Al B. Hard does it Pony Style

Today has been one worth of much ridicule. Here are the low and highlights:

• Low: waking up at 04:30 to find the kitchen floor pooling water that was dripping from the ceiling.
• Low: calling in a personal day for work.
• Low: fretting over how much this was going to cost me.
• Low: pouring chunky milk all over my big bowl of healthy cereal.
• High: finally receiving the insurance claim check from the last home-related incident.
• Low: driving to Buckhead for a 1.5 hour long dentist visit.
• High: realizing that my dentist is also a Mercedes nut and getting his recommendation for a good mechanic.
• Low: returning from Buckhead in rush hour traffic.
• Medium: realizing that, had I worked in addition to all this, I would have been miserable instead of just OK.
• High: hitting Thinking Man trivia (2nd place!) and Gravity Pub Trivial Bingo in one night.

Lucille got operated on today. With Cody’s assistance and Rolf’s guidance, I changed the primary and secondary fuel filters and cleaned the ALDA banjo bolt and line. The resulting changes in performance were nothing less than extraordinary! Improved acceleration, a much more apparent turbo boost, and a smoother, quieter engine. I’m beginning to wonder exactly how well-maintained the ol’ girl was before I got her. Alas, things are getting better all the time!

One noticeable effect of these power improvements is an increase in squeaky noise from the belt(s). This had been happening only in high-torque situations, but now it is all across the acceleration spectrum. Soon it will be time to replace those guys.

In other news, Rolf and I went to fill up with some good ol’ corn squeezins at the makeshift Vegenergy filling station on Dekalb Avenue. Three bucks a gallon including taxes is exactly what I paid for regular diesel last time I filled up, and it’s what I paid today as well — but for bio. It’s totally worth it. Aside from all the numerous practical advantages of going bio, it also smells much better. I’m excited.

The Vegenergy people have got a really cool thing in the works over there. A self-contained unstaffed biodiesel pump is about to be operational 24/7. It is basically a shipping container with a pump and credit/debit machine built in to the side of it. Inside lives the tank(s) of fuel! I meant to take a picture there earlier today, but I’m sure I’ll be back soon.

Based on an article I read earlier, I’m somewhat concerned about the trend of increased biofuel production driving vegetable oil prices higher. Traditional fossil fuel production and extraction has obvious environmental and societal effects. I would hate to think that my attempt to move away from those energy sources might cause the cost of meals and food to increase for those who can barely afford it already. Time will tell, I suppose.

Sunday afternoon is a great time for doing work on the car… especially when it turns out to be very simple! This particular afternoon’s project was the replacement of Lucille’s injection return lines. It was a much-needed service which had not been performed in an unknown amount of time. The Diesel Giant recommends this service be performed every two years, and I am almost certain it was long overdue.

For those interested, the concept is very simple: the injector return lines are woven-fiber-wrapped rubber hoses that run between the small nipples (teehee) on either side of the fuel injectors. Over time, the rubber in the lines becomes brittle and develops cracks, allowing small amounts of unprocessed fuel to escape, soaking the woven wrapping and the area surrounding them in the engine. Fortunately, diesel has a high enough combustion temperature that such fuel leakage is not a fire hazard, but the problem can still affect performance, especially at idle.

Replacing the lines turned out to be much less annoying than Rolf had led me to believe it would be. The most difficult part was using needle-nose pliers to remove the tiny remnants of hose that tended to break off around the injector nipples. Inserting the new hoses was generally as easy as pie, and the results were a noticeable improvement in the smoothness factor of the idle. Not bad for $16 in parts and less than an hour in labor.

Tomorrow’s project will be to clean the ALDA boost system, which will surely be exciting. Anything involving a banjo bolt has to be.

This afternoon Rolf came over to watch me change the oil in Lucille. It was exactly the same as changing the oil in other cars, only much easier, since I have a huge engine compartment compared to the size of my actual engine. That, and the filter is right there on top; nice and easy to reach.

The process would have been completely uneventful except for the fact that I seemed to have a real knack for spilling used motor oil on the ground, myself, and anything else that I came into contact with. Making prodigious use of a roll of paper towels, I managed to get most of it cleaned up, but there are still two rather unsightly spots left on the asphalt “driveway.” I will figure out some clever way to get rid of them soon, no doubt. Maybe I’ll just get rid of the whole driveway! Yeah! Cellular paving here I come… someday.

After the oil change excitement, Lucille and I went over to Steve and Missy’s place for a delicious chili cook-off. There were four five different kinds of chili (mostly pictured), all but one of which was vegan — all were amazing and amazingly varied. I probably ate too much. The Sweetwater 420 keg from the Cattington Acres housewarming party was there, and I arguably drank too much of that — but I just had to help finish, didn’t I?

I arrived at home to find everything mostly in order, but I noticed something strange when entering the driveway…. The dislodged wooden fence pieces had gone missing!

I know this must have happened before today, since I realize in retrospect that they were not there while I was doing the oil changing, but I’m not sure exactly when they were scooped up. I do know, however, that I didn’t really want them anyway, and I suppose that whoever got them — while still an insufferable bastard for having the nerve to steal something — will find them more useful than I had thus far.

The general concept of that occurrence does give me pause somewhat, as it is further evidence of the popular notion that anything not nailed down easily removed will be in this ‘hood. It is rather disappointing, really, but at this point an unchanging fact. Perhaps someday we’ll even have a neighborhood assocation that can organize some sort of collective dealing with this problem. Ahh, dreams.

UPDATE: The case of the missing fencing was resolved a few days later, and theft was not at issue.

Tonight I obtained a beautiful piece of machinery: a dark blue 1982 Mercedes-Benz 300SD (pictured). It is, for its age and use, very attractive. I plan to continue to baby it in every way possible.

Those of you who are familiar with the now-cancelled best-TV-show-ever Arrested Development should notice a resemblance to the car that was driven in the show by Lucille Bluth. While I could not find a picture of the car itself, I can provide a picture of Lucille, for whom my car is named.

I look forward to many hours reading the ShopForum and tinkering all around with her. Hooray!

This has been a big week for ol’ Al and his economy. It all started last Saturday when I showed my Acura to two different interested parties. The first left and promised to call back later. The second, somewhat to my surprise, offered me my asking price on the spot with no haggling. Obviously I accepted.

These developments have had me pleased as punch throughout the week. Today I actually finalized the sale of the car, money-in-bank style. This will come in handy tomorrow, when I close on my new house. I’m sure you’ll be hearing a lot more about that soon.

I got a call from the car’s new owner a few minutes after sitting down to lunch. He had let his redneck friend drive it back from our meeting to Conyers, and the dude was apparently not very smart. He drove it in Tiptronic-transmission mode and didn’t realize he had to shift. So there was lots of red-lining and the car generally got angry at him. But I think it’ll be OK. Not my problem either way, suckaz.