Hey friends, happy Friday. This is the first post in many weeks that has been written while Andrew is still awake. It's 1:34 AM. I find it a bit funny that I go to bed earlier on the weekends than I do on the weekdays. Less homework and all.
It's Friday, so that's pretty cool. I only had three classes today, and they all went pretty well. Kyle, Levi, and James all peaced out for the weekend, so it's just me, Andrew, and Brad officially, but Chelsea is hanging around with Brad and Big Selck is squatting here for the night because he's got a marathon in the morning. It's good to have him around though, he's a good kid.
Me and Andrew had one of our first official adventures today. We decided to go to beto's for dinner tonight. Of course, beto's in now rancherito's. I don't like the name change, but hey, whatever. As we drove down there the van started acting funny. I got a few warning beeps from the dash and then all the sudden my speedometer, odomoter, fuel gauge and every other kind of gauge just dropped down to zero. This had happened once before last year as I drove to Taylorsville, so I knew my battery had just died on me. I knew that meant that my serpentine belt had been off for a few days, so we quickly turned into a parking lot and got a decent spot before really bad things started happening.
We were about 300 meters from beto's, so that was awesome news. We checked under the hood, and our serpentine belt was indeed off. Unfortunately for us, it was totally gone. When the belt has falled off in the past it usually just slips off and stays in the vicinity. This time it was gone, which means it's chilling somewhere in Logan right now. Nobody knows where. My money is on somewhere between here and lee's.
We went and ate our food while the van cooled down. We were really hungry, and working on a hot vehicle isn't a good idea. Something about scalding hot engines and all that crap.
The food was delicious and plentiful, although a ton more expensive than I'd ever be willing to pay. Apparently beto's got posh while Andrew was in Costa Rica. So we probably won't be going back ever, but it was fun while it lasted.
We knew we'd need a new serpentine belt, so we were exploring options. We were really close to a shopko, and we figured they might have an automotive section. We didn't know what belt we'd need, but we figured dad would know. While looking out the window Andrew noticed an Auto Zone about 15 meters south of us. That was a really good deal for us.
Cut to the chase: we got the belt, spent about 45 minutes putting it on, got a nice couple to give us a jumpstart, ran the van long enough and hot enough to charge the battery, and then came home. This marks the first automotive adventure we'd had in Logan thus far.
It also gave me good reason to take a close look at the van. It's been making new angry noises every once in a while at us. Very grindy, seems to happen when we're going uphill and I let off the gas. The tires are completely bald, and one of them is even showing cracks. The transmission still leaks, and it can't hold on to motor oil to save its life. Power steering pump still leaks too- that's why I now supply the power steering instead of the van supplying it. Headlights function, but I'm pretty sure my cellphone would do a better job lighting the way in front of us. The front driver-side door doesn't close unless you do some tricky stuff to it. Other than that, though, it's still running well. Seatbelts still work, seats are still comfy. The windows still go up and down when you crank it.
It really looks like it's almost time for the van to call it a day. It has been a long-serving and faithful part of the family. The odometer reads something over 290,000 miles right now. That might be with two separate engines- I'm not entirely sure about its history before we got it- but still, that's dang impressive. It has been running with a gimped transmission for several years now. It has served us very well.
But it's old, and getting it ready for winter is at least 200 bucks. We have no guarantee on how long the van will hold up, so investing that much money into good tires seems questionable. We don't really need the van up here, since Kyle's got half a vehicle and Brad will have one pretty soon.
So the van's future isn't decided yet by any means, but I think I'm finally ready to accept the fact that it might go soon. I sorta expected it to last me until I got on a mission, and it still might, but we'll see. The next time we go to salt lake might be the last time the van makes the trip. We'll see what Dad wants to do.
I've been thinking about the major, lately, as I do. I think I might have found one more underlying thing that makes me worry about this stuff. When I was thinking about being a teacher the other day (still thinking about that, by the way), I loved the idea because I already feel like I'm a bit of a teacher. I've done it before. In small capacities, yes, but I've done it. I've been around teachers for a very long time. I'm familiar with it. The idea of getting a degree so I could be a teacher sounded like something that would make me better at something. Increase my skills and all that. Make me a better tool.
I think that's one of the reasons it's so appealing. I'm afraid of engineering because it seems like I have to "become" an engineer. Like there's no part of me that's an engineer right now, but that I have four years to transform myself. Just seems very- not me, I guess.
I love the idea of progress. I love the idea of taking me and making me a better me. But I don't fall in love with the idea of changing me entirely. I don't like the idea of, "Well, you're sort of worthless as it is, so let's transform you into an engineer!" I know that that logic is a little bit twisted, but I don't want to lose myself to be an engineer. I want to take what I've already got an apply it. I want to get better, but I want to stay me.
I had a lot of free time today, and I didn't do anything incredible with it. I'm not saying that I feel bad about that or anything, I just sort of wish that I was super good at using my time wisely. I could have learned something good today. I could have made a new friend, or worked out, or read something enlightening. I'm sure that some day in the future I will wish that I'd done more to make myself better when I had such a great chance.
I think I want a book to read. I haven't read a book just to read a book in a very very long time. Reading a book is so noble it feels. Maybe I'll find something.
I'm probably headed home next weekend, unless something changes. I don't really have any reason that I need to go home, but it'd be fun to be back. Mom misses us. And I've got a pretty cute nephew that keeps getting bigger that I'd like to see. Let's not forget to mention all the people in Salt Lake that I'd like to see, that's good stuff too.
It looks like it's time for me to go now. I'm going to a play tomorrow, that should be pretty good. I'm glad I'm in creative arts, it's a pretty sweet class. We're getting there, definitely. This stage of life is different from all those other ones, that's for sure. I've done a lot better this week, which has been really nice, but sometimes I still get a little worried about stuff. It's an interesting battle we fight, living the way we do. But it's certainly better than nothing.
I'm a fan of life. It's time to go though. I hope that you're all doing well. Happy Friday evening. Much love, I'll see you all later~
Friday, September 19, 2008
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1 comment:
lol, good times. I'm glad that you're doing better. Being home is fun. I don't really think that it'd awkward anymore. I like it. We had lunch with Mekelle at Panda today which was fun. I think that teaching sounds like a definite option for you, if that's something that you are conssidering. You've always taught me thing, most of which you probably didn't realize. I think that's one trait of a great teacher, that they don't realize it all the time. What you said about engineering is exactly why I decided not to pursue it. I just felt like a was a fat person trying to wear those skinny jeans that skaters wear. It would be a complete life change for me. I didn't want to try to fit into those jeans. Those aren't my jeans, I like sweats anyway. There's nothing wrong with wearing my sweats, and I can be happier in sweats, they allow for more range of motion. That's honestly the way I visualized it. I actually had a dream about it. Well keep on swimming. I'm sorry about the van.
James Gardner
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