorcoaches that I’ve had the pleasure of gazing at, not that I have seen many New Motorcoaches or Used Motorcoaches for that matter, but I’ve seen a few here and there throughout the years, mainly on TV or the movies though. We all know that the rich and famous are traveling around in these types of luxury vehicles on their road trips that keep them from home for days, weeks and months at a time and they know how to travel in style and luxury.

If you want to see some really awesome Motorcoaches you really must visit Libertycoach.com and see what I’m talking about. It is always interesting to see what these types of vehicles look like inside and they have managed at this site to do a good job showing all that you need and want to see without ever having to take a trip down to one of their locations to see for yourself. It’s amazing, and I’ll just leave it at that!

New windshield wipers

Jerry — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:54:19 +0000

The local Jiffy Lube advised the wife that she needed new windshield wipers, so I went ahead and replaced them yesterday for her instead of paying Jiffy Lube to do such a simple task. The wipers we bought were the Rain-X brand. Today my wife was driving the car in the rain and she tells me that for the very first time ever she was actually able to see through the windshield during the rain without a lot of streaking!

Don’t park there!

Jerry — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 04:01:53 +0000

One of the things that I get really annoyed about is when my son parks the car under the trees in the yard. I know that he does it to put the car in the shade; he is trying to keep the interior of the car from getting too hot. I sympathize with his desire to not be blasted in the face with intense heat when opening the car door, I really do. But it falls on me to remove tree sap from car and that is a chore I would rather not have to deal with.

Tree sap is not something that will simply wash off when I take the car to the automated car washing service. And the trees in our yard that my son parks the car under drip a lot of tree sap. My wife suggested that I put something else in that area to block it off so no one can park there – maybe plant a shade garden there. I’d rather put up a “no parking” sign, but I don’t think will help very much!

Gasoline prices slightly lower

Jerry — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 14:58:40 +0000

I’ve noticed that over the past couple of days that the price of gas has been slowly going down. I understand that demand is down because people are cutting back on their travel to cut costs, as a reaction to the bad economy. I wonder how low the price of gas will go?

A good start

Jerry — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:43:56 +0000

I can’t imagine this feature saving many pedestrians where I live, since the speed limit is over 22 mph! It would probably be good in a shopping center parking lot, though. That being said, the feature should also be in the back of the car to prevent the car from backing up over pedestrians. It is a good start, though.

School is back in session

Jerry — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 22:27:39 +0000

This morning I had a dentist appointment to get my teeth cleaned. I was surprised to get stuck behind a long line of slow moving traffic – and then I remembered that schools are back in session. I let out a long sigh thinking I had got stuck behind a slow moving school bus that was going to be stopping every couple hundred feet picking up kids along the way. After several minutes of slow driving I realized that we were not behind a school bus at all – we were driving through a school zone and there were police officers there controlling traffic. I was really surprised how long the line was created by going through that schools zone!

Priorities

Jerry — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:47:10 +0000

Sometimes I wonder where people’s priorities are. I don’ know whether to laugh or cry when my wife are driving around the poorer areas of town where the houses are ramshackle and falling down yet fancy new cars with black rhino wheels are parked in their driveways. I understand that many people feel that their cars are status symbols and want other people to look up to them as if they are wealthier than they are, but I cannot understand how they can justify buying the big fancy expensive cars with the big fancy expensive accessories when the house they live in is literally falling apart around their ears.

Bad Timing

Jerry — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 17:45:16 +0000

There is nothing worse than getting up and ready to head out some where and have your vehicle not start. There is never a good time for this happen of course, but there are certainly worse times. All the running around preparing for the hurricane has kept us busy and I wanted to make a run to the store to pick up a few things that we might need if things get worse than we are expecting them to be. It has all ready started to rain, so I darted out to my truck and darned if it didn’t want to start. Not to big of a deal since we have other vehicles but it just isn’t what I need right now. And the worse part is that I haven’t had the time to buy a replacement battery charger since my last one died on me a few months ago.

Right now I have more urgent matters to tend to but if we manage to keep power throughout the weekend it looks like I will be spending some time on the computer looking for the best deals available on battery chargers. I hope that this whole thing isn’t as bad as they are making it out to be. Some body really ticked off Mother Nature this week.

Time for An Oil Change

Jerry — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 14:41:43 +0000

It’s about that time again to take my truck in for an oil change. I used to do all of my oil changes myself until the price war started between most of the service centers around here trying to drum up business during this economic mess that we are all stuck in. They have made it worth the time and effort to actually have them do it for me.

Cleaning Up New Jersey

Jerry — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 04:00:14 +0000

I have to be honest, I have never been a big fan of the state of New Jersey. I have driven through New Jersey countless times, hard not to do when traveling up and/or down the east coast and I’ve visited a few friends in various parts of “The Garden State” called New Jersey, so I have seen more to it than just looking out the window while traveling on the few Interstates that take you through the state. Not a single time did I see anything that closely justified the nick name “The Garden State” since all that I ever see is the factories and smoke stacks and the pollution and the smells and all the other darkness that comes along with all of that type of industry going on there. And if I remember correctly darkness just isn’t what “Gardens” are all about.

I understand that thebig hit TV show “The Jersey Shore” that MTV is successfully cranking out season after season, has created a new interest in New Jersey and all that it has to offer people, most just like me that haven’t seen the beauty of the state in the past. They have been trying to clean up their reputation and get people to stop their cars and take the time to visit.

I do have a buddy who moved to New Jersey recently and is now trying to find employment, hopefully with Arosa Solar Energy Systems. After receiving his last email telling me that he had an interview lined up with them, I went online and checked out their website which was pretty interesting reading. I didn’t know that some utility companies will buy back from you any of your unused solar generated energy, at their peak rates even, that’s pretty cool. It seems that Arosa Solar is busy with providing solar power to residential and commercial customers that are interested in New Jersey solar energy for a variety of reasons, all good ones. The cash incentives are always welcomed I’m sure which are listed on this web site as well.

I’m really hoping that my bud will be hired, it is right up his alley and would be a good fit. He moved his new wife and baby, their two German Shepherds there with high hopes, a tough move right now in these days of such uncertain economic stress. Crisis after crisis for heaven’s sake, no wonder more people have stopped watching the nightly news. Anyway, next time I think of New Jersey, maybe it will be of New Jersey solar panels and other alternative energy options more and more and less of those daunting smoke stacks. That would be a most welcomed change.

School Buses and Back To School Commercials

Jerry — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 16:34:59 +0000

Every August we are over whelmed with commercials that are advertising all of the “Back To School” sales that are starting for the start of the new school year. It is nice not to have to worry about all of the shopping that is necessary this time of the year since all three of our kids are done with their schooling, at least for now, and are out on their own. I would like to think that some of the kids will go back to school to further their education, but for now they are all working and trying to make a life for themselves in this crazy world that we brought them into.

The only thing that really effects us now is all of the school buses that will be crowding all of the neighborhood streets each morning and afternoon. It can be a real pain to get stuck behind one of these yellow monsters, especially when you are running late as well as the having to deal with the nasty smelling fumes that so many of them put out through their exhaust.