128,718

You Have To Identify The Problem Before You Can Solve It
For the past 9 months, I’ve had many bouts with keeping my beloved V-Dub running…and many MANY other bouts in years passed…Lately, I’ve been depending on a VERY good mechanic…  with no ambition or drive.

He is EXCELLENT at what he does… it’s just getting him to DO it that’s the problem.

At any rate, he is much more affordable than just about anyone else because he works for himself, by himself.  He lets me buy my own parts, and gives me “his price” anywhere he can, making the waiting for my cars to be repaired somewhat worth it.

Somewhat.

I’d been waiting for him to put my VW back together for about 4 months after the original pistons were fried in the second overheated head gasket…  It took me 2 months to get the money together, and 4 months for him to do the work…

but he finally did it, once I showed up at 2 am and we both stayed up till 8am tinkering with it…

it was road worthy again.

So for the first time in over half a year,

I was driving a 6-speed manual transmission once again.

-grin-

There were a few things wrong with her still though… like the body, and the paint… but those are actually the least of my concerns for now.  What I am mostly concerned about, is how well she drives, and how dependable she will be for me to work my delivery gigs in.

In the business I am in, I simply MUST have functioning transport!!!

While I’ve been riddled with other issues on the car, besides the engine, with things like busting radiator hoses, bad wheel bearings, DESTROYED motor mounts, electrical issues, and even the button for the emergency brake release… I have not given up on bringing her back to “Wow! You’re car is awesome!” status.

Yesterday, before work….

I got a few steps closer.

I’ve been driving the V-Dub now for an entire week without any break downs are major problems that prevent me from continuing to drive it for work purposes.  Mostly in part to my rigging the coolant lines and being outright TEDIOUS with researching my cars known issues and correctly identifying the problems it’s having.  But I AM driving it again…

and THAT… I’m tickled fucking PINK about!!!

While I still have many parts on hand that need installed, and more coming soon… I had my AWESOME Muffler Shop, lift her into the air, and take a look at some of the issues I need addressed.

That’s when I found it…

I haven’t had the function of a speedometer since I first got my car back that faithful night (or… morning?) at 8am…  Mr. Slacker Mechanic hadn’t looked hard enough to find the sensor on TOP of the transmission, yet under the motor.  While I agree that it was hard to find, he WAS the one that disconnected it, and he WAS the one that is supposed to know these things…  however I also understand that working till 8am can sometimes lead to a lack of “sharpness”…

Regardless of the situation, I was rolling around dangerously without a functional speedometer.

I recall the main reason I bought the car in the first place…

I was driving a “Speed Trap” area, during my test drive, and remember saying to myself: “It’s not very fast… but I like everything else in it.”

It was in that moment I looked down at the Speedometer reading 70 Miles per Hour.

NOT a good idea in the “Speed Trap City” I was in at the time…

“Holy Shit!” I exclaimed as I switched my foot to the brake instead of the gas pedal.

Had I known how fast I was going, I probably would have been LESS impressed by the cars original quiet, smooth ride.

So for me to not know exactly how fast I was going, and not having drove the car for a few months.. I was flirting with a disaster of getting another ticket…

Back to the muffler shop…

I found the dangling wiring harness and simply CLICK-ed it into place on the existing sensor that was still attached to my transmission,

Speedometer wiring harness to the transmission "clicked" into place, and she had all her senses back

and just like that…

She had all her senses back.

I’ll not forget this moment, and I’ll be sure to remind her of what happened at 128,718 miles after shes running like a dream and she’s freshly painted.

Sometimes you spin your wheels but you get nowhere. When this happens, you have to remember the fundamentals: You have to go back to what works and realize what doesn’t, and change your habits.

You don’t have to go down with the ship all the time, if  you keep your wits about you in the clutch moments, you may find that there are means to save both you and the ship itself.  Sometimes we are eager to be heroes and martyrs, yet step back and realize the greater picture.  All REAL Good things have neither a beginning nor an end, but they are always Good.

Just because no one realized your pace, it doesn’t mean you aren’t making progress.  We can “gauge” how far we have come, by how much others opinions and judgments of us change, but even without a means to compare, we still have to trust our own senses and believe in the unseen.

Miracles happen everyday, be one of them.
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