Yet another week in Austin doing the same old routine. Lately I've been busy with searching for jobs and also working on my 2007 Focus. I've been trying to replace the thermostat, but it's been an absolute pain. Being that the Focus is originally a Northern car, there is a lot of corrosion from the salt they put on the roads. This corrosion means that bolts will bust when you try to take them off.
I busted one of the bolts on the thermostat itself.
I've been trying a bunch of new things. While I'm not making a lot of progress fixing the issue, I'm making a ton of progress learning. I guess that's the main goal of keeping this car with 261,000 miles on it. It serves as a good beater and also a real world automotive textbook.
The biggest things I'm learning are how stuff is laid out and why certain tools were invented in the first place. Seeing the layout of the car is almost like dissecting a cat. Victoria came up with that analogy but it's very true. I get to see everything in its given place and how everything connects to each other.
As far as tools goes, I'm finding there's the right tool for almost every job. I used to walk into tool stores and question why so many different tools existed. I now see how every tool has a purpose, especially when working in the compact conditions of modern cars.
Trying to get this broken bolt out in the compact conditions of the cars has been a challenge. I have half the car torn apart and tore it apart further to make more room. I now even have the radiator out.
Now I'm not an automotive expert by any means. I did take all the automotive classes back in high school. Beyond that it's just been hands on experience doing my own maintenance and tackling jobs like this.. I can tell I'm learning a ton and hopefully this makes me a more skillful mechanic. I want to travel in more remote areas so having these skills is vital.
I've been working on and off on the car. The rest of my time has been dedicated to finding a steady full time job. These two things have been taking the majority of my time. Every once and a while I get out, including the Friday lunch date Victoria and I do. This week we went to Wally's.. I got a Trainwreck burger with a taco on the side.
Friday evening, we did our Costco date.. I got to see some guy load the onions thick on his pizza. I guess this guy really likes raw onions on the pizza!
Saturday, Victoria and I planned to go to Bryan. She needed to exchange her wedding dress for a different size that would be easier to tailor. Early Saturday morning it rained hard. I heard it in my apartment, but didn't realize how hard it rained until we hit the road. There were a lot of flooded areas.
It seemed to get a little drier on the way to Bryan-College Station. The drive itself was pretty smooth sailing.
Our first stop was Aggieland Outfitters.. I could tell we were getting close by the large Texas A&M flag.
Victoria was able to find what she needed at Aggieland Outfitters.. She got a license plate holder for her new car.. We were in and out pretty fast.. We then hit the road to her aunt and uncle Craig and Kathy's house.. They wanted to show us this awesome burger joint called Top of the Hill Greasy Burgers.. We all hopped in Craig's vehicle and headed there.
The burger was definitely greasy. Top of the Hill Greasy Burgers lived up to its name!
The burger was also great tasting, as well as the Hot Dam fries.
I was very impressed with the place and also very full. We headed back to Bryan and then dropped by Victoria's grandparent's house. We all visited a while and then hit the road back for Austin.
The rest of the weekend was spent doing chores and trying to get ready for the busy week to come. I know I'm going to be busy for this next week but I'll make sure to get out at least once or twice and report back!