Monday, February 20, 2006

 

Driveway must have risen.

With all I have done in the shop I never ended up with even one sliver. Yesterday I was just straightening up my side porch and somehow ended up with a sliver in my hand. Then today I was just hanging on to the railing to go down cellar and check on the furnace fuel and lo and behold I got a sliver in the side of my thumb. When I checked the rail I found no spot that wasn`t smooth. I must have collected the only sliver place there.
I am having one heck of a time backing my car out of the garage. I think the driveway has raised due to the awful cold and moisture. One of my sons trimmed off the bottom of one door just a speck so I could open the door a bit further. Hate to remove too much or when spring comes I might have a hole below the door to let the skunks, possum and other animal sneak under. I only had about 1 to 2 inches on each side of the car mirrors to back out in when I could open the doors wide. Now I have to back out on a slant till the mirrors are out of the garage, then I have to start turning the wheel sharply to straighten the car out so I don`t back into the cement block flower bed along the side of the driveway. It is almost a relief driving in traffic compared to getting the car out of the garage. Can`t widen the doorway any further or it would weaken the frame on the garage. We already removed one 2x4 to get it this wide. I used to have to back out perfectly so the mirrors barely missed hitting the door frame. Removing the 2x4 gave me an extra inch on each side. Thats why I got the garage , Hubby could never back his car out easy, so he prefered leaving his in the driveway. Somedays I am almost ready to leave my car out in the driveway. But then I think of all the money I just paid to have all the tiny rust spots touched up so they wouldn`t get worse. It looks like a new car and I want to keep it that way if I can. It is only a `90 Mazda 323, but runs like a top , as my Dad would say. I bought it in April,`95 with low mileage on it . Even the millage isn`t that high yet. I thought of buying a new car, but wondered if it would be worth it. I am already 74 and who knows how many more years I will be driving. All is fine now, but as we get older we never know what tomorrow will bring. I would hate to spend all that money and not get years of use from the car. So, for now, I am just trying to keep this car in as good condition as possible for as long as I can. Down the road I might wish I had bought the new car. My air conditioner doesn`t work, but everything else does. I like the way the back opens up high and the back seats drop down allowing me to carry wood for making items in my shop. Walt hated my car because it is a standard and he preferred automatic. But I learned on a standard when back in high School and have driven them every since. I`m just used to it. My hubby did buy me a new car back in `83 and he insisted on an automatic. So, we bought an automatic on the floor. I told him I would be reaching for the floor from habit and he could have his auto- as long as he got it on the floor. I had that car 11 yrs and it was still looking like a new car when a speed demon hit me and totaled it in `94. It also had the drop down seats so I could carry all the scout items to and from places. I was involved in Scouting for 15 years. A friends husband once told me he wished he could afford a new car like mine. I told him I would like one like his-- it was just 2 yrs old and at the time mine was already 10 yrs old. He was surprised. I baby my cars and keep them waxed up so they stay looking like a new car.
Oh there goes the dryer. Seems like once you get older the things that still whistle and buzz at you are the tea kettle, the microwave, the dryer, the timer, the alarm clock if it is set and the phone. Glad I don`t have a doorbell to yell at me, there is already too many things that are yelling at me without it. What happened to those good old days when the whistling was real?? Well, this isn`t getting the clothes from the dryer. One load finished and put away, now for taking care of the last load for today. Have to figure out the back door tomorrow. Went after what i needed, now just need to get ambitious and do the repairs to stop the draft.
Well, I`m off for tonight.

Comments:
*appreciative whistle*

You've just got tagged by my daughter Mrs Lifecruiser, go to her blog to see the tags. Good Luck with the tag dance :-)

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them. You can find their emailadress under the "Contact"-menu.
 
I have a very small garage, so I know what you are saying, although I back my Jeep into it, I find it easier than trying to back out of it.

Have a great day!!
 
Lifelessons, tell your daughter mrs lifecruiser that I`m not so good talking about myself, but I will give it a try.
Thanks for dropping by.
 
Hi Deni, wish I could back in easier, but there is one big problem that I didn`t tell. When Walt built the Bike shop, he didn`t match it straight with the road out front. You see all the properties on my road are marked out on a slant and he built the building so many feet from the side property line to be legal. We never even thought of the slanted property line making the building end up on a bit of a slant with the road out front. So, to back in I would first need to start backing up straight in the driveway by slowly turning the car backing towards the left while watching the cement block flower bed on the right. Much easier to just watch the flower bed ( height of 3 blockc) till I can slant the car over enough for the car to back into the garage. Really like driving thru a maze at times, especially if the driveway isn`t plowed the full width. You see that Bike shop became a larger grocery store, then back to the bike shop ( removing the lsrger front section which we added to the house), and today it is my garage, plus the other half was closed off for the shop.
Might add that if i backed my car straight out of the garage I would end up hitting my side porch.
I sympathize with you on having a small garage opening. I have extra room in the garage, but just can`t make the door opening any wider.
Thanks for stopping by.
 
Dot
Keep that car as new, `cause you are going to use it for another 25 years.

So go for it !!!
:)
 
WOW! Jac, Don`t think I would want to be a 99, almost 100 yrs old driving a car. I have never heard of anyone that age still keeping a licence. Had a couple girl friends whose Mom turned her license in when she was in her early 80`s. After one daughter died, she moved to Florida to live with the other daughter. She kept asking me on the phone when I was driving down to see her. She still thought she lived just a few miles from me. One day her daughter couldn`t find her and when they did she was sitting in their car. When asked what she was doing, she told them that since noone was going to drive her up to see Dot, she was going to drive herself up. She was in her 90`s at this time. If you check a map of the US, you will see how very very far it is from N.Y. to Florida. She was one real sweetheart. She died a few yrs ago and the other daughter died last summer. One wonderful family whom I loved dearly.
But, I will keep trying to keep my car looking great.
 
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