Surprise

This is on the sly...


Because my mother doesn't have internet access right now, I can post these pictures of her birthday present without too much fear that she'll see them.



The pattern, which I adjusted a little bit, comes from Stephanie Japel's wonderfully hip book Fitted Knits. Stephanie's blog, Glampyre, is also amazing. She's not only an inspiring pattern designer, but a geologist, a custom yarn dyer, a seamstress and a mom. A girl after my own heart.

We opened The Foreigner last Thursday (that link is to Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park's website; there are a few production photos up now). It seems to have been received well, but I made a vow a couple of years back not to read reviews until after closing. Although a bad review is only one person's opinion, it's amazing how much it can unravel your self esteem. So...while I have a hunch that the buzz might be good, I'll just stay away to be safe. In any case, we are having the time of our lives with this comedy, and I'm so grateful to be here doing it.

On other fronts, it's looking like upon my return to Ashland I will be trying to downsize from my lovely Jetta, Horace, into an older Benz that I can hopefully pay off in full up front. We'll see how it goes. But if I do end up in a vintage Mercedes, it will be a new and slightly different world of biodiesel use (I may have to change hoses from rubber to synthetic, etc.), with more careful attention and DIY repairs on my part. But Janis will be proud.

SPRING IS SPRUNG! June will be busting out all over before we know it. Where does the time go?

--Nell

O-Ring...yeah...you know what I mean

So I changed the fuel filter in my 2004 VW TDI Jetta myself (well, my roommate helped me).

I mention it because it was MUCH easier to do than I thought -- yes, I cursed a fair amount, but I'm told that that's to be expected whenever you work on a car. Also, I learned that fuel filters are not always in the same place (yeah, I'm a moron), depending on the make and model; while my filter is easy to change because it sits over the right wheel in the engine compartment, my roommate's is not so easy because his is in the trunk under a lot of other machinery.

This is a large step for me towards self-sufficiency. I purchased the Haynes manual for VW Golf, GTI, & Jetta 1999-2005 which is pretty comprehensive. Since I don't have a warranty for the vehicle, none of my repairs are ever covered when I take it in for service (I didn't want to buy a warranty and have the dealership tell me that Biodiesel use voided it...which sometimes, but not always, happens -- if fuel is foudn to be out of spec, the manufacturer can claim that you're liable for the repairs). Here's the kicker: I paid $25 for the fuel filter itself and spent probably about 30 minutes doing the work...but I figure I could do it in 10 or 15 now that I know how.

When I had a dealership do this, it typically came out to around $100 for parts and labor.

So, for a little elbow grease and a quarter (!) of the cost, I figure I don't mind doing it myself. Next time I'm at it, I will photograph the whole process and write up a primer for anyone else who might be reading that owns a similar Jetta and wants to give it a go. However, I do plan to check the job every couple of days -- none of my viton o-rings would fit under the fuel control valve. So I'm o-ring-less. But I couldn't find any o-ring when I pulled the valve off, so I'm wondering if maybe my model doesn't require one here...?
Old, crusty filter...

...with black particulates inside. The new filter, which I didn't photograph, looked perfectly white through that little hole. My car is idling a lot more smoothly and starts more easily since (I was truant and had not changed it for over a year -- VERY bad...with Biodiesel, you want to change it about every six months, since Bio is such an amazing solvent; it takes all the gunk out of your lines and dumps it in the filter -- which is a good thing for your engine but can be bad if you overload the filter).

I think I'm hooked on this auto mechanics thing. Next, it's replacing a front headlight that's out. Of course, I'll still leave the big jobs to the professionals (like when my clutch when out last year...ehhh...)
-- Nellamity and Horace the Jetta.