On Sunday, I had a second go at my brakes, this time having more time, and taking the troubled one apart more completely. As the mechanic at work suspected, it had rust build-up on the piston that was making it hard to move (and likely the culprit for why that inside pad wore way too soon). So I removed that and cleaned up the rust, then put it back it. This time, it was SO easy to retreat that I was kicking myself for not doing that the first time! In the process I lost about 1/4 cup of brake fluid - didn't think that would be a problem, though as I topped up after the back brakes were finished. When it came to "pump the brakes" after the job, to firm them up again, they didn't... "oh oh, what'd I do", I thought to myself. I was under the impression that the brakes just self adjust to the correct depth, which they do, but wasn't happening. The brake petal would go right to the floor with little resistance, and after pumping them a few times, the pressure would just leave again. Hmm..... not good. I called Tony to ask him what he thought. He said, just keep pumping them as the cylinder should refill and get pressure back. So I took it around the block, pumping the brakes the whole way. Little-to-no improvement.
So I left them as they were so that I could ask one of the mechanics at work about it. He said, without hesitation, there's probably air in the lines and you have the bleed them. I had asked Tony about that on Sunday, to which he said, no you shouldn't have to do that (I should have just tried it anyway). So after a quick lesson on how to do that, I went home at the end of the day, and bled them. There's a little screw that you loosen that purges the air from the cylinder, so that's all I did on the one side. A few bubbles of air came out, and I had a neighbour pump the brakes while I bled them until I was sure the air was gone. Sure enough, that was the problem. 10 extra minutes on Sunday would have saved my concern, and the brakes are now working great!
The question for me now is, do I attempt my front brakes and oil change? I guess I should take the wheels off and have a look to see if they're needed (I bought front brakes and rotors at the same time because they were on sale). My intention is to be done with the brakes until I sell/trade in the car next year. I do like to have new brakes on all 4 wheels, though, so we'll see.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
My Brakes... grrr!
The brakes (rear right side) of my car are completely worn, and have been squealing for a good week now. I finally got some parts this week and planned on changing them last night. But the best laid plans, especially when it comes to cars or repairs, often don't go as planned.
I got everything apart fine, and was looking good to get both rear brakes done, until this one part wouldn't co-operate. The piston, which pushes the inside caliper to the brake pad would not retreat far enough for me to get the new pads in. I needed approx. 4 cm, and the best I could get was 3.5 cm... frustrating!! It took me all night and I ended up sitting out in my driveway until about 10pm with a lamp beside me so that I could see. I finally gave up at 10pm, and put all the old stuff back on then "closed it up".
Brakes, especially the back brakes, are not hard to do, but when you have an older car with rusty parts that are on the verge of having to be replaced, you can run into trouble like this.
Trying to save a few bucks, without the required tools for the job, always ends in frustration. But I'm determined. I'm going to rent that damn piston tool to get it back in. I talked to the shop manager here at work about it (he owns Honda's), and he gave me a few pointers to try - like take the caliper out that the piston is pushing on, and clean it up. If that piston had gone in like it should have, I would have been done in 2-2.5 hours last night (for both sides). Instead, I spent 3.5 hours on one side, and finished where I started, no further ahead. uggh!
Saturday I'll try again and do some better cleaning of the parts. I'll have all day and not have to fight the day light to finish. If I can't get it, I'll bite the bullet and have a mechanic do them for me with the parts I bought. Sigh...
I got everything apart fine, and was looking good to get both rear brakes done, until this one part wouldn't co-operate. The piston, which pushes the inside caliper to the brake pad would not retreat far enough for me to get the new pads in. I needed approx. 4 cm, and the best I could get was 3.5 cm... frustrating!! It took me all night and I ended up sitting out in my driveway until about 10pm with a lamp beside me so that I could see. I finally gave up at 10pm, and put all the old stuff back on then "closed it up".
Brakes, especially the back brakes, are not hard to do, but when you have an older car with rusty parts that are on the verge of having to be replaced, you can run into trouble like this.
Trying to save a few bucks, without the required tools for the job, always ends in frustration. But I'm determined. I'm going to rent that damn piston tool to get it back in. I talked to the shop manager here at work about it (he owns Honda's), and he gave me a few pointers to try - like take the caliper out that the piston is pushing on, and clean it up. If that piston had gone in like it should have, I would have been done in 2-2.5 hours last night (for both sides). Instead, I spent 3.5 hours on one side, and finished where I started, no further ahead. uggh!
Saturday I'll try again and do some better cleaning of the parts. I'll have all day and not have to fight the day light to finish. If I can't get it, I'll bite the bullet and have a mechanic do them for me with the parts I bought. Sigh...
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Getting Ready for Baby, etc.
This past weekend I helped (a little bit) with Mom's deck and porch as they had to be ripped out due to rotting. I say a little bit because on Saturday, I did nothing as the wood didn't show up until 3:30pm and I had to leave at 2:30 for Sadie's 1st birthday party. Home Depot botched the delivery big time - it was supposed to be there at 9am... so I sat there for 5.5 hours waiting, and then left. I came back after the party, and helped put down some boards on the back deck. Tony, Branko and Teresa got a lot done on Saturday, so by the time Sunday came around, I called and asked if I was really needed as I hardly did anything on Saturday and they still accomplished a lot, so I stayed home to do work there instead.
I am in the middle of painting the baby's room, and finished putting a 2nd coat of "cutting in" on, so now I just have to do the walls x2. It may need a 3rd coat. We are going with pastel colours, the main being "baby chicken" yellow, then squares (or something) of purple, blue and orange on one of the walls. The colours are being taken from a carpet that we're using in there. I'm not totally decided on doing "squares" of these colours, but we wanted to do something with the colours from the rug, and that's the only thing we can think of without expending too much effort!
We haven't been able to see anything in magazines with cool (and easy) painting idea's, so that's the plan right now.
I'm heading back to Mom's tonight with Tony to hopefully finish the deck, as they ran out of time on Sunday.
I don't think I mentioned that we also bought a La-z-boy recliner chair for that room as well! They had a big sale on for Canada Day so we went in and had a look and fell in love with the comfort of this chair. We don't love the "look" of la-z-boy's (they look grandpa-ish), but you can't beat the build and comfort! We'll move it into the tv room after it's baby-rocking duties are done. It lays almost completely flat as well, so I'm sure there will be more than a few nights spent sleeping on it. We went with a taupe kind of colour, so we hope it looks alright.
Once I finish painting the room, we are planning on renting a carpet cleaner, and doing the carpets throughout the house. We thought about getting them professionally done, and still may, but I don't want to go through the hassle of having to move all the furniture for them - where would it all go!? If we rent the machine instead, I can move stuff as I need to, instead of all at once. I hope to finish most of the painting this week/weekend.
Ask me if I'm feeling stressed yet? Yes, we're still 2 months away (from today exactly), but in reality, it could be 6 weeks or less!
Speaking of time, and timing... there's a very good possibility that BOTH Marnie's parents and my Mom will miss the birth. We don't want to talk about that, though, because Nancy gets upset thinking about it! They are heading to Winnipeg for a wedding and staying about a week. They get back about 3 weeks before the due date so they should be safe...
And my Mom is gallivanting all over North America to BC, Hawaii, and California, right around the due date as well - she is cutting it much closer than Marn's parents.
I am in the middle of painting the baby's room, and finished putting a 2nd coat of "cutting in" on, so now I just have to do the walls x2. It may need a 3rd coat. We are going with pastel colours, the main being "baby chicken" yellow, then squares (or something) of purple, blue and orange on one of the walls. The colours are being taken from a carpet that we're using in there. I'm not totally decided on doing "squares" of these colours, but we wanted to do something with the colours from the rug, and that's the only thing we can think of without expending too much effort!
We haven't been able to see anything in magazines with cool (and easy) painting idea's, so that's the plan right now.
I'm heading back to Mom's tonight with Tony to hopefully finish the deck, as they ran out of time on Sunday.
I don't think I mentioned that we also bought a La-z-boy recliner chair for that room as well! They had a big sale on for Canada Day so we went in and had a look and fell in love with the comfort of this chair. We don't love the "look" of la-z-boy's (they look grandpa-ish), but you can't beat the build and comfort! We'll move it into the tv room after it's baby-rocking duties are done. It lays almost completely flat as well, so I'm sure there will be more than a few nights spent sleeping on it. We went with a taupe kind of colour, so we hope it looks alright.
Once I finish painting the room, we are planning on renting a carpet cleaner, and doing the carpets throughout the house. We thought about getting them professionally done, and still may, but I don't want to go through the hassle of having to move all the furniture for them - where would it all go!? If we rent the machine instead, I can move stuff as I need to, instead of all at once. I hope to finish most of the painting this week/weekend.
Ask me if I'm feeling stressed yet? Yes, we're still 2 months away (from today exactly), but in reality, it could be 6 weeks or less!
Speaking of time, and timing... there's a very good possibility that BOTH Marnie's parents and my Mom will miss the birth. We don't want to talk about that, though, because Nancy gets upset thinking about it! They are heading to Winnipeg for a wedding and staying about a week. They get back about 3 weeks before the due date so they should be safe...
And my Mom is gallivanting all over North America to BC, Hawaii, and California, right around the due date as well - she is cutting it much closer than Marn's parents.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Creepy "animation"
I just came across this video and thought it was so cool and creepy, I had to share. I want to try it...
It's just corn starch and water mixed to a certain consistency, then poured onto a metal cookie sheet and held over a sub woofer.
So wild!
There are other similar vid's on youtube, if you want to check them out.
It's just corn starch and water mixed to a certain consistency, then poured onto a metal cookie sheet and held over a sub woofer.
So wild!
There are other similar vid's on youtube, if you want to check them out.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Photo Shoot
Marn wanted some professional photos done of her pregger belly, so we hired her friend Marcie's sister, Krista Hall Jefferson, of Edison Photography who does really great stuff. She came over on Sunday night for the shoot.
Some pictures made her blog today, and we should have the rest of the proofs to view soon. You can see us, and a lot of her other work over at her great website:
http://www.edisonphotography.com/ Click on Blog to see us.
As of today, we're the 3rd or 4th story down. I'm sure I had a goofy smile for most of the shots, which is why none on the blog show me "face on". I have a problem with smiling on demand like that, although I don't think I did too badly on our wedding day.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Our Vet
I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned on this blog before, but we absolutely love our Vet (Ann) in New Hamburg. She's always SO excited to see Echo and just loves him. She's always wanted a Dane, but her husband doesn't, so she gets all her love in caring for other Danes (Her two Retriever's just don't do it, I guess?). In reality, she just really loves ALL Danes, and since coming on board at the New Hamburg clinic, she's "stolen" all the Dane clients from the other vets.... it's pretty funny, although she did tell us that Echo is the best one of them all, and has the best demeanor. She also seems like a really fun and happy person and is (guessing?) around our age. Marn and I have said that if we ever moved from Baden, we'd take Echo to New Hamburg just for her.
Anyway, this past weekend we screwed up and underestimated the demand for Dog Boarding over the long weekend and couldn't find anywhere to take him. Some said they've been booked up for 2 months already! We were getting to our last hope and called the clinic to see if they boarded dogs overnight and during my dialing the number, Marn said, wouldn't it be funny if she answered and wanted to take him for the weekend?
So, when I called on Friday afternoon, luck would have it that our vet actually answered the phone. I asked if they boarded dogs, to which she said "no, but...", and before I was able to finish explaining that all the kennels are full, she asked me if Echo is friendly with other dogs. I said, yes, he loves other dogs and is really good with them. Before I completed that sentence, she blurted out, "I can take him!" lol I was a little shocked as I did NOT expect that at all, although, the back of our minds we were thinking, that would be awesome if...
I told her that no, she REALLY, REALLY didn't have to do that, that I couldn't ask her to that, and we could find other arrangements (either me stay home, or get a neighbour to let him out/feed him), but she insisted and said that she wouldn't have offered if she didn't really meant it. SO NICE of her! She was so excited about Echo having a sleep over with her dogs (I think more than us!), and didn't even check with her husband first. The opportunity to dog sit a Dane was there and she jumped on it. It was a done deal within 2 minutes of calling, even after me telling her repeatedly that she didn't have to.
Marn's mom picked him up for us Sunday at noon and then dropped him off at our house, and I have yet to talk to Ann about the weekend, but Nancy said they had a fun time. When she picked him up, she said something like, "get in the van, you big dumby", to which Ann's husband said, "yes, yes he is. But a really nice one". I'm not sure if he was referring to him being dumb or big? ;) I'm going to say big. lol Maybe we should get them 2 gift certificates for a dog bath as a thank you. I'm sure Echo slobbered all over their dogs all weekend....
He slept all day and night Sunday.
As far as the shopping in Buffalo went. It was pretty good. Not as "productive" as other trips, but that is a good thing for our wallets. Candace and Dave on the other hand, being their first trip to the outlets in a long time, ate it up in true form. We were concerned about coming back to Canada and having to pay duty, but the guard must have been in a good mood, or maybe we got a sympathy vote with Marn's round belly in the back seat and let us off without penalty.
Anyway, this past weekend we screwed up and underestimated the demand for Dog Boarding over the long weekend and couldn't find anywhere to take him. Some said they've been booked up for 2 months already! We were getting to our last hope and called the clinic to see if they boarded dogs overnight and during my dialing the number, Marn said, wouldn't it be funny if she answered and wanted to take him for the weekend?
So, when I called on Friday afternoon, luck would have it that our vet actually answered the phone. I asked if they boarded dogs, to which she said "no, but...", and before I was able to finish explaining that all the kennels are full, she asked me if Echo is friendly with other dogs. I said, yes, he loves other dogs and is really good with them. Before I completed that sentence, she blurted out, "I can take him!" lol I was a little shocked as I did NOT expect that at all, although, the back of our minds we were thinking, that would be awesome if...
I told her that no, she REALLY, REALLY didn't have to do that, that I couldn't ask her to that, and we could find other arrangements (either me stay home, or get a neighbour to let him out/feed him), but she insisted and said that she wouldn't have offered if she didn't really meant it. SO NICE of her! She was so excited about Echo having a sleep over with her dogs (I think more than us!), and didn't even check with her husband first. The opportunity to dog sit a Dane was there and she jumped on it. It was a done deal within 2 minutes of calling, even after me telling her repeatedly that she didn't have to.
Marn's mom picked him up for us Sunday at noon and then dropped him off at our house, and I have yet to talk to Ann about the weekend, but Nancy said they had a fun time. When she picked him up, she said something like, "get in the van, you big dumby", to which Ann's husband said, "yes, yes he is. But a really nice one". I'm not sure if he was referring to him being dumb or big? ;) I'm going to say big. lol Maybe we should get them 2 gift certificates for a dog bath as a thank you. I'm sure Echo slobbered all over their dogs all weekend....
He slept all day and night Sunday.
As far as the shopping in Buffalo went. It was pretty good. Not as "productive" as other trips, but that is a good thing for our wallets. Candace and Dave on the other hand, being their first trip to the outlets in a long time, ate it up in true form. We were concerned about coming back to Canada and having to pay duty, but the guard must have been in a good mood, or maybe we got a sympathy vote with Marn's round belly in the back seat and let us off without penalty.
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