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Palm pre first review

June 11, 2009 – 2:11 pm

I’ve had my new gadget for more than 24 hours now.  I have to say, I’m in love.

The hardware is nice.  The size is a bit smaller than I anticipated, but it fits in the hand very well.  The screen isn’t as big as say, an iPhone, but it’s big enough for the job.  I like the way the keyboard slides out, and it makes the phone curve just a bit to fit better than flat bars when talking without a headset.  The buttons on the keypad are pretty tiny.  I’m almost to the point I can use them without trying to type with my fingernails… almost.  It can be done, but it takes some getting used to.  I have pretty big hands for a woman, so I would bet that others with smaller hands would like the keyboard ok, I don’t know if a guy with bigger paws would adapt to it well at all.  The rest of the buttons are well placed and function very well.  The touchscreen is very responsive.

The software is great.  I will be really happy when they release the SDK and developers start putting out apps for it.  I agree with critics who say this is where the iPhone really beats the pre out right now, but I think once the SDK’s available, that will change.  I do find that changing between things and the action after pressing something with my finger, is a bit sluggish, but then I’m pretty spoiled with my desktop hardware.  I also had to slow myself down with my Mini9, and be just a bit more patient to let things start up or switch over.  :)

I’m not happy with the ringtones, and haven’t found where to change the tones at all for things like the SMS alerts.  That may need to be some of the first apps put out.  At least the ringtones are easy… I just need to transfer some MP3’s to the device and choose them as my ringtones.

I’m also having to adjust to having every contact I’ve ever emailed, phoned, or SMS’d in my address book, including all my Facebook contacts.  The device syncs everything.  So I’ll need to actually USE the speeddial feature, and get more used to searching when I want to find someone.  The search feature works great, and fast, though, so it’s not a huge burden.

The internet is really where the device shines.  Flash isn’t supported yet, I hope they get that update out VERY soon, because a lot of pages won’t load.  But I can go to many pages I couldn’t go to on my regular phone, and zoom in and out with the pinch/spread motion like on the iPhone.

Having my calendar sync seamlessly to my Google calendar is a dream.  I knew I would love having my Gmail pushed to me anywhere, but my GCal is actually *useful* to me now.  I have my GCal set up to exchange information with my Outlook calendar at work, so I can keep everything in order.  It’s very nice.

All in all, I’m VERY pleased.  About the only downside I see so far is battery life.  With internet and email push, I’ll need to charge it fairly regularly (as in every night, plus some extra during the day, most likely).  But at least the cable they supplied works with both a computer and has an adapter for the wall plug.  I got a car charger, and between all of that I should be able to keep in power.  At some point, they’ll release a separate battery charger and I’ll get a spare - one very nice thing is the user replaceable battery.

TheAntiChick | Geeky | Comments (0)

Socks to gloves, well kinda.

May 24, 2009 – 6:23 am

Hey, a crafty post!

I was gifted some lovely Lorna’s Laces handpainted sock yarn for my birthday a couple of years ago.  It took me several months to properly get the socks cast on and started.  It’s taken me many months more to get about 6″ of ribbed cuff knit.  Now I keep pulling the lovely handpainted goodness over my arms to look at the knitting and pretty colors and have finally decided that these will not, in fact, be socks.  I am changing horses (and patterns) midstream and these will become fingerless handwarmers.  I probably won’t do individual fingers, those are a bit more than I want to take on right now.  But I want an actual thumb gusset, not just a buttonhole.  It took me a while to find a pattern on Ravelry last night that I think I can incorporate into what I already have without too much brain bending, since I’ve not worked enough thumb gussets to know what to do without a pattern.

This should be fun!

But, this way I’ll wear these things a LOT more often, and get to see the pretty colors more than if they were socks.  :)  Don’t get me wrong, socks are wonderful.  I’ll probably make socks another time, but I have been needing handwarmers at the office, and this yarn is yummy and I’m halfway toдивани done.  Pics to come when I get all the way to done.  :)

TheAntiChick | Crafts | Comments (0)

Phone woes and geeky lust

May 21, 2009 – 7:45 am

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about tech.  :D

I horked my phone last night.  Yes, ‘hork’ is a technical term.  I stole it from my friend Maggie, it’s a very descriptive term, I like it.

In better news, I’m in lust with a new phone that’s coming out in about 2 weeks, so if I can either get Sprint to flash my phone back to factory settings and fix it, or just limp it through for a few weeks, I’ll be ok.

I spent a couple of hours last night compiling contact information from several disparate systems, culling out and merging duplicates, generally cleaning up a bunch of old data.  This had been on my to-do list for a long time.  I had data in my Google Email, in my Outlook at work, in my Outlook at home, in my Palm, in my Phone, and in my paper planner (though that finally got updated to the Outlook at home).  So now Google Contacts (they’ve finally put together a good, though not fantastic, contacts management system) is my system of record for contacts management… wheeee.  (Google IS the Borg.)

I got the bright idea that I should sync my new clean contacts database with my phone.  I have software, PROVIDED BY MOTOROLA, to do this.  First, I cleaned out my Outlook on my home computer, and reloaded it from Google.  No problem.  I then cleared my phone (after making a backup, aren’t I the responsible geek) and loaded my phone up with my new contacts list, cleaned it up a bit, and was so proud.

Until I disconnected my phone and realized that there were a few odd cases where someone had two mobiles listed and only one synced.  No problem, I’ll just add it manually.  And my phone froze.  I got a flash of a white screen, it told me “no service”, then finally brought service back, but I cannot add a new contact, or modify any existing contacts.  FRAK.  (sorry for the vulgarity, but no other word covers this)

I mess with it a bit, end up clearing all the contacts from the phone, doesn’t resolve the issue.  Ok, fine.  I’ll restore from my backup, since I was a responsible geek.  No joy.  My phone is still horked.  I did get my old contact list back, but the phone is still horked.  ::headdesk::  I will be running over to a Sprint store at lunch to beg them to flash me back to factory settings, if they can, and crossing digits that it works.

BUT, it may all be moot, other than having a pretty decent phone in a drawer as a backup for lost/broken phones, because I am IN LUST with the new Palm pre.  I WANT THIS PHONE.

$199 (AFTER the $100mail-in rebate that takes TWO months to get back, of course, so the initial out of pocket is actually $300 plus the always needed accessories, and with a 2 year contract extension - what else is new) which I don’t *really* have in my budget (though I *do* have a side account that I’ve been slipping money into for incidental stuff like this and I just happen to have about $300 in it… imagine THAT!  :D  It’s not a cheap phone, but it’s not all that expensive and it’s a COOL FREAKIN PDA phone.

Ok, I KNOW I said I was swearing off PDA/phone combos after the PPC-6700 debacle.  BUT.  THIS. PHONE. IS. SO. FREAKIN. COOL.  And it’s a Palm.  Their stuff is historically rock solid.  And I can always switch back to my Razr if it really does crater.  What I have learned in the last - what, year? - with my “regular” phone is that I’m lost without a PDA.  I actually found an old Z22 for $40 at a place that sells old tech just so i could have a PDA again.  And I’m missing having the combo unit, amazingly enough.  And  not having decent web surfing on my phone, especially now with Facebook and LiveJournal??  UN.ACCEPTABLE.  I *need* this phone.  (ok, probably not *need* - but seriously *want*)

So, the Palm pre comes out June 6.  I’m supposed to be a Sprint Premiere customer, but there was a mix-up, so it won’t show on my account until May 27.  There’s supposed to be a pre-release party in either Dallas or Arlington on June 5 for Premiere customers only, but I may have missed my only chance at an invite since my account didn’t show Premiere when the invites went out, I’ll have to see.  They’re predicting shortages… I’m really hoping I don’t have to wait until late summer to get one.  :D  Best Buy is also supposed to have them with the rebate being handled instantly, but I don’t know if they can do the contract extensions there.

I am *such* the geek.  ::sigh::

TheAntiChick | Geeky | Comments (0)

Spring Semester Over

May 13, 2009 – 8:51 am

Okay, I’ve now completed my first semester back in college after I’m-not-going-to-admit-how-many-years. I elected to only take one course since I’m working full time and it’s been that many years since I’ve had to study, memorize stuff, and generally learn things and get tested on them.

The memorization is some of the hardest stuff and I’m still struggling with it.  I need to figure out how to tackle that better.  In the “real” world, or at least the I.T. world I live and work in, there’s precious little that needs to be memorized.  We have reference books, create reference sheets, or have the beautiful interwebs to look up whatever we need.  (Or we shout over the cube wall to our co-workers.)  There just isn’t anything we need to memorize, really.

In the medical world, this is different.  Drug dosages, calculations, signs/symptoms, and certain treatments - these all have to be on instant recall.  You don’t have time to look them up.  So I need to exercise that part of my brain and re-acquire the skills to put information in that part of my brain.  I used to be cracker-jack at it, so I know I can do it again, it’s just something I’m rusty at.

So, come on, girl, how did you do?  (I know you’re dying to know…)

I MADE AN A!!

I went into my finals actually feeling pretty good.  I needed to make about 50% each on my lab and lecture finals to keep my A, and made a 91% on my lab final making it possible for me to waltz my lecture final with somewhere around a 15% (12 - 16% depending on how the instructor worked the extra credit) to maintain my A.  I didn’t study very hard, but I did study.  I just got my grade, and I made an 81% on my lecture final, and have a 96% overall for the course.  Not bad, if I do say so myself.  ::grin::

Now, Summer I starts in two weeks.  I’m taking a couple of easy courses - Concepts of Physical Activity, and Fundamentals of Speech.  Online.  There’s something wrong with taking a P.E. course and a speech course online, but hey, you do what you gotta do.  I’ll be back to the science classes with Anatomy and Physiology in the Fall and Spring, along with Spanish.  (Woohoo.)  That and studying for the TEAS test will keep me busy, and depending on knee surgery schedules will set me up for the Nursing program for Fall 2010 or Spring 2011.

I’m happy today.  :)

TheAntiChick | School | Comments (0)

Wigs and Insurance Companies

May 8, 2009 – 2:02 pm

Ok, I have to say something nice about Aetna today.  (Everyone mark your calendars.)

My kiddo (the 12 year old) as some of you know, has Alopecia Areata (Totalis).  She had the misfortune to have this descend on her last summer, right before the start of her 6th grade year.  We hoped steroids & time would bring her hair back, but so far there’s no sign of it.  (It can still grow back, we’re not losing hope, but we have to deal with the reality of where we’re at.)  So we’ve been getting “regular” wigs which are ok, but present a problem with sports & such - having your hair come off in the middle of a lay-up with your friends all around just isn’t much fun.

The options aren’t great when you’ve got no hair to secure a wig to - there are basically two options beyond what we’re doing — a) wig “systems” that glue on with a variety of adhesives;  and b) vacuum wigs which are made with a mold of your head, require no adhesive but stay on through swimming and all manner of sports and look completely natural.  The vacuum wigs are obviously the best choice, but they’re spendy - on the order of $5,000 each.  They’re human hair, made with a custom head form, and each strand of hair is hand placed and tied (they take 4 months to make), so the cost is appropriate, but still out of most people’s reach.  We’re still finding out what the adhesive “systems” cost, but I’m expecting on the order of a thousand.  (We have an appointment tomorrow.)

Here’s the great part - insurance by and large doesn’t cover wigs unless you have hair loss due to cancer, and then they tend to cap it.  Munchkin is covered by BCBS TX primarily through her Dad’s work (my ex) and with all the trouble I have had with Aetna, the outcome is not as I expected.  BCBS has a hard exclusion in their policies for Alopecia.  They flat out have zero coverage, no way around it, no way to appeal it.  o.O  I also couldn’t get any information out of BCBS until I Googled and found the exact Procedure Code for a wig, as well as Munchkin’s ICD-9 diagnosis code.  Then I called Aetna, expecting the same.  NOPE.  They cover wigs at 90% after deductible if you use their in-network providers (and the place we’re going tomorrow is in-network - YAY).  Out of network is capped at $500.  No way to know yet what limitations might be on the in-network, but we’ll find out.  They also didn’t ask me for a single code, I told them my kiddo had alopecia and needed a wig, and the rep said, yes it’s covered and can I help you find an in-network provider.  O.o  Color me speechless.

Now, here’s a slam for the Feds… if I decided to go ahead and try to get the vacuum wig, I had the thought that I could get reimbursed for it from my health FSA and at least it would be pre-tax and I wouldn’t have to try to finance it or anything.  :/  Wigs are specifically excluded from FSA reimbursement, with no exception.  Pervert rodent fanciers.

So on this front, at least, today has been both good and bad.  We’re probably going to start trying to save for her a vacuum wig, and see if the place tomorrow can set her up with an adhesive system that insurance will pay for (hopefully all of it) in the meantime.

TheAntiChick | Health, Parenting | Comments (0)

Drunken Monkeys and my electrical system…

April 26, 2009 – 9:26 pm

>raman amplifierhen we bought the house, we knew we had a couple of issues.  But the house was for all intents and purposes, what we needed, among a bunch of houses that were determinedly NOT.  We decided we could deal with the issues.

One of them is that we pretty much knew at some point we’d be looking at re-wiring the house.  The house was built in the 1960’s and has aluminum wiring.  Meh.  Not great, but not horrible either, especially after conferring with my Electrical Engineer Father about the possible remediation options.  After we moved in, the oddness of our wiring has become apparent, and especially after this weekend, we’re blaming drunken monkeys.  It’s the only explanation, really.

This weekend started out with signs it wouldn’t be a good one.  I went home early from work with a migraine, found an ice pack, took meds, and crawled into bed in a dark room.  Woke a few hours later to a much warmer room and Kodiak worrying about in a very… well… worrying fashion.  Seems the A/C was out, as was part of the electricity.  PART of the electricity?  o.O  Great.  My headache MOSTLY gone, I got up to try and help suss out the problem.

Several hours later, we’re completely confused, sweaty and more than a little scared and frustrated.  The upshot is that anytime the thermostat tries to kick on the A/C, the lights in the house (about 3/4 of the lights and plugs are affected) come on.  When we turn the blower and/or the condenser unit outside off (by any means… thermostat, fuse in the attic, unplugging the condenser, deadman switch on the blower cover, the appropriate breaker in the box) the power in the house goes out.  My rudimentary knowledge of electrical circuitry tells me this should not be happening.  We think the A/C has blown, and our delicately balanced, watch-out-she’s-gonna-blow electrical system has gone with it.  But it’s Friday, late, and there’s no hope of getting an electrician out on a Saturday.

I do the next logical thing… I call my Daddy.  Who is vacationing in Houston with Mom.  He also cannot fathom why our system is doing these strange things, but agrees we should try to change out the thermostat, and then the breakers.  We do the first (no change) and start to do the second before it’s too late and we decide to give up.  We decide to be on the safe side to disable all of the suspect breakers, which leaves us with battery operated fans and wide open windows all night… sleep isn’t very good to say the least.

The whole next day, we decide to go about our normal plans, which included prom dress shopping for the oldest.  All the while we are trying to figure out a plan of action, which we are pretty sure is going to involve rewiring the house.  Mind you, we located no less than THREE breakers that would a) turn off the A/C blower AND b) turn off 3/4 of the power to the house.  We came to the conclusion that drunk monkeys wired our house, and this must be fixed.  My parents took pity on us poor souls and cut short their visit.  My Dad showed up about 7pm, put a meter on several sections of the breaker box, wandered out to the back yard, looked at the meter, looked at the lines and said, “Well, there’s your problem.”   ::headdesk::  A line had broken at the pole, causing only 1/2 of the electricity to come to our meter and then into our house.  Instead of 240, we were only getting 110, not enough to start the A/C, but when it tried, it completed a circuit somehow and then backfed through the breaker box to light up some of the other circuits, apparently.  Oncor was called, fixed the line, and we’re back in business.

We still have to address wiring issues, like appliances that should be on their own circuit not being so.  And circuits not making sense (like the one and only outlet in the garage has GFCI and when it blows it takes out a wall of outlets in our living room, namely the ones our TV & Uverse box are on) or being apparently overloaded.  But we now have time to do it in an orderly fashion.

And I am reminded that I am a crazy person without internet.  I spent all day Saturday trying to check email, LiveJournal, and Facebook on my phone.  Which is NOT a smartphone.  ::headdesk::  It was painful.

Dad came back up today and helped us get the trees out of the rest of the lines, he said the trees didn’t cause the initial problem, but the Oncor guy insisted they did.  Regardless, the trees needed cut out of the line’s path so that’s done now.  And we had a rare Sunday hanging out at the house.  :)  We were also sure to let the girls know that this is the fun part of being an adult.  No, really.  :)

TheAntiChick | General | Comments (0)

Insurance crap, continued…

April 15, 2009 – 10:43 am

Well, I lost my 2nd level appeal, and have been informed by both Aetna and my HR department that I am not eligible for an external appeal on this issue.  I would assume that it’s because of a denied bill, as opposed to a denied pre-authorization.  I’ve been told I can file a complaint with the Department of Labor.  Fat lot of good that will do.  The next step is a Federal lawsuit, though I imagine the amount in question is too low, and it’s certainly less than what I’d have to pay an attorney to file a Federal lawsuit, as much as I’d love to take Aetna to court.  (though there’s some confusion with the ERISA crap whether I’d be suing Aetna or my employer)

So today I get a call from the collection agency that my bill has been turned over to.  Mind you, I’ve kept in contact with the doctor’s office, sent them copies of every appeal letter I’ve filed, so they know what’s going on.  They apparently don’t care.  Talked to that lady, though I as a rule don’t deal with collection agencies.  She told me I don’t have a choice, because the office will not even speak to me about this account, and will cancel my appointment for June and not let me set another appointment unless this bill is settled IN FULL before that June appointment.  So I told her all about the PT stuff (not the whole long Aetna story, though I did tell her I’d had to fight Aetna over and over throughout the entire process just to get the rest of the bills paid and the surgery approved in the first place.)

So the total bill is less than I thought… it’s not 2 grand, it’s slightly under $1200.  But I have to come up with it and pay it before June, or I don’t get my left knee scoped this summer unless I want to go find another doctor.

The collections agency lady even called the doctor’s office to try to get them to waive this or at least negotiate it down given all the extenuating circumstances, but they apparently have a firm policy THAT SHALL NOT BE BENT, they do not negotiate, and they do not waive fees.  It must be paid, in full, or I lose my appointment-making capabilities.  They helpfully suggested I look at getting a CareCredit account.

::headdesk::  Like I needed this crap, right now.

I suppose I should be happy that I managed to get out of that insurance morass for less than $1200, because this truly is the last of it.

Though frankly, I’d rather go out and turn tricks and save up a hundred grand to pay cash for the next go-round than to go through this again.  But it seems I have no choice.  :(

TheAntiChick | Knee | Comments (0)

Guns on Campus - A Real Debate?

April 14, 2009 – 10:27 am

The State of Texas currently has pending legislation that would allow students who have concealed carry licenses (CHL) to carry their weapons onto college campuses.  HB 1893 and SB 1164.

I personally am in favor of this legislation, but I understand the arguments against it.  What I am tired of, and refuse from this point forward to engage in, is the hysteria, rhetoric and just piss-poor research and blatant disregard for the facts that are being trotted out as “proof” that having guns in college is a bad idea.

“It won’t be conducive to a learning environment.”  Got news for you.  You don’t know who’s carrying in the movie you went to see Saturday night here in Texas, you’re not going to know who’s carrying in your class.  It’s called ‘concealed’ for a reason.

“College students binge drink and commit suicide and guns shouldn’t be in that mix.”  I agree, guns shouldn’t be mixed with a group of people who binge drink and commit suicide.  But this is a red herring, AND THE PEOPLE MAKING THE ARGUMENT BLOODY WELL KNOW IT.  College students are not one amorphous blob.  There are so many demographic groups at college that they have to be broken down.  The group that is binge drinking, doing drugs, getting into barroom fights, committing suicide and any other number of incredibly stupid things AS A STATISTICAL GROUP are the under-21 crowd.  And even for those over 21 that are still behaving badly, getting a CHL in the State of Texas is no small matter.  It’s not cheap (over $250 for the class and the license, plus the cost of a gun and ammunition, range fees for practice, etc. — I was in over $750 by the time I got my CHL) and it’s not a cake walk.  (incidentally, all you have to do to get someone’s CHL yanked is call to a law enforcement officer’s attention that the CHL holder has a gun on them and is under the influence… it *will* be yanked and assuming that is the ONLY thing they’re charged with, it will be years before they can apply for one again — most of us won’t jeopardize our investments and won’t touch a drop if we have our guns with us.)

The people who will likely be taking advantage of the new legislation should it pass:  older returning students, honorably discharged military veterans taking advantage of the G.I. Bill, professors and other staff, and graduate students.  Hardly the “binge drinking, suicidal” problem children being portrayed in every media story, and histrionic prediction of chaos from the Brady Campaign.

Utah allows concealed carry on every campus in the state.  There is also a campus in Colorado where concealed carry is pemitted.  We don’t hear of the ensuing chaos from those places.  Just like we didn’t realize the chaos and Wild West in the streets that was predicted when CHL was initially proposed here in Texas.  In fact, I clearly remember a prominent Dallas law enforcement officer (Sheriff, as I recall) who had publicly decried the legislation and predicted dire episodes of shootings and blood running in the streets - one year to the day later retracting his statement and saying that the CHL legislation had been a good thing for Texas.

“What if I give someone with a gun a bad grade?”  CHL holders are not wild-eyed vigilantes looking for an excuse to mow someone down in a hail of bullets.  Time has proven this.  Almost to a person, we are calm, considerate people who take the responsibility of owning and carrying guns incredibly seriously.  We carry a gun so that we have that absolute last resort option to save our lives or the lives of others, period.  We don’t see the world through a rose-colored haze, we know bad people are out there and bad things can happen, and we know that the police can’t get there fast enough to save us, it’s up to us.  That doesn’t make us raving lunatics or paranoid fanatics.  It makes us prepared for anything that comes.  I personally pray that I never have to fire my gun at anything that’s not painted on a piece of paper at the end of a range, or something tasty that I plan to marinate and have for dinner.  But I also go out each day refusing to become a victim.  I’m a typical CHL holder, and I’m the person who is attending classes and feeling like I have one less tool to protect myself on the long walk back to my car in the dark because someone’s freaked out about the entire concept of civilians carrying guns.

Statistically, I’m not worried about the next Virginia Tech, though we are seeing those situations on the rise, and campus police cannot respond fast enough to prevent multiple deaths.  One gun in the hands of a student in the room, though, could.  Statistically, I’m worried about the rapist or mugger in the shadows of the campus… read the reports sometime.  Why shouldn’t I be able to defend myself or someone else against that threat?  Since so few people on a campus will even be eligible to carry, and only a percentage of them will choose to, I really see this as something akin to the herd immunity sought with vaccines against virii.  The students, staff, and teachers who *can and do* carry will by virtue of their presence, offer a level of protection to the students, staff, and teachers who cannot or will not.  What many people don’t realize is that most attacks will end when the gun is brandished, and the gun doesn’t even have to be fired to be effective in stopping the threat.  Violent crimes go down when an unknown quantity in a population arms themselves, the statistics are as clear on this as statistics can be.

Maybe guns on campus isn’t a good idea.  I think they are, but I’m open minded enough to have a discussion about it and hear your reasons about why they arent.  You’re not going to convince me with histrionics about red herrings and straw men.  Let’s have a clear discussion and debate on the REAL issues, with the REAL players.

TheAntiChick | Politics | Comments (0)

Conficker Worm/Virus Test

April 6, 2009 – 9:24 am

Being the resident computer geek friend for several people I know, I’ve been asked about this new “Conficker” Worm/Virus, and how to tell if you’re infected.  I honestly didn’t know, because I’m sadly becoming less and less of a techie as the years pass.

So I was glad to see a post in my RSS feed this morning with a simple test to see if you have been infected.  Now I can check all of my ‘puters too.  :)

http://www.confickerworkinggroup.org/infection_test/cfeyechart.html

Hope this helps some of you out there.  :)

TheAntiChick | Geeky | Comments (0)

so there’s this suicidal squirrel…

March 25, 2009 – 8:52 am

Sunday wasn’t a good day.

It started out as an ok day, but it quickly went south.

I was heading to church, as I was supposed to do the announcements that day.  I was actually a little early, which is a bit unusual.  I was driving up Fielder, which is the main road by my house, and several squirrels were gathered in the middle of the street.  Gathering nuts, playing, doing something vaguely squirrel-like.

Now, everyone who knows me knows that I really despise squirrels.  In one of the houses I lived in, we had an ongoing war with the squirrels who had invaded our attic, and I don’t care for the fuzzy rodents.  I’d like to see them on the endangered list.  I joke about running them down every time I see their pearly overbites.  I talk about poisoning them and doing really nasty things to them.  I never actually DO any of these things.  I’m too soft-hearted to kill even a creature I can’t stand.  Go figure.  I swerve when they run out in the road in front of me, and it’s actually not just because of the mess they’d make on my tire, as much as I claim otherwise.

So when I see these squirrels frolicking in the street in front of me, I make a generally unflattering remark about the rodents, but I slow my car and swerve (making sure there’s no traffic, because while I don’t want to hit them, I’m not going to hit another car to keep from hitting the rodent.)  I almost made it, but one little suicidal bastard turned back just as I was passing him and ran right under my wheel.  I’ll spare the description.

I cursed.

I continued driving, because there’s nothing to do but curse and continue driving.

That’s when the thumping and grinding started.  ?!?  What in the hell could THAT be?  It was too coincidental.  The brain started coming up with some pretty gruesome pictures, because the only conclusion was that the squirrel had hitched a ride, either on the axel somehow, or in my wheel well somehow.  More likely my wheel well.

I gritted my teeth and kept driving.  It would have to fall off, right?

No, it got worse.  Every time I slowed to a stop, thumping and grinding.  I used to be a Paramedic, I’ve seen some pretty gruesome things, and my overactive imagination started painting a really gruesome picture of what was under my car.

I called home, to warn the husband to fire up the pressure nozzle on the water hose, because I was turning back for home, and needed to take care of this so I could get on to church.

Got home, husband is getting up and getting clothes on, so I grab a towel (since the knee surgery I can’t kneel, so examining car undercarriages involves laying on the ground) so I can see what’s going on without mussing my good clothes.  And find…

Nothing.

Except that there’s a piece of plastic that used to be screwed to the underside of the engine compartment that is now hanging down, flipped back, and apparently dragging the ground and rubbing against my tire, causing all that horrid noise.

We end up scooting off to church in the other car, and I’ve been trying to deal with the plastic cover this week while I’m off with duct tape.  Duct tape fixes everything, right?  Just not for long, apparently, since I have to keep re-taping it.

I called the service department this morning to see how expensive this thing is, and how important it is.  The parts guy had a sense of humor.  He said it’s good for keeping squirrels out of the belts.  ::headdesk::

So I got to drive it in to the service department today on my last day of my mini vacation, and say ‘you see, there was this suicidal squirrel’ and when the service guy asked where the damage was, said ‘look for the duct tape’.  Ha.

One dead squirrel.

$8 for a roll of outdoors tough duct tape

$125 for an engine guard cover, installed.

(and no, hitting a squirrel and ripping up a piece of plastic is not covered under Hyundai’s bumper-to-bumper warranty, but I had to ask)

But hey, everyone but me got a laugh out of it today.

Okay, I did chuckle.

TheAntiChick | General | Comments (0)