Archive for » September, 2004 «

Replacing Rims

20 Sep 2004 by

Anyone who has hit a curb at high speeds (i.e. me) knows the damage it can do to a car’s rims and tires. There’s a slim to no chance any dent to the outer surface of a rim can be fixed. You’ll more than likely need to replace it.

Having my car towed to the dealer since I have yet to acquire a regular mechanic, they estimated $242 for a new rim, plus additional expenses for mounting and alignment.

Here’s the low down. Most factory OEM parts can be found conveniently online. Dealer’s purchase these same parts and charge extra for profit naturally, plus the hours for labor and additional fees. You can save some money by purchasing the parts yourself. Be careful though about taking the part back to the dealer. They will certainly raise their rates on their hourly labor and or fees recognizing they lost money on a sale. A later post will explain such an experience.

So a web-search for “Mercury Cougar OEM rims” led me to Wheels and Rims where I found a replacement rim for $190.35 (shipping included). A quick trip to Discount Tire and $30 later for mounting and balancing, I was good to go.

Total Savings: $51.65 at least

Category: Automotive Care  One Comment

New Category: Automotive Care

20 Sep 2004 by

It’s without a doubt that vehicles are the biggest money suckers a family can own. Insurance, gas, regular maintenance, and the inevitable repairs (those of you with American-made cars know what I’m talking about) will sink your budget faster than a submarine with screen doors. All this and the hunk of metal/plastic on wheels continually depreciates.

With our continuous efforts to cut expenses, we have learned that a great deal of money can be saved by personally handling your own automotive maintenance and repairs. I have made it a habit that before driving (or towing) one of our cars off to the mechanic down the street, I will first research what really needs to be done to get the thing going on the road again. Surprisingly I have learned that I can save a bundle by doing half – if not all – the work myself.

Sharon has noticed that I have been through this grind a number of times already and suggested that I should begin sharing my experiences. I really don’t have a lot to offer since I am without a degree in Auto Mechanics, but I can throw out a few tips on how to keep a few bucks in your pocket. Perhaps it’ll also give you a little encouragment to take the leap and get under the hood of your own vehicle.

Hence the new category to our site: Automotive Care. I hope you’ll enjoy some of the forthcoming posts on my sometimes terrifying, yet never dull adventures in car care.

Category: Site Updates  One Comment

Oopsies

20 Sep 2004 by

Well, I get the bad sister of the year award. I TOTALLY forgot my brother’s birthday. Sorry Hector. :(
I did think of you and said a prayer for you, but I forgot to call you. :(
But don’t feel too bad, Adam’s siblings get their birthday cards late all the time!
We love you anyway. –sharon

Category: Family  Comments off

AmG tweaks

17 Sep 2004 by

I doubt if anyone has noticed at this point, but I’ve been making quite a few modifications to my work/portfolio related site. Most of it has been “under the hood improvements” so you won’t notice a lot of visual change other than cleaner templates across the site.

The primary goal is to begin participating more with the Flash developer community; writing more frequently on design and development issues around Flash-based applications and games. A secondary goal is to *possibly* pursue more work, as if I don’t have enough to do. Christmas is around the corner and Thérèse is showing no signs of growing any slower, so a few bucks could come in handy. Not to mention beefing up the ol’ portfolio in this area wouldn’t hurt.

Category: Site Updates  Comments off

Therese: The Story of a Soul

13 Sep 2004 by

Friday night a one-woman drama on the life of St. Therese was performed at our parish. Adam and I had arranged for the play to come to our community with the help of several sponsors. It was produced by St. Luke Productions and directed by Leonardo Defillippis.

It was simply beautiful. What a blessing to have the life of this great Saint come to life for us! We had a great turn out with over 400 people in attendance–and lots of youth! It’s been interesting to hear people’s reactions. Everyone we’ve talked to so far loved it. It’s also been interesting to hear how God was speaking to different people through this play.

Margaret and Michael Masny, the actress who played Therese in the drama and her husband (who is also the technical assistant) stayed with Adam and I. They are an awesome couple. They were actually married the same day AND time that we were. I also think they met about the same time we did as well. They are expecting their first child. Please keep them in your prayers.

Category: Events  One Comment

On the Move!

13 Sep 2004 by

I wanted to give everyone a little update on our Little Flower. Therese started crawling last Tuesday evening, September 7! It takes some great motivation for her to do so. And there is only one toy that she would go after–a music toy that my parents got in Japan the year after I was born. Yesterday she actually moved out of her play area toward the dining room. She stop when she saw Adam and I, and demanded we pick her up and take her to the table with us.

She has been sufferring from allergies the past few days. She’s almost over it.
We went swimming yesterday with our friends Brad, Misty and little Anna. (Anna is a month older than Therese.) Therese and Anna have become quite good friends over the past month. It’s so adorable to watch them together.

Last night Therese had her first taste of meat–Turkey and rice baby food. She found it quite tastey…I found it quite bland.

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