Ghastly gas prices, Fckin flywheel, Sweating in South Beach, Walking Dead Done, All Anxiety
Of course the latest surge in gas prices is hammering everyone hard. I got a front row seat to just how hard that hit can be. In the span of two days I spent over $250 filling three of the vehicles. Wow.
In our upcoming separation Ali will definitely be in a much better spot when it comes to transportation. The Camry Hybrid is paid off, gets more than twice the gas mileage of the other vehicles and she is cutting almost 30 miles off any round trip that she will be making with her new address.
The Tacoma is the gas mileage leader in my pack rated at 17 in the city and 21 on the highway, yay.
In contrast I will be maintaining a 13 and 16 year old vehicle as well as the SSR which just developed a potentially expensive problem which I will detail next. When I add in the insurance and vehicle registration costs of the three vehicles I have a huge vehicle related nut to manage.
Of course the timing of the SSR purchase, as much as I love the truck is not ideal at all based on what is coming down the pipe for me. Just making the payments for the truck will be enough of a burden. Well Friday a new potential burden arrived.
I took the truck to work as I do on most Fridays. As I am now accustomed to, driving top down on the truck still makes me feel better about life as a whole, my personal four wheeled, topless therapist, even with the sharp turns that are now in my face. The truck seemed to drive just fine while I was out on the road.
Well when I backed into the garage I heard a rattling noise. At first it sounded like it was coming from the passenger side of the engine compartment. I actually shot two different videos so the experts on SSRFanatics could give me some opinions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKGp150QYi0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxUrdM_sXa8
As you can hear, it does not sound good. Immediately all sorts of bad scenarios ran through my head. The last thing I need right now is another major vehicle repair bill.
When I crawled under the SSR it seemed like the noise was coming right from the junction of the engine and transmission. The advice I received indicated there was a good possibility it was coming from the flywheel.
Evidently the SSR 6 speeds are factory equipped with an under-performing clutch set up which includes something called a dual mass flywheel. This flywheel is designed with the intention of delivering smoother starts. Unfortunately this design is not particularly good at dealing with the 400 HP the SSR LS2 motor put out. The forums are filled with 6 speed owners that have gone through flywheels and clutches like mad. It is just a bad design.
Unfortunately there is no way to know for sure until that area is ripped open which is a chore in itself. If the problem is indeed the flywheel I could pay a shitload of money to have another OEM, poor performing flywheel installed and then wait for the issue to happen again.
However the option recommended to me by other Fanatics was to have a guy in Plant City do a swap of the clutch system with one designed for a Vette, a slightly more expensive solution but a much better long term solution.
Well neither solution fits into my financial jigsaw puzzle at this moment so as a result the SSR will be just resting in the garage until that situation changes. So much for top down stress relief sessions.
On Saturday Ali was leaving in the afternoon to head to the east coast for her triathlon. I spent the majority of the time leading up to it doing stuff around the house. I did pretty much the full boat of chores, including cleaning. I figure I might as well get used to it.
Once I dropped Ali off for her trip I headed home. I spent a good portion of Saturday night researching the SSR problem and filled in the rest watching the rest of Walking Dead Season 2. The show is very good but I suggest you don’t get too emotionally attached to any of the characters, there seems to be very few untouchables, anyone seems to be fair game at all times to be next up for Zombieville.
I got up early on Sunday to make the trek across the state with the dogs to watch Ali’s tri. Originally we talked about me getting there before the race but that would have just been a mess between leaving incredibly early and trying to find Ali in the mass of pre-race humanity. Instead I pulled out of the house at a more manageable 6:30 am, figuring Ali won’t be done until 10 am at the earliest since she was starting around 7.
The drive over to South Beach was tough early on as I drove through patches of extremely dense fog. At points my visibility was dangerously short. Nicki was driving me nuts, she was constantly up and down on the passenger seat that was already occupied by Sadie. She was excited to be going somewhere but didn’t quite know why I guess.
As I approached the South Beach area I went over two bridges that already had people out on the bike course. They had the normal exit I would use closed off, luckily I had the GPS along to help me navigate.
As I entered South Beach traffic was a mess because of the closed streets. I had intentions of going to the public garage at 7th & Collins. It took me a long time to get to the garage, carefully navigating the party van through the narrow streets with people buzzing all around. When I did finally arrive I was not happy.
I see the 6’8″ clearance sign hanging over the entrance. I do not know the exact height of the van but I know 6’8″ is pretty damn close. I rolled down the woman and asked her if she thought the van would fit, she said no. Great. I then asked where else there was a public garage. She said up on 13th street so I headed up there.
Well I saw the same 6’8″ clearance sign on the other garage as well however I also spotted a small public parking lot on the other side of the street. That will have to do.
By this time I had to take a leak like mad, something I knew I would be unable to do once I had two dogs attached to me via leash. I locked the van and quickly looked for a place to relive myself. I found a Starbucks around the corner that had bathrooms “for customers only”. I grabbed a small coffee after relieving myself. However as I was walking quickly back to the van I dumped the coffee after one sip, again realizing it would be impossible to drink once the dogs were in the picture.
I leashed up the excited girls, threw my backpack on which contained water and a dog bowl and headed towards the beach. From a dog’s viewpoint South Beach was a wonderland of smells, they were both wanting to stop and sniff something every few feet. I tried to humor them at first, later it became maddening.
On top of that, the sidewalks in much of South Beach are narrow and crowded. I was wrangling the dogs non-stop to try to squeeze past other people without them jamming a wet nose into legs.
Finally I made my way down into Lummus Park, a spot I was familiar with since I played in several volleyball tournaments there over the years. As we walked into the park we saw a bunch of runners, the elite people were running back towards the park, the not-so-elites were just heading out. It was a little after 9 am at this point so I thought that if Ali was close to her goal of a 3 hour race that I might see her running out. The one variable was when her wave started which I had no idea of.
I found a bench along the path that had some shade from neighboring palm trees, giving the girls a good spot to chill out. I sat there for awhile watching the runners go by. I was surprised by the half a dozen or so people that noticed my Tough Mudder shirt and commented as they ran by, fellow Mudders obviously.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg62Kbk7RbM
I eventually spotted Ali running towards us and fired up the Flip just in time to shoot some video of her heading out onto the course. Once she was out of sight I knew we had around an hour to kill so I just sort of meandered about.
As expected, South Beach was once again a spectacular place to just people watch. I saw all sorts of interesting individuals. There was the small group gathered around a black guy singing Christian Rock with a guitar and portable amp. His audience included a chubby guy with a beard that was sleeping along with his full size poodle and her two small puppies.
Then there was the MMA looking fighter dude that was running on the pavement bare footed as he was shooting alternating jabs every few steps. In one store front there was a chubby guy wearing a much too small red, white and blue speedo with matching patriotic top hat and nothing else.
Skateboards are very popular in South Beach. I saw a bunch of people doing a land based version of paddle boarding. They were on long boards with a big stick that had a rubberized end. They did all of the pushing off solely with the stick. I also saw many people riding skateboards in a conventional manner, the funnies tof which was the guy that appeared to be delivering a pizza on one.
There were literally dozens of blog worthy sightings, I almost wish I had a notepad with to jot down some reminders.
So eventually I spotted Ali running back in. The finish line was actually up and over the dune on the main beach area, somewhere dogs aren’t supposed to go. Plus it would have been too hot out in the blazing sun so I thought it best to just stay in the park. As Ali ran by I told her we would stay put so she could come find us.
It took awhile but eventually Ali returned to where we were, the dogs were of course thrilled to see her. Ali briefly filled me in on her race saying she got a flat on the bike and then developed stomach cramps during her run. It was a shame since she really had been training hard to throw a good number up for this race.
Ali said the hotel she was staying at was close by, we could go back there with the dogs so she could shower. We went in a back entrance to smuggle the dogs in. The Hilton actually is pet friendly, unfortunately only to pets that weigh less than 20 pounds. We figured having our 50-60 pound monsters in there for an hour or so would not be a big deal.
Ali’s accommodations were certainly plush with marble floors and granite counter tops and even a bidet. Unfortunately she said she had issues with a very loud altercation right outside her door at 3:45 am during the night.
The dogs certainly enjoyed cooling off on the marble floor. I just hung out in the room and enjoyed the view of South Beach from the balcony.
Ali had made plans to join the woman she drove over with and another guy in his training group for lunch. To be honest I would have been fine just heading out. I was kind of burned out from managing the dogs. I didn’t want to dampen Ali’s plans though so we wheeled her bike, two of her bags, my backpack and the two dogs to a place called The Pink a few blocks away.
We of course had to sit outdoors with the dogs in tow but we also had all of this stuff. I told Ali I would load up all the stuff and walk all the way up to 13th street where I was parked (restaurant was on 2nd). Ali asked if I was sure I wanted to do that as in total I would be carrying three bags as well as maneuvering the bike. I assured her I would be fine and just told her to order something for me and I would be back.
Well in the first block and a half I stopped 4 or 5 times to try new configurations to carry everything. What I finally wound up doing was throwing my back pack on my back in a conventional manner. I then took Ali’s backpack and threw it over my head and under my one armpit, sort of the way some women wear a purse. I then held the remaining bag in my one hand and used the other hand to guide the bike.
It was not a comfortable configuration as the strap from Ali’s pack was pressing against the veins in my neck. Adding to the discomfort was the hot sun and sidewalk that got more and more narrow the closer I got to 13th street. There were many spots where there was barely enough room for one person to pass. Trying to do so with a bike and three bags in tow basically sucked.
I was getting increasingly angry and frustrated as I trudged along, wishing death upon clueless pedestrians that would not yield their right of way. I tried to maintain sanity by viewing the journey to the van like a Tough Mudder challenge. It helped a tiny bit.
Finally I arrived at the van and put all of the items inside. By this time the lot which only had a few vehicles in it when I parked was now jammed with mongers circling about. I was asked “are you leaving” 5 or 6 times during the few minutes I was there.
So now I started walking back at a much quicker pace since I was now freed of my baggage, the only thing I brought back with me was a water bottle and dog bowl for the girls. Ali called me when I was at 5th street, saying the food had arrived. I told her I should be back in a few minutes.
I arrived to a huge veggie burger and a bucket of fries. It was quite good but I resorted to eating it with a fork and left half of the huge bun along with a bunch of fries. It was kind of weird sitting there eating lunch with the other members of Ali’s group acting like we are just another couple. I believe they all know what the deal is so I can imagine it was a bit weird for them as well.
After lunch I asked Ali if we could walk back via the park. I wanted to stop at the bars they have on the beach to do some muscle ups. The bars at South Beach are actually the first place I ever saw somebody do a muscle up in person years ago. I remember thinking how crazy the move was, not able to comprehend how you could do a pull up so hard that you wind up on top of the bar. I didn’t know when I would be getting back to South Beach again so I didn’t want to squander the opportunity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvC4XRMGmmk
I did a couple reps on three different spots, the one set of bars had tons of sway in them and didn’t feel good for muscle ups at all. None of my reps were very clean at all looking back at the video. The best thing was probably my upper body only pole climb. Oh well, it was still fun to mark “Muscle ups at South Beach” on the DONE list.
The drive home from South Beach wasn’t too horrible although navigating the van through the heavy traffic is always challenging. Eventually, after scoring a large DD coffee we were out on the highway heading west.
Ali and the dogs dozed off for a good portion of the journey, all three of them were tired for different reasons. We didn’t wind up getting home until almost 5pm, much later than I anticipated originally.
I spent the majority of the rest of the night working on paying the bills, a process I am getting reacquainted with after letting Ali exclusively handle it for at least 6 or 7 years if not longer. Doing so has been a real eye opener as I looked in depth at some of our spending, identifying tons of things that we were dropping a bunch of money on.
The grocery receipt was a huge example. I realized that we were spending almost $60 a month on BIRD SEED. One box of cereal, $5, my multi-vitamin was an incredible $15. In two weeks alone over $350 was spent at the grocery store, it is insanity.
Now Ali has never been the type to scrutinize expenditures much, her attitude has normally been we can afford it so we can pay it. I have always been the one that policed spending. Admittedly, when it comes to normal spending like this I haven’t done much if any policing just because I let Ali bear full responsibility for the finances. I was being lazy about it.
Well laziness can no longer be afforded in this area. After spending a long time plowing through the numbers I emerged from the process thoroughly depressed. I know we both will eventually navigate our way though this new financial maze but I have a whole bunch of anxiety about how I am going to create that path. The numbers right now do not look promising in the least from my side.