The party is over, drunk with power

Yesterday I got a call back from the AC place, they said that they think the problem with the party van AC is electrical.  They referred me to a nearby shop that specializes in automotive electric problems.  I didn’t really follow how it could be an electrical issue but they said that they aren’t seeing the power delivered to the circuit that turns the compressor on.  Ok, well they are the experts.

I picked up the van over my lunch hour thanks to Cindy’s Taxi service.  I asked the AC place what I owed them for looking at the van.  “Nothing” was the reply I got.  “Wow, thanks” I said.  When I used this place once before I recall a similar experience where they only charged me a few dollars to replace a hose. Modern Air on Davis Blvd is the place to go if you have an AC problem.

So I made an appointment for Thursday to have the van looked at by the electric guys.  I already was starting to weigh options in my head.  I was trying to determine the over/under number that I was willing to pay to get this problem addressed. The number I came up with was 500.  Anymore than that and it would fall into the “not worth it” category.

Well on my warm drive home I had the windows down as it was my only source of AC.  At an intersection I hear a “hey buddy” a few times which I ignored.  When the truck next to me pulled up a little further I realized he was talking to me.  He told me that both of my rear brake lights were out, only the high mount third light was working.  I thanked him for letting me know.

When I got home I ripped into the rear lights to see what was up.  I wedged the brake pedal down and saw that one light was totally out and the other was dim.    When I pulled the bulb that was totally out the contacts on the bottom of it looked melted, not good.  I have had issues with the left light before, I actually had to splice in some wire in the past to fix a problem.  I needed some new bulbs which I did not have to try to fix the issue.

While I was out there I got inspired to rotate the tires on the van, something that has never been done.  This inspiration is what lead to my change of heart about the van’s future.  The party van is originally from the snowbelt in Michigan.  As a result the under  carriage of the vehicle is very rusty from the metal destroying salt they coat the roads with up there. When I bought the van in 2009 the rust was bad, 6 years later it is dangerous as evidenced by the two times I lost all braking power when the metal brake lines in the van ruptured due to rust.

Well when I pulled the driver side front wheel the rust problem was in my face.  The first thing that caught my attention was disc brake shield which literally crumbled as I touched it with my fingers.  I then looked at the upper A arm which looked like it was 100 years old, it was that rusted.  I then saw one of the connectors used in the steering linkage that had a rust hole in it as well as rust up and down the entire frame of the van.  In that moment I just thought to myself “What am I doing….”  All it would take is for a crucial support, bolt or connector to snap loose at highway speed to cause a tragedy.

Endangering myself with my own stupidity is something I have done randomly in my life but endangering the lives of Cindy or the dogs for that same stupidity/stubbornness is irresponsible. I called over Cindy to take a look at just how bad it was.  She agreed that it just is not safe and that our need for a van is not crucial at the moment.

Now I have a long history of getting attached to inanimate objects and the party van is another example of that.  It has been integral part of thousands of miles of glorious road trips.  So many memories have been forged behind the wheel of the van it is hard for me to imagine letting it go.  The back of the van is plastered with stickers from the various destinations we rolled through, making it distinctly ours.

The last long trip the van was on was last year when Cindy and I took it up to PA in the middle of a frigid February.  Just like it has for the last 6 years, the van served us well, getting us safely there and back, despite the arctic conditions.  Since that time it’s primary role has just been dog transport along with occasional race equipment transport vehicle.  Cindy and my nationwide drive in the Prius last September shattered the illusion that a big van was a requirement for an enjoyable cross country road trip, making the subtraction of the van from my automotive fleet more of a possibility. Really my biggest issue with letting go of the van is that Nicki loves it so much.  At this point in her life, taking away anything that I know she enjoys is a very hard thing for me to do.

So I would not feel comfortable selling the van to an individual even though I have no doubt I could sell it to someone looking for a cheap way to transport a lot of people.  My plan instead is to donate it to the Humane Society so they can get whatever funds are generated by it’s sale for parts or whatever else.  I can write it off from a tax perspective while putting a few dollars in the pocket of my favorite local charity. Making this mental commitment to get rid of the van was depressing to me, despite knowing it was the right thing to do.  I moped around a bit all night afterward.

Removing a vehicle from our four car home fleet will save a few bucks on car insurance, registration and potential repair costs which is a good thing.  The Prius will become the go to dog transport vehicle.  With both seats down it offers a good amount of room for the dogs to hang out although nothing close to approaching party van comfort.  I still have plans to eventually get another, newer conversion van down the road.  If you can afford to take the gas cost hit, it is truly the way to see the country in my opinion.

So I have no idea what Chip Kelly is thinking.  His moves since being handed responsibility for player personnel decisions have been head scratchers at best and downright dumb in some expert’s eyes.  After saying goodbye to LeSean McCoy and Jeremy Maclin, their best runner and receiver last year, yesterday they announced the traded Nick Foles to the Rams for their oft injured QB, Sam Bradford.  In addition to Foles the Eagles had to give the Rams some draft picks as well.  This was just another move I do not understand.

Foles was amazing in 2013 and more importantly established himself as the type of QB Philly fans like, tough.  He took responsibility for bad performances while being humble about good ones.  In 2014 statistically before he got hurt he wasn’t having a great year but he was still leading the team to wins at least.  To give up on Foles and exchange him for Bradford who had his best year as a rookie 5 years ago and has been an injury machine the last few years just seems like a poor decision to me. If the Birds brought in a QB that was more of the run and gun style perhaps I could provide more of an endorsement but Bradford is probably less mobile than Foles.  I just don’t see how this helps the team.

One positive has been the signing of Byron Maxwell from the Seahawks, a highly rate cornerback.  The obvious intent is to improve a secondary that was rated dead last in the league last year. The Eagles have tried to make over their secondary before via free agency a few years ago when they spent big bucks to sign Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.  Any Eagles fan knows how that turned out.   Asante Samuel before them was an underperformer as well.  The last time I recall the Eagles secondary being good was way back when, Bobby Taylor, Brian Dawkins, and Troy Vincent were patrolling the secondary.

Perhaps Chip Kelly is a mad genius and has a master plan in mind that dumb minions like myself can’t understand. Or maybe, he is just making some very poor moves.  Check in with me in December to see which one it is.