i have lost a substantial portion of skin from my knuckles, and gained two heating/cooling fan speeds. all of these things are in my car.

 

i've lived with only having the two highest speeds for several months now. but with kt and i embarking on a roadtrip to BOSTON [hi rachel!] at the end of next week, i thought it would be nice to hear each other over the blowing fans, and also to not require lens rewetting drops every ten minutes or so. after an oil change, a tire rotation -- and a $97.68 estimate on fixing the problem -- i decided to take matters into my own hands. behold: the magic of the internet.

 

after minimal research, i discovered that i in fact did not need a new reostat, but a new blower motor resistor. i found a forum thread detailing the fairly simple repair, with many caveats regarding the last screw in the process being a real bitch to remove. with this information and a quick trip to autozone [resistor] and the hardware store [7/32 socket], i was ready.

 

do you have any idea how hard it is to get leverage with a socket wrench as your body is completely wedged underneath the dash? ask me, i'll tell you sometime. i managed to get the blower motor disconnected and out of the way, and then it was on to the actual resistor. about three inches wide by four inches long and held in place by two screws, this thing was the bane of my existence for at least an hour. i still can't figure out how they got the damn thing on in the first place, because just as my friendly faceless internet friends had said, it was a real bitch to remove. i could see it, and i could get the socket on, but there was no way i could get the thing to rotate. i can't even begin to tell you all of the things i was yelling. i went back inside to cool off and browse the forum again. [okay, i'll be honest: i did this at least five or six times]. finally [finally!!] i found my solution. whoever it was that suggested using a hex wrench shoved into the socket, instead of the socket wrench itself? i am willing to have that man's babies. it was off within five minutes, and after ten more minutes of putting humpty dumpty back together again, it was time for the moment of truth.

 

i climbed into the driver's seat, let out a deep breath, and started the car. i turned the fan to low. my face fell. crap, i thought. it's not working. i just wasted an hour and a half. but wait -- wait. is that it? a faint sound of rushing air? i turned the fan to medium low; the noise became louder. i had become so used to the WHOOOOOSH of the higher fan speeds, i had forgotten that i could have airflow and still actually be able to hear myself think. it was working! my fans, behold, they were working! i believe at this point i honestly did a WOOHOO!! and then started playing with the fan controls like a little kid.

 

my arms hurt like hell and my fingers are tired and sore. BUT i saved $66.21 and am feeling a little empowered, and not so scared of minor car repairs.

 

tomorrow: removing the interior door panel and possibly fixing my passenger side door lock. i'm on a roll.

 

 

update: door panel was removed and subsequently replaced. unfortunately, all of the suspected problem points were completely unreachable for me. booooooo.

 

it's kinda fun taking stuff apart, though.  :) 

it is ridiculously beautiful outside.

this site has got me rolling. and the bottom picture on this post is just wonderful. i want to see what all the little notes say.

 

update: i like this one too. "don't warm-up anything"

i've had the same rent price for 5+ years and a month-to-month rental agreement since month thirteen. one of my landlords showed up on saturday at 9am[!], letting me know that due to the other landlord's personal health problems, they really have to sell their rental buildings. which is understandable, and makes me sad because they are really good landlords, and good people. he continued, saying that in order to make the buildings marketable, they need to raise everyone's rent to a certain price. granted, the price quoted is the same price i saw in the paper when my new neighbors moved in a few months ago. but it's still a sudden eighty dollar jump for me, with little warning. all of my reasons for staying [good landlords, rolling lease, low rent] may evaporate in a few weeks.

 

acknowledging the inconvenience and surprise of this, he stated that everyone under a month-to-month agreement that signs the new one year lease will have july's rent waived. i don't exactly want to be locked in here for a year, but my choices are limited given this small time frame. and the free month in rent is tempting, as that would offset over five months' worth of the rent increase. i've been scanning the real estate ads in the paper every week for several months, but i am not ready to be buying a house, and most certainly not within the month or two. even though i admit to driving around my town this afternoon, scoping out houses. and even touring one right around the corner. and being tempted.

 

so unless someone hands me the title to a house out of the clear blue sky, it looks like i'll likely be at my current address for another year, saving up for a down payment.