Blake Noble

It should be worth it then. Like I said, make them a $1,000 to $1,100 cash offer and work with them from there. I'd say you could drive it out of there cheaper than $1,500 out the door. I'd almost bet on it in fact. That's how I feel about a certain car ... *whistles*

Well, apparently, this ballooned into something utterly insane since I posted it here. It's reached number 3 on the iTunes R&B charts. I'll repeat that again, number 3. That version is what the creators of the song put up for sale on iTunes. There's also a bajillion covers. I think one guy was playing this on a fuckin' Japanese banjo or something. I think this really makes a statement about the status of modern music (i.e. "you can be famous and never know what talent is").

lolololo it never fails. Well, thankfully, most of my first semester classes are online, so I don't exactly have to worry about this situation for a few months. I do know this car will not be in my possession for much longer. I found a '95 T/A with 91,000 miles I'm going to look into. Just for good measure, I'll bring along someone to give me a second mechanical opinion on it.

:/ http://lexington.craigslist.org/cto/1892144307.html If I only had a nice car to offer for trade.

Not bad. $1,100 cash would probably take it home.

Funny, you're not the only person to sort of mention that Camaro has a Christine-esque personality. No, I'm not trying to be funny. Family members have noticed how things like rattling speakers stop rattling in a few days time and check engine lights seem to go off as soon as they come on (recent check engine light came on for faulty O2 sensors; stayed on for about a day, went off the next, and repeated this process two separate times). I think that car likes fucking itself up and fixing itself. Too bad it doesn't feel like completely fixing its own clutch this time. I'm tempted to just let it sit in solitary indefinitely until someone else decides they want to tame this problem child of mine. I also managed to persuade the car to move again soon after I tried and gave up earlier so I ran it up and down the street. It does get easier to shift from gear to gear when you reach speeds of 25 mph and up. Shifting into 5th at 50 to 55 mph, it's hard to tell too much is wrong. I started to pursue the beater option today too and looked at that '83 Cutlass I mentioned. A $500 Cutlass is exactly that, a $500 Cutlass. It had a pretty decent body, but I'd hate to see the nightmare under its Brougham Landau top. Like I said, it has T-Tops and I noticed rust had finally started to bubble on the header panel. I'm going to pass on that one. I put the Camaro on Craigslist earlier, ad fully explaining the one problem it really seems to have at the moment, as well and got a nice text message from some asshole offering me $1,200, stating that: "You're going to learn soon enough [that your car isn't worth your asking price]." I should have kept that message on my phone instead of deleting it. I didn't like the tone the guy was using. I don't understand his reasoning at all. If my POS would go into gear easier, I'd be selling the SOB for $4,000. $1,200 would be logical if the quarter panels were full of rust and the engine sounded like a hand-cranked vibrator. And, continuing on that subject, I've had retards offering me as low as $700 bucks for the car, so I guess that asshole is just as big as the rest of them I've dealt with. I've promptly told them what to kiss. The problem is, I have no idea what in the hell is a decent asking price for the Camaro should I want to sell it. I did, however, get offered a '00 CV and a V-8 S-10. Didn't dig the CV because it wasn't an ex-Buford car and I didn't dig the S-10 because it was an S-10. At least those two offers were remotely realistic. The car will start in any gear so long as you have the clutch or what's left of the clutch engaged.

Okay, so the Camaro decided that it wasn't much in the mood to leave the driveway. This couldn't have happened at a better time. I have college orientation tomorrow ...

Well, the Camaro has just about sat in the driveway since Saturday. Now the clutch engages to where, if I put all of my 160 pounds of body weight behind it, I can shift the car into first. I'm going to attempt taking it somewhere and have the hydraulic fluid drained and replaced.

I'm fairly certain it's not a linkage issue. The clutch pedal has little to no return and doesn't seem like it's engaging at all. The car is almost impossible to completely impossible to get into any forward gear. It will go in reverse, but that's preceded by the horrible sound of metal grinding against metal. If I'm wrong it could be the synchronizer or slave cylinder, but at this point, my doubts are high. Again, I know I sound pessimistic, but I'm just looking at the reality of the situation, which isn't looking good at all. My dad's friend also seemed to back my placing the blame on the clutch, so ... The $1,500 dollar estimate came from the sole Chevrolet dealership in the county. $800 dollars of that estimate was just for labor alone.

A clean GMT-800 or GMT-400 with reasonable mileage is actually something I've seriously been thinking about recently, Z. I'd actually really love to have a regular cab GMT-400 GMT-800 Silverado or Sierra with either the 4.8L or 5.3L V8, 4wd, and with a step-side bed in black. If I could find that truck (preferably with no more mileage than my car) somewhere that would be willing to trade with me dead even to the Camaro, it would be a miracle. However, buying/trading to something like that would more than likely have to come with a sacrifice. It's not cheap to buy a truck in the South, obviously. For example, $4,000 will get you this in my neck of the woods: http://lexington.craigslist.org/cto/1878977159.html Nothing exceptional, and, not meaning to judge a book by its cover, that truck honestly doesn't seem rock solid to me. Again, I could go the route I was considering if I wanted a late model GTO to buy a nice Silverado/Sierra, but, for me, that would be like walking around with a loaded gun to my head every day. It's not prudent and that would have to be a last resort option. I'd have a better chance of getting a good deal on a decent Silverado at an auction, but I don't want to dump my dud of a car off on someone, therefore I really don't have any money to attempt this in the first place. I can't stand an S-10 or a small truck other than a V-8 Dodge Dakota, so that's out. I'm sounding very pessimistic, I know, but I guess my hard-nosed way about buying only what I like to drive at a cheap price has pushed me into a six-foot deep hole and it's finally about to bury me.

My DDs = always the opposite of progress, so you get a cookie sir. What'll you have?

Outlook: plans shelved. I called for an estimate (since I obviously can't drive this car anywhere for a full diagnosis) on what it's going to take to fix the clutch: $1,500 bucks. While I know I could get $500 bucks together for a Cutlass beater, $1,500 bucks is a whole 'nother story. I also played my trump card: having my dad's friend who helped me out on the Regal 307 swap help me out on the clutch. Either way, it still would be too much for me to bother investing in. I already have around $1,000 invested in the car as far as what I've replaced on it. Adding on another $1,000 plus would make this Camaro the biggest money pit I've owned when you also consider that would be $2,000 bucks plus I would never see again should I get into a situation where I really have to sell the car. I should have never sold the Monte Carlo. If I had waited just one more week, I would have invested $1,500 bucks into a car that would have returned my money. Something-something what should have, could have, would have been, whatever. So, this is what I'm possibly going to try to do first: replace the fluid, get the clutch acting temporarily right, then take it to an unsuspecting dealer. I'd feel far more guilty if I unloaded it on a private buyer than I would some shit-spot on the side of the road car lot. I'm also starting to think that's what someone did to the car before they unloaded it on the lot I bought it from. As for what I'll get next, I don't have the slightest idea in hell. I wouldn't mind trading the Camaro in on a '04 GTO and financing the difference on an 8 year loan if I could, but it would put the biggest financial strain on me I've ever had so far.

1st Order of Buisness: Fix that clutch. 2nd Order of Buisness: Maybe, just maybe, buy an '83 Cutlass (with T-Tops no less) for $500 bucks for a decent beater if it isn't a total rust bucket. Maybe restore eventually it since the '72 is just about there? I don't know. I'm going to check it out Monday.

The clutch bit the dust tonight, out of the blue, no warning, no provocation. Very disappointing.

STRUT THAT ASS.

All's well that ends well. I got a message through eBay from the seller. He shipped it out Friday and gave me the tracking number and it will arrive on my doorstep tomorrow and should be dropped off by a good old Brown Shirt (no, not the Brown Shirts that Glenn Beck rambles about). ... I worry too damn much.

Apparently, there's a rapist in Linkin Park. I'm betting on the DJ or maybe dude who raps. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua-OqYZC1DA&feature=related And, of course, the dudes who brought you Strutting Ass with Autotune and the Double Rainbow song turned it into this delightfully catchy tune that might just be Billboard Hot 100 material. Mr. Dodson might just have the raw talent to rival T-Pain.

I'm planning to sit it out until Tuesday of next week. If nothing shows up by then, then I guess it time to consider taking some form of action. I think I have something like 21 days to claim an item not shipped and get a refund through eBay.

I'm starting to wonder if, perhaps, I might have gotten scammed in some fashion and if I should go ahead and get a refund. Here's the story. Let's see what you think. On Tuesday, July 27th, I purchased a guitar from eBay, an '84 G&L Superhawk (for those of you who are familiar with Alice In Chains, Jerry Cantrell uses the one-pickup version of the Superhawk called the Rampage). I was previously the high bidder in the auction (ended on the 26th), but the auction closed with the reserve not being met. I get a message through eBay the following day (the day I bought the guitar) with a Second Chance Offer, the seller saying he would let me have the guitar for $360 bucks plus $40 bucks shipping. I really wanted the guitar, so of course I went home from work on a lunch break to hit the buy it now button and make the guitar mine. The shipping was described as "Standard Flat Rate Shipping Service", which I assume meant USPS. Elaborating more on the shipping, it stated in the auction that delivery times may vary and that the seller will ship within 5 days of a cleared payment. My payment through PayPal cleared sometime around 6 o'clock that evening I bought the guitar, which I assume would be too late to go to USPS or even UPS or FedEx to ship anything. So, assuming that, I would bet that the guitar was shipped or should have been shipped on Wednesday the 28th. I sent the seller, who had a feedback rating of 100 percent, a message on eBay on Wednesday asking if he could give me a guess as to when my guitar would get here. No response as of today. I then proceeded to send the seller an e-mail concerning an arrival time through the e-mail address proved to me on PayPal on Friday, again met with no response. I also asked for a tracking number, which did not appear in My eBay, so as far as that goes, I have no way to track it online. My eBay also shows I have zero items in shipping so ... I've been running a few quotes of my own through USPS, FedEx, and UPS and the estimated delivery times I've been seeing are generally within a range of 2 to 5 days. So, it seems that it should have already been here yesterday (I've seen that all three services do deliver on Saturday) or should be here tomorrow. Although I've read otherwise, even Media Mail, the slowest way to ship anything besides strapping a package to a team of snails with some rubber bands and Gorilla Glue shouldn't take more than around 5 days according to USPS. The item was being shipped from Monroe, MI to Berea, KY and, generally speaking, the package shouldn't be more than 27 pounds (weight including the guitar, box, packing materials, and the strap, cable, and vibrato bar included in the auction) and is something like 45 inches in length, 17 inches in width, and 6 inches in height. I'm really scratching my head over the slow delivery time because all of the feedback said that this dude made sure things were really shipped out and delivered quickly. If anyone can let me know something, if you think my outcome is looking bleak, etc., etc., please let me know. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks. EDIT: Here is a link to the original auction. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170515731524&ssPageName=STRK:MEDWX:IT

I hope your dissatisfaction doesn't fall on deaf ears. My parents' Aura didn't exactly get class-a treatment when they had the BCM replaced. It wasn't a complete nightmare like ocn went through but I will say the traction control hasn't worked since they replaced it.

Where's the bootylicious babes with pink sweatpants with the word "juicy" written on the ass of 'em when you need 'em? Hell, I'd be willing to settle for a video of such with those aforementioned ladies ... but only if Struttin' Ass were there, fitted out with a blingin' grille and some blingin' bling. Of course, SA would have to lead these fine women in his trademark dance during the biggest balls-to-the-wall chorus known to man. Then, of course, Bob Seger and Struttin' Ass would team up for a new version of ... well, need the title of the song be said? If I have to say it, you're a.) too young to be here and b.) don't listen to rock 'n roll, which by that I mean, actual damn rock and roll and not that "bree bree" chuga-chuga garbage. /endrant /strutsass

Strutting ass, now featuring autotune:

And an SUV is not an SUV and a family hauler when it's a crossover. The new Durango is Grand Cherokee-based and that is pretty rugged and sort truck-like to me. The styling is very Ram-like as well. Just sayin' ...

And the new Durango is still a Dodge because why ... ? Again, it's time to revive the Ramcharger.

Oh look everyone. It's GXT. You decided to post, sir, so I got a room full of pissed off Cleveland fans to do this little chant for you.