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So much Blazer maintenance, oil change, serpentine belt, coolant flush, etc.

Sledgstone — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:37:24 GMT

A couple weeks ago the Blazer's service engine soon light came on. I went to Advance Auto Parts and used one of their scanners to find out I had a 'Coolant below thermostat threshold' error code. Basically, my coolant needed to be replaced and also my thermostat, then possibly the coolant temperature sensor. A couple days later I went to Valvoline instant oil change and had them do a coolant flush and also replace the serpentine belt. The serp belt I could have done myself, but the guy told me it was a lifetime warranty and they'll replace it free of charge whenever it starts showing alot of wear, so I figured it would be a good deal because I'll probably need at least one more belt in the next 3-4 years and it saved me the hassle of doing it myself in 30 degree temperatures.

The service engine soon light did not go off. I figured it wouldn't, because I would need to replace the thermostat too. Then I got snowed in at my house after a 2 foot snow storm. The car didn't drive anywhere for a couple days. Then on last Sunday, when I was about to go to the local grocery store, I noticed a gas smell. I went to the store and when I came back I noticed the smell still. Turns out the fuel line near the tank started leaking a steady drip of gas. wtf. I didn't have much daylight left so I got under the car, eventually found the pinhole leak, and I proceeded to patch it by placing a piece of cut hose over the hole and then use hose clamps to tighten it down. I must have over tightened it and it started leaking again which pissed me the hell off because at that point I was soaking wet from melting snow/ice (2 feet of melting snow) and pooling gas. After my hands went numb from the cold gas and my arm was killing me because I was awkwardly positioned under the rear differential, I decided to do a really cheap ass move and cut the finger off a nitrile throwaway glove, wrapped it around the pin hole leak, and clamped it down with four zip ties. Its held for a week now with no additional leaking. O_O I was going to take it off and hose clamp it correctly with my piece of hose, but another issue came up.

About 3 days ago, the car started making a weird ticking sound after I initially turned the car on. It only lasted for a couple seconds, but I thought it was a bad sign. Turns out it would only do it when the car was sitting for more than a couple hours and the length of time the ticking would last for depended on how cold it was outside. I went back to Advance Auto parts and had them test the alternator and battery because alternators, batteries and starters are all connected to a ticking sound during ignition. The battery and alternator were fine. He couldn't test the started because it would have to be off the engine, and on top of that he said that test would only check to see if the starter can start a car, which is not the problem because the noise only happens after the car is turned on. The guy was pretty knowledgeable and he suggested I do an oil change and use a oil filter with a drain back valve. I guess he meant anti-drain back valve because he told me I probably had oil sludge starting to build up and after the car was sitting for a while, the oil would accumulate in the oil pan and that ticking sound was the thick oil slowly making its way back up to the top of the engine. And that a good oil filter would prevent the oil from draining down completely to the oil pan, which is what an anti-drain back oil filter does. While I was there, I went ahead and bought the thermostat.

So, today, I did the oil change on the blazer. I spent the extra money and bought a penzoil full synthetic oil with cleaning additives ($28 for 5 quarts, costly), and I bought a Fram Tough Guard oil filter ($8, $5 more than other filters) which has a 'anti-drain back valve built into it'. I just finished the oil change, my coat is soaked because the tarp I put down over the melting snow/ice was a piece of crap and soaked straight through. Anyway, I started the car up after the oil change and no ticking sound. I'll find out tomorrow morning if the ticking sound is completely gone. I still need to do the thermostat, but my coat is soaked, I need a new tarp and I think I'm going to wait until next weekend when its 40+ degrees again. From what I read, a bad thermostat only causes a little worse fuel efficiency, so I figure if its not damaging the car, it can wait another week.

lmao

Ladywriter — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:30:21 GMT

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/th...the-med-menace

stupid Stupak

Ladywriter — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:38:10 GMT

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908..._show#35718090

way back in July

Ladywriter — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:56:09 GMT

YouTube- Bill Maher: Democrats Are the New Republicans

*sigh*

~the dream team~

Ladywriter — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:19:29 GMT

YouTube- Ron Paul Questions Hillary on $1 Billion London Fortress

if only these two would team up n take over the white house :blush3: they would get so much shit done. we wouldn't be playing war games...

All my old blog attachments... gone. (fixed)

Sledgstone — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 02:04:46 GMT

A single setting on my test vbulletin 4 (which uses a copy of this forum's databse) screwed up all my blog attachment images. And they've probably been screwed up for about a week. :x I just found out and it really annoys the hell out of me because if I remember correctly, the damn setting on vb4 wouldn't let me change the directory, it only said "Click here to import your blog attachments into the new attachments structure." So I clicked it thinking nothing of it. The images loaded, except here it is a week later I finally realize that it moved the images from the directory on the live forum instead of from the directory from the test forum. Damn! POS! -_-; At least I still have copies of everything and I should be able to fix everything by putting the copies back into the right folder. I hate it when a program makes me waste time.

BACK OFF! Rachel Maddow To Glenn Beck

Ladywriter — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:37:49 GMT

YouTube- BACK OFF! Rachel Maddow To Glenn Beck

:bringiton:

Saturn Timing chain... the car will soon be dead.

Sledgstone — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:12:17 GMT

Last weekend I heard a noise and I knew the end was coming for the car. The timing chain is going. It started making a slight noise months ago which is why I stopped driving it on the freeway... but now its so loud just idling I was able to take a video of it.

I haven't gotten a quote to replace the $35 part, but I know it will be huge because to replace the timing chain, you have to remove the engine and take apart half the engine. That would cost more than what the car is worth. As it is, I'm pretty certain the chain will break the next time its driven somewhere. And when that thing breaks it'll seize up most of the engine. The car is in it's death throws now. But I can't complain too much, seeing as its been totaled previously, been resurrected, and driven for almost an additional 2 years.

13 States with Pending Legislation or Ballot Measures to Legalize Medical Marijuana

Ladywriter — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:04:20 GMT

(as of Feb. 10, 2010)

1. Alabama 2. Delaware 3. Illinois 4. Iowa 5. Kansas 6. Maryland 7. Massachusetts 8. Missouri 9. New York 10. North Carolina 11. Pennsylvania 12. Tennessee 13. Wisconsin

Zelda: Twilight Princess - Requiem for a Dream/Tower

Ladywriter — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:57:21 GMT

YouTube- Zelda: Twilight Princess - Requiem for a Dream/Tower

Visualizing The U.S. Electric Grid

Ladywriter — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:08:38 GMT

Visualizing The U.S. Electric Grid

well this about pissed me the fuck right off. Look at NM and AZ.
the coal industry is blowing up mountains because dumb fucks like the people of NM and AZ aren't using the natural abundant resource at their disposal.

The Chihuahuan Desert

The Mojave Desert
The Sonoran Desert

Brit Hume the fucking scumbag

Ladywriter — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:50:42 GMT

YouTube- Brit Hume: Tiger Woods Must Become Christian To Be Forgiven

christians are so disgusting
cheat steal rape kill destroy, all forgiven so long as you accept their deity
sickos

Patriot Act: Extended But Not Forgotten

Ladywriter — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:51:48 GMT

In late December, Congress voted on a 60-day extension for the
expiring Patriot Act provisions. The extension came as part of the
Defense Department Appropriations Act, which the Senate is expected to
pass in the coming weeks and extended the provisions through February
28, 2010.

The expiring provisions -- the John Doe roving wiretap provision,
Section 215 or the "library records" provision and the
never before used "lone wolf" provision -- all lack proper
privacy safeguards. They were up for renewal last year and would have
expired on December 31 if Congress did not take action. Given that
Congress could have taken the easy way out by simply renewing the
expiring provisions, this small extension is a huge opportunity. Now
both chambers will be able to give these provisions and various
proposed changes to the Patriot Act the time and debate they deserve.

The two bills most likely to move forward in the coming weeks are the
House's USA Patriot Amendments Act and the Senate's USA
Patriot Extension Act. The Senate bill has been endorsed by the
administration, but the ACLU has several reservations about that
legislation and is still hopeful the House bill which provides much
better civil liberties protections will be the bill that passes both
chambers.
Learn more about the USA Patriot Amendments Act and the USA

Patriot Extension Act. http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=bM7U64faVCBXV3A2Wh9a

Mini White Castle burgers aka sliders

Sledgstone — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:50:07 GMT

I got a mini burger grill kit for my birthday and I figured I'd celebrate the new years with some white castle style burgers. Except they turned out nothing like white castle burgers. X'D

I didn't do anything special with the meat so there is no fancy recipe, its just basic burgers made small.

1) Heres the mini burger press.

2) I put a couple small meatballs size balls of meat and made some mini patties:

3) Heres what the mini burgers look like compared to regular size:

4) To try and get some white castle flavor, I sprinkled some season salt on the burgers and loaded them with chopped onion:

5) I put the top on the mini burgers and put them on the grill over a medium heat:

6) I had to put it on the grill so the handle sticks out the side. Turns out that the front of my grill has a bit of an over bite to it and pushed the mini burgers up in the air when it closed. With the handle sticking out the side tho, it wasn't nearly as bad.

7) After about 7 minutes the burgers were almost done, so I flipped them over and covered them again for another 5 minutes.

8) Here they are done, you can see how much they shrunk. Next time I'll use 90% instead of 80% meat. They shrunk way too much.

9) While the burgers were still hot, I put some thinly sliced pieces of cheese on them and the cheese melted a bit which turned out great.

10) Heres where they don't taste like white castle anymore. I decided to use potato dinner rolls instead of regular rolls or buns. If I knew they'd turn out this small I would have bought the party size mini rolls. Oh well, I doubled up the burgers and put half a stackers pickle and some ketchup and mustard on it.

11) Instead of french fries, I decided a good side dish would be some ribs and a baked potato. :drool: So I tried some dinosaur bbq sauce for the first time on ribs. It turned out really good.

12) And heres my new years eve dinner:

:drool:

Ditto attacking empty catnip bag

Sledgstone — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:45:06 GMT

Poor Ditto didn't get a fresh bag of catnip for Christmas. So he got pissed off. x_x

YouTube- Ditto attacking empty catnip bag