Bah. I think I’m through with doing my own oil changes. Yesterday, when I was changing the oil in the Mazda, I got splashed in the face twice with used motor oil–once when I pulled the oil pan plug, and again when I pulled the filter off. It wasn’t a lot of oil, but it was enough to piss me off (and mess up my glasses). I’ve never really liked paying somebody to do maintenance on my vehicles, especially when it’s something I’m easily capable of, but it’s worth it to pay somebody else to deal with the mess. At least the Navajo doesn’t burn or leak any oil–I last changed it in October of last year, about 4,000 miles ago, and the level hadn’t changed a bit. Although, there seems to be a small leak near the valve covers, but it’s apparently not bad enough to affect the oil level over several months. I didn’t even notice the leak until after I changed the thermostat a few months ago, at which point the engine started running at its normal (and much hotter) temperature, and I started smelling the oil burn when it hit the exhaust manifolds. It’s a problem I’ll have to address at some point, but I don’t see it as being an issue for now.
I got the window seat in the dining room entirely built, and it turned out really nice. The windows on that side of the room are built out into a sort of bay window, except instead of the normal three-sided angled shape, it’s just a rectangle with the windows on the outer wall only. The opening was completely lopsided–it was half an inch wider in the back than in the front, and one side was deeper than the other side. Despite all that, I managed to cut all the 2x4s and plywood to fit perfectly, and it at least looks all squared up. All that’s left to do in that room is to sand all the wood trim, paint everything, then install the beadboard paneling, baseboard, and chair rail. I won’t be able to start on it again until Sunday, but I should be finished before next weekend.
Price Shitty is back again today to fix their shitty job of paving the street in front of my house. The pavement had sunken in a few inches and left a couple of big bumps, and I’m sure they got a lot of complaints about it. I always park my truck on the shoulder of the road just in front of the house, and the tires sunk in a few inches each time I left it there for more than a day or so, and there are several depressions from that. They’re out there with their shovels right now, packing the cold asphalt down, so undoubtedly they’ll be back again in another month.