Auto Repair

[Allen]

When I was young my head was always under the hood of a car. I spent many a night working underneath cars as well. Now days you have to dig through shrouds, covers, countless hoses, turbo's, connectors, sensors, large plastic tubes, gizmo's, and wtf's just to find the engine so I mostly let the "new" young guys handle that when needed.

Mostly, as I've aged and become somewhat arthritic and stiff I simply can't reach the parts on the engines. Pick ups are a good example, they keep making them larger and larger yet the engines are made smaller and smaller. More HP and torque but dimensionally smaller engines that are hard to reach sometimes.

[fguffey]

Dipsticks: A friend couldn't find his dipstick so he purchased a new one, he could not find where it was supposed to go so he brought it to me. I misunderstood, I thought he could not find the dipstick because he lost it. AND THEN (?) but before that I had called the manufacturer of the vehicle, they instructed me to drain the oil and change the filter. After that they gave me the instructions on how to mark the new dip stick.

F. Guffey

[Allen]

Dipsticks: A friend couldn't find his dipstick so he purchased a new one,

Sometimes referred to as 710, 710 caps, or 710 dipsticks by blondes.

[Mark in Ottawa]

It took me a minute to understand the cartoon with the deer. I've been lucky enough not to have ever hit one but I was about 30 seconds behind a woman who did so. Fortunately we weren't driving at high speed but she certainly got a serious dent in the front.

[Allen]

It took me a minute to understand the cartoon with the deer. I've been lucky enough not to have ever hit one but I was about 30 seconds behind a woman who did so. Fortunately we weren't driving at high speed but she certainly got a serious dent in the front.

It happened to me once at 4:00am on the way to work. I saw the buck on the opposite side of the road and slowed down. He waited till I got right up on him then he darted out. I hit him with the right side of my car so he almost cleared.

I had just dropped collision insurance on that car it being my work car and the fact we had just bought a new one, so I was left holding the bag on repairs. Though it was a big car it had a fiberglass front (header) that got broken. This part holds the headlights, grill and so forth so I had to replace it all. Ended up costing $2,000. That was years ago too.

[Sandpebble]

I once killed a kangaroo with a 1967 Volkswagon Beetle .... was a fatality for both the Roo and the Beetle ..... and Roo meat tastes like chit

[dogtag]

Those cartoons gave me a good laugh, especially the
too short dipstick and the 710.

[Mark in Ottawa]

I once killed a kangaroo with a 1967 Volkswagon Beetle .... was a fatality for both the Roo and the Beetle ..... and Roo meat tastes like chit

When I was visiting Melbourne I had the opportunity to try Kangaroo as an appetizer at dinner. I found that it looked a little pale, like veal. The meat was covered in a heavy red chutney or something so that you really couldn't taste the meat itself. When I saw it in a display at the Sydney fish market, it had clearly been marinated in a heavy sauce of some sort so I suspect that the butchers and chefs were making an effort to improve the taste

[Allen]

When I was visiting Melbourne I had the opportunity to try Kangaroo as an appetizer at dinner. I found that it looked a little pale, like veal. The meat was covered in a heavy red chutney or something so that you really couldn't taste the meat itself. When I saw it in a display at the Sydney fish market, it had clearly been marinated in a heavy sauce of some sort so I suspect that the butchers and chefs were making an effort to improve the taste

Reminds me of crayfish (crawdads, mud bugs). They look like small lobsters but live in fresh water swampy areas like shallow swamps, drainage ditches and such. I use to have a couple as pets in one of my aquariums . The people here in the South go ape chit over them particularly around the Louisiana area.

Some of my co-workers would cook them and pass them around. They are always cooked with crab boil (a mix of spices) which gives them a crab boil flavor. I once asked one of the "cooks" why they were never cooked like a lobster or shrimp and served with melted butter. He said they have sort of a dirty taste. I said, well that should tell you something. You can cook anything in crab boil and it will taste the same, why cook bugs?

Needless to say, I don't eat them and never have.

That Kangaroo meat would taste just like crayfish if cooked in crab boil.

[Johnny P]

Just like putting a ham hock in a pot of peas, to enhance the flavor. The peas don't tast like a hog.

[Allen]

Just like putting a ham hock in a pot of peas, to enhance the flavor. The peas don't tast like a hog.

Need more hog.

[Ltdave]

It took me a minute to understand the cartoon with the deer. I've been lucky enough not to have ever hit one but I was about 30 seconds behind a woman who did so. Fortunately we weren't driving at high speed but she certainly got a serious dent in the front.


It happened to me once at 4:00am on the way to work. I saw the buck on the opposite side of the road and slowed down. He waited till I got right up on him then he darted out. I hit him with the right side of my car so he almost cleared.

I had just dropped collision insurance on that car it being my work car and the fact we had just bought a new one, so I was left holding the bag on repairs. Though it was a big car it had a fiberglass front (header) that got broken. This part holds the headlights, grill and so forth so I had to replace it all. Ended up costing $2,000. That was years ago too.

all i need is another 1/2 deer and im an Ace.

first was an 8-point with my 99 Super Duty crewcab diesel. not a mark on the truck but the deer had a broken back or hips. Sheriff deputy dispatched him and i gutted it and took it home and processed it.

second was a doe that ran out and hit my right fender right behind the corner marker/headlight. it got spun around and i had a difficult time explaining to the body shop to fix the rear door too. this was on in a Dodge Caliber

number three was right front again that took out the bumper cover, right fender and wrinkled the hood. Dodge Caliber

fourth was a BIG Doe that came bounding down an embankment, 3rd in a group that slid right in front of me taking out the hood, left fender/headlight radiator but also destroying the junction box on the now, discontinued body wiring harness. insurance totaled the car but i bought it back, bought the parts i needed (except the harness that got epoxied and sealed) for 1/4 of the settlement and got it fixed. same Dodge Caliber as the above two but hey, im getting 34-36 mpg on my daily commute.

the 1/2 you ask? there was a dumb one standing in the middle of the road that i saw from about 100yds out. i slowed down, flashed my lights, blew the horn and when it STILL didnt move, i coasted up and nudged it with the bumper. it kind of stumbled from getting pushed but again, it still didnt move. since i drove away with no damage and it walked off eventually, im not claiming a full kill. im afraid though that the NEXT deer will be the end of my Caliber...

[Allen]

all i need is another 1/2 deer and im an Ace.

first was an 8-point with my 99 Super Duty crewcab diesel. not a mark on the truck but the deer had a broken back or hips. Sheriff deputy dispatched him and i gutted it and took it home and processed it.

second was a doe that ran out and hit my right fender right behind the corner marker/headlight. it got spun around and i had a difficult time explaining to the body shop to fix the rear door too. this was on in a Dodge Caliber

number three was right front again that took out the bumper cover, right fender and wrinkled the hood. Dodge Caliber

fourth was a BIG Doe that came bounding down an embankment, 3rd in a group that slid right in front of me taking out the hood, left fender/headlight radiator but also destroying the junction box on the now, discontinued body wiring harness. insurance totaled the car but i bought it back, bought the parts i needed (except the harness that got epoxied and sealed) for 1/4 of the settlement and got it fixed. same Dodge Caliber as the above two but hey, im getting 34-36 mpg on my daily commute.

the 1/2 you ask? there was a dumb one standing in the middle of the road that i saw from about 100yds out. i slowed down, flashed my lights, blew the horn and when it STILL didnt move, i coasted up and nudged it with the bumper. it kind of stumbled from getting pushed but again, it still didnt move. since i drove away with no damage and it walked off eventually, im not claiming a full kill. im afraid though that the NEXT deer will be the end of my Caliber...

Depending upon what roads we travel deer can be quite a pain. I assume there are no speeders where you live/travel. If so they will soon get a deer placed in their lap when it comes through the windshield.

You may want to invest in some deer whistles for your vehicles. They're cheap, stick on, and mostly out of sight below bumper level. Ebay has them. Don't know how well they work but they can't hurt anything especially with your luck.

[dryheat]

Get deer whistles(I have some for sale) or put one of those deer grills on the front of your vehicle. Don't drive at night. That's when I see them mostly. I've never hit a deer because I live in Arizona and they are like mossbacks. If your good you know where to look for them. They don't just jump out in front of you around here.
Well, yeah, they do. I've seen the aftermath. I saw where (it looked like) a semi or a large, high speed vehicle hit a deer. It was an art piece. You could see the point of impact and the spray forward. I had spotted a deer in that vicinity. It's a real shame, we only have a couple of deer per many thousand acres.
'course, the good news is I saw three just a month ago. They were across the street so to speak.

[dryheat]

the 1/2 you ask? there was a dumb one standing in the middle of the road that i saw from about 100yds out. i slowed down, flashed my lights, blew the horn and when it STILL didnt move, i coasted up and nudged it with the bumper. it kind of stumbled from getting pushed but again, it still didnt move. since i drove away with no damage and it walked off eventually, im not claiming a full kill. im afraid though that the NEXT deer will be the end of my Caliber...

Are you sure it wasn't a cow. I experienced the exact same thing. Big black bull. I guess I finally went around it. You know that animals can sleep standing up.

[Allen]

Any of you familiar with the Natchez Trace? Its a 444 mile state maintained parkway that runs diagonally through the entire state of MS beginning at Natchez, goes thru the NW corner of AL and into TN.

The speed limit is 35mph and is heavily patrolled by unmarked police vehicles. The road becomes very monotonous after a while and 35 is hard to maintain. Due to this it's not a drive you want to make in just one day. The scenery is just like the pictures in this article except there is plentiful wildlife seen all during the day. As darkness approaches here come the deer in numbers. You would not want to attempt to drive this road at dark or even twilight. Many fearless deer and wild turkey's everywhere.

There are no gas stations, hotels or businesses of any kind on the parkway but there's plenty of crossroads that will take you to nearby towns. Running out of fuel will not be a concern if you ever take the drive.

https://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm

[Former Cav]

i coasted up and nudged it with the bumper.

don't ever do that with a Bison over by the Black Hills, So. Dakota. they are as big as a Ford Excursion!! and they WILL do serious damage.