Sunday Ride!

Well it was great weather today.
I spent the morning rotating the Tires on the Escape. Then came in for lunch.
Weather was so good I had decided to go for a ride. I asked Mary if she wanted to go but she said no. Her knee is hurting too much.
I Rode up Route 53 up to Butterfield road.
I then cut east over to Finley. But that was slow going. Butterfield did not hold up to the winter this year. Finley was very good. I rode down Finley till it turned to Belmont. I cut over on Prairie to Downers Grove Main Street and rode down Main Street Downers Grove.
I always like riding through Downers Grove Main street. It is so nice going through there. Wish it was longer but it is still nice. I then rode down Lemont road and took the frontage road just north of 55 over to Woodridge drive. Then I came home.
When I got back Mary said she wanted to go so we both went out for a short ride. Just a quick ride around Woodridge till she said we had to go back because of her knee.

Now the house is filled with a wonderful aroma.
Jordan is making us some French Onion Soup!
I love that he is taking Culinary at TCD!
Can't wait till supper!

Great Weekend

The weather was great. Clear Sunny and above 45 most of the time.
Saturday we took Jordan for a college visit to Robert Morris College for the Culinary Dept. It was very impressive. The chef was very clear on the goal of preparing all students to be ready for a career with the capabilities of filling every function required in the industry. It was so impressive that I started thinking I would like to go. But Jordan was his usual self and kept his thoughts very close and did not really say what he thought.
I think he is set on going to College of Dupage first then transferring to a different school to specialize. Then I was able to go out for a ride. I went over to Heritage HD and looked at the new models and checked what it was going to run for the annual checkup for my sporty. I still have to put a little bit more on my account.

Sunday, I went shopping with Mary, Sometimes this is our time together all week to chat without interruption from the boys. We talked about Jordan. We agreed that we just couldn't really tell what he thought of the Robert Morris College. We know he was impressed but no details.
Later I was able to get my truck cleaned out.
For the last few months whenever doing work on the cars in the driveway I had left tools and parts in the truck cab for easier access.
Now that the brakes are fixed I cleaned all that out so I can drive around without the rattle.
I also had to replace the spring that locked the hood latch shut. I went to Auto Zone and asked if they had a spring like the one I had in my hand and the Nylon rivets that I had to remove to open up the covers so I could get at the hood latch. The guy said yes then walked me over and showed me the nylon rivets. We then went to the front counter and he looked up my truck to see what the spring part number was. He said... we don't carry that part. Go to Loews or someplace like that. They will have a spring.
I walked back to the shelf and a couple places down from the nylon rivets was a universal spring. (cut to length and bend out to hook up. I took that and the nylon rivets home and fixed my truck... funny how that guy was willing to send me to a different store just because he didn't think about the universal spring.
Well anyway. I fixed the hood latch and then had plenty of time to go riding after. Went for a good long ride but there are a lot of potholes on the roads I use for a short ride. Had a lot of dodging and weaving back and forth in my lane to stay on a smooth surface. But other than that it was a lot of fun. I am looking forward to a long summer of riding.

Expensive couple of weeks here.

I have had to spend spend spend this last few weeks.
New Refrigerator... Old one works well as a Freezer. Just don't like frozen veggies and milk all the time so we got a new one.
The day it was delivered the Cloths dryer broke down.
New one arriving ... Friday.
Got my truck fixed (see previous post)
Now last night my son's van quit working....
It is in the shop now.
haven't heard back from them yet, but come on!
Stop already!
Everything else better keep working!


Hey good news just hit. The van starter is still under warranty. They just fixed it! Cool!

I have my truck back!

I have had a lot of work done on my truck. I had to have a brake job but was not able to get the repairs done earlier.
I had had a brake job done a few years ago and when I was in Wisconsin not 1 month later the brakes locked up on me. I had to force them back out on the side of the road to get going. I drove home and parked the truck. It was less than 1000 miles from the brake job and I had to park my truck. This was a painful situation for me. I have missed my truck. I had taken it for a few estimates and every shop had quoted me well over $1000.00 for the work. A couple actually quoted me over $2000.00
We got our tax return and decided to fix the truck.
I had to replace the battery, It was the first new battery for this truck. But still where to take it was the question.

Last year we had taken Jordan's van to get some work done. We took it to Automotive Services in Downers Grove because it was convenient for picking it up after work. They are right by the train tracks.
They did excellent work and for a fair price.

So I took my truck to them this week. Well they called me and stared listing all the things that were wrong. Calipers, Pads, Rotors, and the busted brake line going to the back. There will be a lot of labor involved. So I was waiting for the worst.
and he quotes me $700.00.
Really? I said.
"Well, I could charge you more if you want me too, but I just wouldn't feel good about it." He said.
No I will take that go ahead and fix it.
So I went to pick it up.
"Sorry, we ran into a bit of trouble with the brake line. It would not pass any pressure test as soon as we replaced one piece, the next one would burst. Essentially you have new brake lines all the way from the front to the back but we were waiting for the final part. ."
So here I was expecting a huge difference in the bill. Guy working on the truck showed me the parts.
The rotors were toast. The pads had shattered. The Calipers as you can see are in terrible shape.

Then he showed me the brake lines.
First he fixed this section,

and then this one,

then this one,

Then this one,

then this one was the one that we were waiting for.

Well they finished up and the guy says... "Well it will be a little more labor then I quoted you... But I am not going to charge you for the extra brake line sections.
Just the original one I quoted you. But I have to charge the labor."

"Really, So what is the final damages?"
$800.00
I about fell over.
Now I have my truck back! Yea!
And I don't feel like I was ripped off at all!

I am very proud of my boy

Jordan came home from school on Friday with some interesting news.
At TCD where he is taking culinary school, Jordan has been very happy taking the hospitality classes. These are the classes that teach the students the customer facing rolls. Taking care of tables, taking customer orders, preparing their food and delivering to the table. He seems to really enjoy this hands on portion. He has come home with stories every day of what they have done that day.

The Chef called each student up to his desk to show them their current grade.
He showed Jordan that his is getting a 93 in the hospitality portion of Culinary School.
The Chef then told Jordan that he has been chosen to be a server at the banquet on March 12th. Only 8 student where chosen from the afternoon session to be servers at the banquette.
He was chosen because of his good grades he is receiving in culinary classes.
Yes he has been so intent on doing well at TCD that now he is already getting recognition for his accomplishments.
Yes we are very happy for him.