Good news and car problems

So maybe I should have said "good news and bad news". But, I already have the car problems fixed, so it wasn't really that bad.

Wednesday is the day that Ruth usually heads into the big city of Swift Current to do the weekly grocery shopping. So we got the little blue car all loaded up with recycling returns, and off she went.

She was back at the house less than an hour later.

Apparently she made it to the highway, and pushed the clutch pedal down to change gears...and it stayed there! She managed to get it to come back up, but it definitely wasn't right and she didn't want to get stuck in town trying to drive it like that.

I had actually noticed that the clutch action seemed "sticky", but hadn't thought much of it. Now, it was much worse than sticky...it was almost stuck! I brought the little blue car up to the shop and got some light on the situation to see what was causing the problem.

I could push the clutch pedal down with my hand and sometimes I had to help it back up with my hand as well. And it almost sounded like a creaking noise coming from under the hood. So I had a look at the linkage where the hydraulic clutch line meets the transmission. There is a rubber boot protecting the slave cylinder and I slid it back to see a bunch of rust on the cylinder rod. I cleaned it up, put some grease on it and bingo...the clutch now operates perfectly!

So there's that problem fixed. :-)

On the "good news" front, it looks like we've come to an agreement regarding our return here next year. Both us and the board wanted to get this settled before the current season ends in six weeks, and it looks like it's going to come together. That's good news for both of us. So I think we're going to officially become Saskatchewan residents because we sure won't be spending much time in Ontario for the foreseeable future. Besides, it kind of feels good to be a resident in a province that appears to be going forward instead of backwards.

Our Amazon.com deal of the day?

I'm a stickler when it comes to tire pressure. Every vehicle has different manufacturer specifications regarding tire air pressure. And very often there's different pressure ratings from front and rear tires. These numbers can be found in the vehicle owner's manual as well on a sticker located inside the door or on the door jamb of you vehicle.

Proper tire pressure affects the way the vehicle handles, the fuel mileage, and the wear and tear on the tires. There is simply no reason not to have to right amount of air in the tires, and yet I bet half the cars on the road don't have.

When was the last time you checked your tire pressure??

Here's an interesting product...how about a talking tire pressure gauge...

No need to fumble for your glasses in order to see the numbers!

Accutire Talking Digital Tire Pressure Gauge

And it's decently priced, so there's no reason you shouldn't have one of these in your glove box!