Chrissy hates me!

And I don't know why, I try to take VERY good care of her. . .

My friend decided to take a look at her today. She is still saying "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" and now I can't get her over 65 mph. . .You know what's bad. . . when the most knowledgeable mechanic you know says "I don't what causes that. . ." He said he's not sure where that noise is coming from but he took off the exhaust plate and it seems to be coming from there. He's thinking Catalytic Converter (part of the exhaust system) is clogged. He wants to take it to his mechanic friend and see what he says. Ok that's fine, no problem.

Car comes back from mechanic friend. . . exact quote "tell her to buy a new car." My friend is PISSED. He cannot believe he said that. He asked what he thought the problem was and he said a bearing in the Engine block broke loose. My friend said oh so you saw it. . . well no but that's all we could come up with. Wow...just wow. Then he said well she has a "____" and those are known for engine failure. Ok I dunno WHO he spoke to about that but my car is NOT known for engine failure its actually the opposite. You usually can't get the engine to die. So my friend decided they are stupid and kept messing with it. He raised the idle so it wouldn't kill on me and said take it to Midas and have them check the Cat Converter. *sigh* ok.

Meanwhile I posted the 'symptoms' on Facebook and got a BUNCH of replies. My BFF's fiance said its the cat converter. Her car did that back in the day and he changed it and all was well. I told my mechanic friend and he said hmmmmm definitely need to get it looked at.

Took it to Midas to get it checked. . . on my way there the damn check engine light WENT OFF. Great. Luckily it still had a history of recent codes. They pull Cylinder 3 misfire AND Mass Airflow Sensor. Ok a LONG time ago we discussed just replacing the MAF in my car. The part is $175 + tax and its RIGHT on top. Easily changed with a Phillips screw driver. They quote me $565.00. I started LAUGHING. He said the cat converter is fine. I said are you sure!??! He said yes its the MAF and this is what it costs. I laughed again, thanked him for his time and walked out. My friend said are you kidding me!? That is a rip off!!!

So I am driving away and the Engine light comes back on. . . you B***H!

So with ALL of that I still have no idea what's actually wrong with her and I have a headache and this REALLY sucks! Guess I need to start looking for something new :(

Chrissy strikes again....

Soooooo in my last post she was acting a little crazy and my mechanic was saying gotta be bad fuel since it out of the blue started having acceleration issues. She worked fine all weekend and yesterday. Still not as zippy but not 'dying'. Well I am on my way to work this morning and she is NOT happy. When I press the accelerator I SWEAR I hear a very faint whistling noise. I can still get her to about 72-75 but I hear like a whistle. I wasn't sure if it was my vehicle so I did some tests. It was her. When I push the gas pedal there is a barely audible whizzing noise. . . WTF is that?! I text my friend. He is like its all good we will work it out. I get about 5 miles from my office check engine light comes on, oh great! He said he'll take a look at it before he heads out for the day. I get there and tell him she is saying "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" when I accelerate. He said she is NOT saying "weeeeeeeeeeee". I start her up and he pulls the throttle. She said "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" and he started laughing. He said it sounds like a belt pully. . . um alright. He'll check her out in the morning.

As long as she is still running OK he isn't too worried. He said take it to Autozone and have them do a diagnostic test so we know what the error is and get a fuel filter. Okee Dokee.

They run the test . . .Cylinder 3 misfire. . .I dont have a fuel filter I have a fuel screen. . . which is in the tank. Oh for crying out loud . . .really?! They said misfire = spark plugs. . . guess we are changing them out again.

My car's name is Chrissy....

....short for Christine!

My car has given me issues on and off since I hit that thing on I-10 back in 2007. I used to say tread but as much damage as it did I am not sure I didn't hit a hunk of metal or concrete. Now granted for having such high mileage AND being dinged up on the inside she runs pretty well and definitly lives up to her zoooom zoooom status. Well today she went all weirdo on me, living up to her name, Chrissy!

I left work early today to go to the Dr. I was running late (its a 5 min drive without traffic but traffic was BAD!) so of course I was zooming in and out of traffic to get there as quickly and safely as I could and all was fine. Dr appt went well so I headed home. I decided to get gas before getting on the interstate so I stopped at the place right outside the parking area. Well Friday traffic is ridiculous so it was stop and go for about 5 miles. Once I got out of the city it was clear sailing....except for me. I tried to pass a truck and I noticed I had limited pick up. Odd she was working fine just a little while ago. So I gun it and she is just NOT having it. I got her up to about 75 MPH and left her there for fear of a catastrophic melt down.

I texted my mechanic friend (I know I know BAD for texting while driving). I said "Thoughts...? My car is possessed...I set the cruise on 75...on flat I10...its going up and down between 70 and 78...then foot on the accelerator and couldn't get above 70...it actually decelerated. It seems to be ok now....but what causes that...?!" He said "hmmm that's odd, I just changed her plugs and oil and she was fine". I said "well I just got gas". He said "Oooo you may have gotten a small amount of bad gas or you may have a small amount of trash in your tank." So all the way home she kind of didn't want to go and I thought I heard a noise but I wasn't sure if it was just the wind or something. I went buy some StarTron (E-10/gas tank cleaner) and hoped that would help. I can't have a broken car I have two Bridal Showers this weekend and one is mine! We shall see. . . .

Where were you when the world stopped turning...

...9/11/01, I think most every American remembers every detail of that day

Where was I. Lets see I was getting dressed for an event but not a happy one. We were going to pay our respects to a wonderful father, grandfather, husband, veteran. My best friend's grandfather had passed away a couple of days before and today was the funeral service. I was standing in my bedroom in our little college apartment near LSU. I had just pulled on my black skirt when I heard my other best friend frantically yelling for me to come see. She had turned on the Today show, I think, while she dressed and was staring in horror at the burning north tower of the World Trade Center. I didn't even hear what they were saying all I understood was a plane had hit it just minutes ago. As they were reporting what was going on and her and I was talking, a plane came into view and crashed into the south tower. I stood there with my best friend, jaw slacked as the realization of what was happening sunk in. I honestly don't know how long we both just stared at the chaos but there we were half dressed about to go to memorial service as our nation was being attacked. Finally she said we have to go we are going to be late.

The funeral was not close to where we were...it was about a 2 hour drive from us in a place we call "down tha bayou". We drove down a deserted I10. It was the eeriest thing I have ever experienced up to this point. We drove in silence as we listened to the only thing on the radio. . .the breaking news. Another plane had crashed into the Pentagon and yet another in a field in Pennsylvania. They were talking about how President Bush was on Airforce One bouncing form Air Force Base to Air Force Base until the threat was contained. At one point it was reported that he had landed in Shreveport but had already departed. After an hour or so of this her and I had had our fill of horror. We knew we would have to be there for our other Best Friend. . .so we turned it off and put in an N'Sync CD to try to clear our heads. As we arrived down the bayou we saw an area cornered off by state police and armed troops. This caused us immediate dread and to turn the radio back on to see what else had happened. To our horror we were informed that the towers had fallen. It was surreal. I was just there 2 years before, looking out from the observation deck with my step mom and step brothers. How can this be happening?

The funeral went on as if the days events weren't happening. Although it was stated numerous times that they were glad he passed before this happened because being a decorated veteran and proud American seeing this would have killed him. At the grave site we were informed why we saw the troops and state police. Turns out there is some sort of oil reserve in the area and it was deemed a possible secondary target.

It's crazy the memories that stick with you during such a traumatic event. I watched my friend's grandmother breakdown. She threw herself atop the casket weeping. At the gravesite we stood there with our two friends as their grandfather was put to his final rest. Of course we were teary eyed and were thankfully wearing sunglasses. . . their great Aunt walked up to us and thanked us for coming for them. . .then she made me crack up laughing (which I had to fake as a cough). She came up to me and said "you look very pretty, I really like that skirt." Thanks :). Then she said "You know I am a seamstress right? Well if you need me to show you how to fix a hem I'd be more than happy to." And she grabbed the glistening silver staple I had used to fix the hem and winked. In all the chaos of the morning I didn't have time to stitch the falling hem so I stapled it thinking no one would notice.

I remember every detail of that day. 10 years later and I can recall it like it was yesterday. Who knew when we woke up on 9/11/2001 our world would be forever changed.