Day off

I woke to desert heat today. The forecast called for 83 degrees (28 c) and sunny. My 2nd floor apartment tends to collect heat from the entire building -- the indoor thermometer says 88.7 (31.5 c). Several fans are pushing air around because I'm too cheap to run the AC.

My cab partners and I received good news about the Falcon today. It seems HQ is finally ready to fix the front suspension problem, after two months of written requests and phone calls. Of late I can't get above 55 on the freeway, which is painful in the 65 zones. It just shakes too much. Fortunately the speedo is off by 7, so customers think we're almost driving the limit. Also, at slow speeds in parking lots there is an awful grinding noise when turning tightly. One hotel has complained already. We're getting a loaner car for tomorrow, but since I'm taking the day off, I probably won't have to drive it.

I asked the owner to have Fred give the car a tune-up in addition to the suspension work. We've got a stumble at idle and it has been SUCKING gas. At $3.50 per gallon, the Falcon has dropped from a 10% car to a 20% car (fuel bill = 20% of meter take). That's an extra $10-20 per day in fuel, which really ads up.