Monday night my friend Doug came to help me work on my car. He thought it was the relay and so we looked at that and then conferred with my handy dandy book, "How to Keep Your VW Alive". Then we went looking for the starter. I jacked up the car and took the tire off and put a screwdriver across the connections on the solenoid, connecting the starter to the battery and my engine turned. That was exciting, although it was pouring rain throughout our work. So then the book says, that the problem must be that there is dirt and rust in the solenoid and bang on it with a hammer. The car started right up after that. :)
Then it died the next night. :( I was rushing home with a friend to meet other people to go to a soccer game between a local team and a British team. My car died right by the stadium, so people weren't happy and the police came and helped push start it. Eight of us walked to the stadium and were greeted by a line of police, we couldn't buy tickets at the gate. So we turned to the scalpers who had received free tickets from the provincial government, the problem was there was a lot of discussion since there were 8 people trying to get as many of us to have seats together. The police pushed forward and one came and took the tickets and grabbed hold of one of the people selling them. So we missed the game, because the ticket outlets were already closed. Some of us went to a a bar and listened to jazz instead.
Wednesday night, the screwdriver connection resulted in nothing, so I figured my starter needed to be replaced. Took it to a mechanic the next day and replaced the starter and solenoid, the fan belt, learned the battery cells were dry and just replaced the battery as well. I also got to talk with the mechanic about bug issues and watch him work. So I learned a lot of things.
The next day on my way to clinical supervision the car started clanking and then died. I called the mechanic and he was able to come out (unfortunately two hours later), so a friend dropped off a book and some coffee and I waited. The mechanic came, fiddled a bit, determined the car wasn't firing on all cylinders and we took it to the garage, but by the time we got there, it was running fine.
The big problem was that it has been raining this past week unlike I have seen this whole time. Seems like almost nonstop and there has even been lightening and thunder which is very rare for Cape Town. So bugs don't do so well with rain sometimes. But it is running better than it has run the whole time I have owned it and I am learning all sorts of things about cars now.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Watermelon Blue
The first picture is of Don absailing. Don is in Cape Town from the States on a Fulbright Scholarship. More donkeys, Taryn and Sarah resting and Spencer spending time with Vuyo.
The Desert Rocks
Pictures of the scenery, Philippa spending time with the leader of the pack and the "river" crossing.
Have you absailed?
I have a few more pictures of donkeys. Thought my mom would like to see them. The house is one of the cottages in which we stayed. Janet is whipping up egg whites for pancakes and is the organizer of this event. Above Joel is carrying Vuyo, felt the need to coddle the dog on a long hike among lots of rocks. Joel just arrived in South Africa from the USA for an exchange in Durban and flew to Cape Town to meet a friend of his girlfriend's that he didn't know. Gee up above is anchoring for all of us absailing down the rock face.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Tromping Through the Cederberg
Well let me start with my Friday first. Met with my clinical supervisor for the first time at the University of Western Cape. That went well and then drove back to work and later went out to see about having my cell phone unlocked and my car would not start. Tried push starting it and jumping the battery. So a friend came and we push started it and got it home. Then rushed around to get ready to leave for the weekend (packing for a dog now too) and had some McDonalds. It is starting to feel more like McDonalds helps me cope with my car than with culture shock. :)
The Cederberg is a huge mountainous area 3 hours or so north of Cape Town, a good outdoor weekend getaway. Twelve of us went and stayed in self-catering cottages. Saturday we hiked for most of the day and then had a braai (pronounced (br-i) (I can't simply translate it as a bbq, because people do feel that it is better than a bbq or grilling). The stars were beautiful and we stood out looking for shooting stars for a while. Vuyo went on the hike and was coddled a bit, people carried him and we carried him across the stream because I was afraid he would pull me down in his struggles, but I suppose he needs to learn to do those things instead of being rescued.
Sunday morning, I made breakfast burritos, tortillas from scratch even. Took a few hours and so the natives were restless, but all thought it was worth the wait. :) We went out for short hike to a rock face and absailed down, packed up and went home. I unfortunately panicked too much on first climbing down the rock and fell against the face, but all went well enough.
It was a great crowd.
The Cederberg reminded me a bit of New Mexico with the desert landscape and mountains. On the drive back saw some mountains blue in the distance and then with the setting sun reflected on them were catching the pink cast of the Sandias.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
