My SUV is in at Spit Shine Auto Detailing to be tackled today on the outside–just in time, it sounds like. The hood was beginning to oxidize. Bob Stanton (SS owner) tells me it’s at the point where it has to be addressed or it will have to be repainted, so he’s taking care of that today, including a new coat of wax. Hooray! I’ve cleared the way to park it under a canopy garage when it gets back here so it keeps its shine and gloss for as long as possible. Bob says if I keep it under cover in a garage, the detailing could last six to eight to twelve months (depending on the weather and where I park it when it’s out and about), so we’ll see!
Spit Shine is now right next door to Big John’s Oil and Lube (at 99th and Portland in Tacoma) so while it’s there I’m going to have John or one of his ace mechanics drive it and see if he can decide what’s “clunking” underneath it occasionally when I drive it. Maybe the tail pipe or something is loose. I hope it’s something easy and inexpensive to fix or something that may not need fixing. For all I know, it might be something inside the SUV that’s rolling around and banging when I turn corners. I’ve looked around to see if I can find anything like that, and it’s almost completely emptied out so I don’t think it’s that. I’ve written copy for enough auto repair shops now that I know to get something looked at when it starts to misbehave or develop weird sounds, so I want to get it checked out, for sure!
(Update: it’s rear shocks. Not dangerous, but I should get them swapped out for lifetime guaranteed new ones when I can.)
Lisa and I got hair cuts this morning so we don’t look like street urchins on Saturday when we occupy the 723 booth at the Puyallup Fair–excuse me, at the Washington Fair! Lisa drove me over to Kolour By Design in Puyallup after picking me up at Spit Shine for the hair cut. Sarah Mohr is our hair cutter there. She’s always so much fun to listen and talk to.
I have some copy in to John that he has looked over and will be tweaking some before he sends it back to me…unless his tweaks totally take care of it, that is. I have two or three more pieces to write for him (deadline tomorrow) but I’m waiting to see his changes before I tackle them because they’re follow-ups to what I wrote yesterday, so I don’t want to get ahead of myself or John’s tweaks…
In Other News…
The spiders are out. Here in the Pacific NW we have some of the creepiest-looking spiders known to mankind–and I keep walking into their webs because I forget to look for them. Most of the year, webs aren’t a problem around here where I walk when picking up eggs and feeding hens. NOW they are. Every time I hit a web I get creeped out, wondering where its occupant has disappeared to: the back of my shirt, the top of my head?
I know spiders are crucial creatures in the chain of life. I just wish they looked like teddy bears or Tinkerbell. If they weren’t so creepy-looking, I’d pet them. (They probably wouldn’t like that…) Because the fact is, I adore most western Washington Pacific NW critters. Spiders and mosquitoes? Not so much…
