Where's Tomas

I'm right here. It's been one thing after another that has conspired to keep me from this blog. First off let me say that my daughter will be getting married in a couple weeks and this has set in motions many time sensitives things. My in-laws will be arriving from England starting next week. So we want to be sure the place looks good. So for example this morning Deni and I get to start finishing the basement shower we're putting in. It really looks great but we need to finish cutting tiles or we'll have the privilege of renting the tile saw for another day at $45. Then my son calls early in the morning to say my car won't start but he's worked all night long and needs a ride home. He says he'll deal with my car when he gets up after crashing all day. Two days later my wife and I went to his Safeway parking lot to see if I can get it going - no car! We figure the Safeway's towing company must have mistakenly towed it and head back home to tell Mathew to deal with it. However, on the way home there sits my car on the exit ramp to route two. That's where my idiot son actually broke down, didn't convey that fact to me then used this ramp as his parking lot for two days. So I guarded the car while my wife went home to get AAA.

Then the tow truck driver feeds me a lot of bull about my car. I had already established it was the timing belt and figured I get around to doing it in a couple weeks since I am so busy with other stuff and to teach my son a lesson about not abandoning my car by the side of the road. Then the driver gives me the bad news that my car is an interference engine and it's destroyed now because the belt went bad.

So I'm bummed all day about it because I've dealt with this tow truck driver before and he knows cars especially Toyota's...perhaps a bit too much. That evening while searching around for a replacement engine I decided to check his facts about my car that he was raving about otherwise. Funny thing is nobody on the net has had this problem with the 1991 Celica. NADA! That's strange I thought. Then I found this nice website that told me the truth. It's lists the cars that have engines with pistons and valves that can smash into themselves should the timing belt ever fail and ruin your engine. If I ever buy another car (because my 91 Celica is so sweet I never want another vehicle - EVER) I will check this site to verify that the cars is NOT an interference engine. Only damn fools manufactures or purchases tens of thousands of dollars worth of complex machinery that is held together with a rubber band. Mine wasn't and the Toyota is so easy to work on, I installed the new belt as well as a new oil pan gasket and front main seal and she's running just fine. The tow truck driver just though he could sucker me out of the best most reliable car manufactured since the days of the slant six.

Then there's the garden. I still have one more brick garden wall to do next to the winding garden path I built linking the brick and slate patios I built. Add to these the veggies I've planted then cultivated and life get real busy. But I'm not complaining...just explaining. I still need to frame up and finish a new room in the basement.

I'll put picture of everything up on the net to prove I'm not lying. Everything is starting to look great too! So look for it and some wedding pictures too.