Car Problems?

Andrew, how many miles does your car have on it? Last I checked clutches were good for some 50 or 60,000 miles. And that really depends on the quality of the clutch build. If it's a cheap clutch, you may not get that much out of it.

I've had my car for a little over three years as well (but it's a '99 model) and it's got a problem with the front end. The previous owner crashed the car into something and then had it mostly fixed. The part he/she couldn't fix was the front end subframe which is slightly deformed on the driver's side. This causes sharp left turns to be a bit weird. If everything works out with work, I'm going to replace the subframe this summer and get everything tightened up. I want that car to track as straight as an arrow. I've been lucky with my engine and transmission. With 115,000 miles on both, they're doing pretty well. My engine develops enough torque to spin the tires freely on ice without my foot on the go button. Oh yeah, and Kristin turned over 100,000 miles in her car last week. Of course, high mileage cars are nothing new for my family. We had an '85 Suburban that we finally sold in 2005 with somewhere in the neighborhood of 350,000 miles on it. All that mileage was on one engine that had never been rebuilt. Can't say the same for the transmission. :)

So, basically, if you take care of your car, it will take care of you. Be sure to monitor all fluids, changing them when needed. Keep proper pressure in the tires. Do proper brake maintenance. You know, all the good stuff. Cars are marvelous things. They are these really complex, really finicky things that we all use to get around. Yet, somehow with all that complexity, they manage to serve us pretty well for what we ask them to do.

Flute 14
Clarinet 10
Saxophone 13
Trumpet 26
Trombone 18
Tuba 9
Harp 10

Licorice stick -, Valved Bugle +.

Car Problems

For those of you that don't know, I bought a new car about three years ago. The thinking was that a new car would have fewer problems than a used car, and that if there were any problems, they would be covered by warranty.

Well, I have encountered my first problem with my car. Something was making the manual transmission very sticky. I thought nothing of it at first, attributing it to the cold weather. The problem gradually got worse. I finally broke, and took it to the dealer to see what was up.

They hooked it up to the diagnostic machine and informed me that it might be the clutch assembly, or the transmission. They couldn't pinpoint the exact problem and asked me if it was okay to leave the car overnight so they could disassemble the transmission.

I kept my fingers crossed hoping it would be the transmission and not the clutch, since the transmission is covered by the warranty, and to replace the clutch would set me back $900.

This morning I got word that my clutch was completely shot, and there was also some problem with the transmission. So, here I am waiting to hear back if they got it fixed and what the dammage is. I think I can actually fight the clutch, since the problem in the transmission could have led to the clutch wearing out faster than normal. The moral of the story is, new cars are great, just be careful with them.

In other news:

Flute 14
Clarinet 11
Saxophone 13
Trumpet 25
Trombone 18
Tuba 9
Harp 10

Trumpet + (of course), Harp - (Sorry Hava)


UPDATE:
Well, as it turns out, it wasn't the transmission after all. The mechanic told me it was the pressure plate on the clutch which was completely worn down. Additionally, they found an oil leak in my engine, but that's covered (thank goodness). I guess the new moral of the story is: Don't buy a manual transmission vehicle if you don't yet know how to drive one. That, or Hyundai clutches suck.

Same ol'

Flute 14
Clarinet 11
Saxophone 13
Trumpet 24
Trombone 18
Tuba 9
Harp 11

There you have it. Plus one fife, and minus one bugle.

Vista's Vista

For all of you out there who are interested, today marked the launch of Microsoft's new flagship product: Windows Vista. Vista is supposed to revolutionize the way Windows users use their PCs. I've been using Vista at work for about a year now, but it has only been beta and Release Candidate versions which haven't really impressed me all that much. However, once I saw a real Release-to-Customer version running on a high-horsepower box, I was pretty impressed. Microsoft has done a nice job with it. So, if you have a machine with a good amount of horsepower (read: sweet-a** graphics card) you have my modest endorsement of this product. I say modest because, after all, it is a Microsoft product and they are known for spotty quality. Also, I cannot, under any circumstances, recommend Windows Internet Explorer. It is a piece of crap. Always has been; always will be.

In other news, fish in the Minot river are not currently swimming upstream to lay their eggs. The river's frozen. But, Kris and I are in the process of buying a house. We have decided that $16,000 is about our breaking limit for rent. That is approximately how much we have spent in the last year and a half to live in our apartment. So, we put an offer on a nice little house on 35th street. We will definitely be having a party there when we get moved in. :) It has a (almost) fully finished basement so we can watch movies. So, if you know anyone who's selling a used (but functional) lawn mower (or any other yard tools), please let me know.

Anyhow, if you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere else. :)

Sorry, sorry

Can't do that. This is a game to kick people off, not put them on, I can only authorize the trumpet -1, tuba +1. If you didn't hear, you can only move one point a post and have to wait for someone else to make a move before you can move again. So, before my post the results were:
Flute 13
Clarinet 12
Saxophone 13
Trumpet 25
Trombone 17
Tuba 9
Harp 11

After my post, the results are:
Flute 13
Clarinet 11
Saxophone 13
Trumpet 25
Trombone 18
Tuba 9
Harp 11
Clarinet -1, Trombone +1

Euphonasia

Mercy tubing...

Well, Dr. Root euphonized me (and it's going very well) in part if not yet in full - or, in Simfphonyk Baand if not in Dzaz Baand.
I suppose just to account for myself it's trumpet -1, tuba(?) +1; or Euphonium, +1. Or, what the heck, one for each just to be safe. So trumpets -2 instead.
and some baroque foreign-language names

Flauta 13
Chalumeaux 12
Sarrusophone 13
Clarino 23
Posaune 17
Helicon 10
Theorbo 11
Euphonium 1

so there ye be.
Two silly jokes:
1. new vegan adventure movie: Pirates of the Carob Bean
2. New (remade) pirate song by "pieces of eight none the richer" - "Thar she blows"
Thar she blows, thar she blows again...


No otherwise comment, otherwise.

Salani Kahle

How long shall it go?

Flute 13
Clarinet 12
Saxophone 13
Trumpet 25
Trombone 17
Tuba 9
Harp 11

Flute+, Trumpet-

Sundance

Well, I suppose it makes me a sellout, but I'm in the middle of attending Sundance '07. "Why would that make you a sellout?" you might ask. Simply because Sundance is not what it once was. It was originally envisioned as a place indpendant filmmakers could come, show their work, and get it out there. The Sundance of today is a far cry from what it once was. Studios strike deals to have their films shown, while the majority of real indie filmmakers don't get an opportunity. Those that do get in are made with the help of rich relatives and Hollywood connections. Gone are the days of Sundance truly fostering and preserving the independant filmmaker.

The reason I decided to attend was because the U offers a Sundance class for credit. All one must do is attend around 8 or 9 films, and write an 8-9 page paper on the films seen, and in return, you get 3 credit hours. I thought, "Why not? I've never been." So far, I've seen three films, all really great. I'll get some reviews up over on my personal blog in a few days for any interested parties.

Flute 12
Clarinet 12
Saxophone 13
Trumpet 26
Trombone 17
Tuba 9
Harp 11

Trumpet + (natch!), Clarinet - (I hope Nena will forgive me for that).

-Flute, +Trombone

Flute 12
Clarinet 13
Saxophone 13
Trumpet 25
Trombone 17
Tuba 9
Harp 11

A thought: Would Trombone -1 be simply Trom?

In my British History class we were talking about King George I and how he didn't speak a lick English.
Student: Wouldn't parliament be upset about having a king that didn't speak the language of their country?
Dr. Francis: We've elected presidents from the south.

It's been busy...

...in the Band Hall! I can't remember the last time I saw this much activity in here. It seems like we've all been very busy creating a jazz band. Jazz bands are cool. Jazz flute is usually really cool.

Anyhow, I just wanted to mention that Norton Internet Security (the suite of software with Anti-virus, firewall, and food blender) is a total piece of garbage. Never buy it. I have it on my work computer and it causes nothing but headaches for me. First off, it slows my computer down so that any hardware advantage I may have (such as broadband Internet, 1.7GHz CPU, etc) have no effect. I might as well be running an old 200MHz computer with dial-up Internet access.

Also, just today, my Norton Internet Security alerted me to the fact that I was unprotected against this certain threat. So, I clicked the button to update the virus database and after waiting for a good amount of time, it came back saying that the update failed and that I would have to run the update manually. Okay, no problem. I tried running the update manually. Still no luck. So, I clicked on a link provided by the program and it opened that crapheap Internet Explorer browser (thus promoting more insecurity) and took me to a webpage that informed me that the server was down. Of course, it didn't mention if it was just the web server or if Norton's update server is down. I'll tell you, this software is bad. I hate hate hate Norton. I will never subject myself to that kind of nonsense voluntarily. I personally like AVG or Avira better because they're smaller, lighter and free. They seem to do the job of anti-virus. I don't need all that anti-spam, anti-phish crap. I know what a spam is and I know what a phish is. So there!!

Anyhow, I just thought I had to rant for a minute. Computing on the home front is not nearly as messy. I run a tight ship at my house, and we don't have anti-virus problems. :)

Chao!

South Africa will never be the same

NO, it's not Jinglesthreela... but stay tuned
It's what my mom wrote up:

Jarrett Wheatley has returned from his Mission in Johannesburg, South Africa
(where apparently he ate chickens feet, and learned to 'click.')
It's true!
You are invited to come hear his mission report
Sunday the 21st
11am – Mt. Lewis III Ward
435N. Jackson (corner of North street and Jackson) Ogden...

Feel free to visit us that afternoon
4pm – at the Wheatley’s
469 E. 800 N. #B3
782-5066


QUOTE
"Just as a building is constructed one brick at a time, the Savior's true Church is built
one conversion, one testimony, one baptism at a time." —Elder L. Tom Perry

So that's the story for today.

aaaahhhh...... that's nice

So I've done some thinking/research and I'm going to be getting me a 30BG Video Ipod. It was a toss up between that and a Zune. I went to Circuit City and you are able to try them both out and right off the bat, I didn't like how the Zune seemed so cluttered and it's ease of use wasn't all that great. The Ipod is simple and easy to use and that's what I was looking for.

So this leads me to my main reason for posting. I'm going to be putting mostly music on it but there are some videos that I for sure just had to have on there. Unfortunately, some of those videos are on youtube. So I did some research and finally found something that I was looking for, a firefox extension to download video from sites like youtube and google video!! It's called Video Downloader Once I got the vids off of youtube, I had to convert them and, after more looking, I found something to take care of that. It's called CinemaForgeLite. With that you can convert it to just about any video type you want. Both are free so that's even more awesome.

Well, just thought I'd share that. Later.

Dude, it's just a game.

Look, Andrew, I actually do think you speak for yourself due to the fact that nobody has said anything about any of this thus far. They all know how I am and know that I'm just a sarcastic guy and all this is just in good fun. So as far as me being "snarky and rude" and that not being welcome around here, well that is up to everybody else to decide. But until then, I'm not going to be serious, cause like you said, it's a game. I mean, what, there can't be some trash talkin' and hidden messages? Come on.... there are only 2 rules in this game and neither say anything about playing nice, or not playing snarky and rude for that matter.

And we're back!

Flute 13
Clarinet 13
Saxophone 13
Trumpet 25
Trombone 16
Tuba 9
Harp 11

From one annoying instrument to get through doors to another!!! GOAL!!!

Let's get serious.

Look, Ricky, there's no reason to get snarky and rude. I think I don't neccesarily speak for myself when I say that's not needed or welcome around here. We're all supposed to be good band buddies and get along. I don't know what I ever did or said to you to make you treat me so rudely, but whatever it was, I do appologize. I hope you can look past whatever our differences may be and get back to being good band buddies again.

blow up.

Meh. That wasn't a big blow up, trust me. That wasn't even a little blow up. Very few people have seen that side of me and if you know anything about me, you would know that it would take a LOT to get me to blow up.

And now I present a move that will, if you can believe it (and I'll go ahead and say pun intended), blow up the trumpets ego even more ;)

Flute 13
Clarinet 13
Saxophone 13
Trumpet 25
Trombone 16
Tuba 8
Harp 12

abut -, tepmurt +

p.s. yeah, sounds like a good idea but no. A game like this isn't meant to be civil and I'm going to be ruthless. Plain and simple. But I do want to say thanks for the clarification on that rule for me again so soon after Ben had clarified it.<---sarcasim...... Also, if you are going to make a general statement that everybody knows is directed to me, then just say it to me, thanks kid!

+ T-bones, - Clarinet

Flute 13
Clarinet 13
Saxophone 13
Trumpet 24
Trombone 16
Tuba 9
Harp 12

Ummm.... ooookay....

Not sure what the big blow up there is all about... Hey, I have an idea! Let's all be civil to one another and just take it for what it is, a game. And my first order of business in this game is:

Flute 13
Clarinet 14
Saxophone 13
Trumpet 24
Trombone 15
Tuba 9
Harp 12

Trumpet+, Flute-. I hope my mother can forgive me.

So, last night I was watching one of the greatest movies ever made. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a true classic of American cinema. I highly recommend it for those interested. If you've never heard of it, it stars Jack Nicholson as a guy who is a criminal that gets sent to the nut house after he feigns crazy in prison. He ends up bringing a sense of humanity to the patients that they never had before. Nicholson won the Oscar for Best Actor and the movie won Best Picture. I give it *****/*****.

My bad

Flute 14
Clarinet 14
Saxophone 14
Trumpet 23
Trombone 14
Tuba 9
Harp 12

I meant to take from sax and give to trumpet, but I forgot about the first part. The foregoing is simply a correction of my earlier mistake. And now for my actual game move. A-like a-so:

Flute 14
Clarinet 14
Saxophone 13
Trumpet 23
Trombone 15
Tuba 9
Harp 12

Saxton to Tromlone! And the bucket is good for two, bringing Saxton one more assist closer to breaking the record.

hahaha!!!!!

This is just to easy.

Flute 14
Clarinet 15
Saxophone 14
Trumpet 23
Trombone 14
Tuba 9
Harp 12

Believe it or not, I'm getting much enjoyment from you and how much you feel you have to stay on top. It is.... well..... simply hilarious.

MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you will just point your attention over here...

You are not allowed to do such. Take a look at the last move I made (Tubas -, Trumpets +). You have made an illegal move. Please make sure you have dialed the correct number and try your call again.

Flute 14
Clarinet 15
Saxophone 14
Trumpet 22
Trombone 14
Tuba 10
Harp 12

You may either take or give to the trumpets, or take or give to the tubas, but not both.





###############ALERT#################

Jon- You never took away a point from anyone on your last post. We currently have 101 points on the board. Who do you want to take a point away from?