It's morning somewhere

Rocky Girl wants to know, who says, "think outside the box"? She wants to get IN the box! She does her BEST thinking there! Unfortunately, the box is already full.

I can hear her yell, "get out of my box, Grey Feather!"

Cotton doesn't care, one way or the other. He just wants to slink by, enroute to...he only knows.

Happy Friday! As always, check out the wonderful animal pictures linked for Friday Ark at The Modulator.

Labels: Cotton, Friday Cat Blogging, Grey Feather, Rocky Girl

Rocky Girl and Grey Feather.

Happy Friday! As always, check out the wonderful animal pictures linked for Friday Ark at The Modulator.

Labels: Friday Cat Blogging, friends, Grey Feather, Rocky Girl

Cotton knows he's cute! He likes to rub it in, every now and then. My stuff was sitting on the chair, ready for me to grab on the way out the door. Maybe, he wanted to go, too.

Happy Friday! As always, check out the wonderful animal pictures linked for Friday Ark at The Modulator.

Car - Continuation from last Friday. I had to work last weekend. I noticed the car was making the noise, again. In fact, Sunday morning, it was horrible! I probably woke everyone in the neighborhood. At lunch, I took the car to "X" and dropped the key in the drop box. I started walking to the car rental place in the 18 degree weather. Thank goodness! I had my ear warmer and gloves in my pocket! When I arrived at the rental place, I found that they aren't open on Sundays. Good thing I had a cell phone with me.

Monday, "X" called and told me the rocker arm bearing was bad. The guy said it also had some interaction with the serpentine belt which was causing the noise... They could fix it that day, but they also noticed the oil pan had a leak. I had noticed some oil spots in my drive. I was hoping it wasn't my car... I told them to fix it, too. He said one of the parts weren't in, but would be on Tuesday. I went back to the rental place and rented a car. That afternoon, snow and freezing ice started dropping from the sky. When I got home, late, there was a message saying my car was finished. Of course, those were the coldest days of the week. Stupid groundhog.

Labels: car, Cotton, Friday Cat Blogging

The week before last, I posted a picture of Lady Fortuna in her pet taxi. To get that picture, I had to take several pictures because sweet kitties, such as today's featured Friday Cat Blogging model, Rocky Girl, think they should get all the attention.

Happy Friday! As always, check out the wonderful animal pictures linked for Friday Ark at The Modulator.

So, my kitties wanted me to tell the story about my car. The story starts in August or September of 2007. I took my car to a fixit place, we'll call this one "X", to see why it was making more noise than usual. They checked it out and told me I needed a catalytic converter. They would have to order one, and the price would be about $900 total. I told them to go ahead and order it. They had me pretty convinced I needed one. The next day, I called my favorite fixit place, "Y", and asked them how much it would cost to replace. They said they could have the part overnight expressed - and it would cost about $600, if I wanted to bring the car in the next day. I did. They installed it. The noise didn't go away.

About a week later, "X" left a message that the catalytic converter was in, and I could call to set an appointment to get it replaced. I feel bad about not calling "X" and telling them I already got it fixed.

I took my car back to "Y" and asked them to diagnose the noise. They said I needed motor mounts and it would cost about $400, but they couldn't fix it right away, and anyway, if I decided to replace the car, that was putting big money into it. The rep (who I really like and trust) said the car should be okay for a while without getting that fixed. So, I bought new tires, at "Z", for the winter.

I was thinking about the motor mounts when it came time to have my tires rotated. I asked "Z" if they fixed motor mounts. They said bring the car in and they'd take a look. They rotated the tires and told me I needed strut mounts and two new struts.

(My cousin and others have told me that my car could use new struts, so I figured that would be a good investment.) That cost about $600. The noise was still there, but since it didn't seem to be worsening, I forgot about it.

The other night, a different noise appeared. The next day, I took the car to "X" (they're closer than "Y", and they've been pretty good in the past). They advised me that the motor mounts had collapsed. I asked them to go ahead and replace. It ended up costing about $500. Finally, the problem seems to be fixed.

Labels: car, Friday Cat Blogging, Lady Fortuna, Rocky Girl

Well, I have to admit, I didn't vote yesterday. I got up too late to stop on the way to work. I thought about stopping in between jobs, but my car had other ideas. It started making this nasty high pitched noise.

It sounded like a microphone squealing, so I thought it might be the radio. I turned that off. The noise persisted. I turned off the heater. The noise continued. I got to work and hoped I'd make it home once my shift was finished. I made it home. The car sounded really sad, though.

Once home, I had to worry about getting the car to the shop in the morning. I figured out which route would be best (less hills, traffic, etc). Well, I got in the car this morning, started it up - no noise. I started driving toward the shop - no noise. About half way there, the noise started up. I was so happy to get the car to the shop without it breaking down!

The car is now fixed, and my mother assures me that it's fine I didn't vote. She doubts it would have made a difference. I know what she means.

Labels: car

These kitties were hanging around at my friend's bird feeders. I'm sure if they waited long enough, some birds would come along and they could have a snack.
What goes best with the kitties in the picture above? Why bagels, of course! I was surprised that Sam's Bakery carried these kind of bagels. They're so big, you can only carry one at a time!

Happy Friday! As always, check out the wonderful animal pictures linked for Friday Ark at The Modulator.

Labels: birds, Cotton, Friday Cat Blogging