A Holiday Blog...

... Begins with a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Good Kwanzaa, and otherwise all-around happy Friday to everyone.  I am not a man who discriminates based upon the beliefs of another.  I try to accommodate every faith.  I make no secret of my Mormon faith.  It's no secret that I was a pretty lousy Mormon for a long, long period of time, either.  My decision to become a Mormon was based on a personal quest to find which religion was right for me, and I've looked into as many Christian based faiths as I have non-Christian.  I've read translations of enough of the Koran to know that "true Islam" is a quest for peace, I've learned to respect the faith of others, and I would hope to be treated in kind. 

That being said...

The verdict on 2015 is in... it sucked.  It was on it's way to being "Ho-Hum," and almost got there, until the transfer case on my 2002 RAV4 goes out on me on I-80, coming home from a Stake Temple Assignment.  Fortunately, I was able to navigate my way onto the shoulder of the road, and no accidents or near-misses occurred.  We were safe, it was cold, and we really weren't dressed for it.  We weren't far from home, and by the time the tow truck driver had the RAV safely secured, daughter Tyffany showed up to take us home.  I did the fastest "Temple-dress-to-working-clothes" change ever recorded, was out the door, and on my way to Toyota.  As I drove up, a security guard was approaching a locked gate, at which our driver was sitting.  He said he called me, but my phone was still in the RAV (one of the things I was intending to retrieve), so it was lucky that I got there when I did.

Long story short, need new transfer case.  No such thing in USA, however there were two available in Japan.  Part should be here on, or before December 24, and depending upon when it arrives, the work should be done by December 26 at the latest.  Estimated cost: $5700 parts/labor/taxes/etc.

No one, however, can explain HOW my transfer case came to be, as Ray (at Toyota Service) told me, "dry as a bone."  The way I understand it is that there is a front seal, and a rear seal, neither of which showed any signs of leaking, and yet a mostly closed system of 90W gear oil is suddenly dry?  I asked.  Ray started sputtering, trying to go on about the people maintaining my car (Firestone), but I had had this conversation with Firestone a few minutes earlier, and noted that Toyota was the only one's even near the transfer case, particularly when they did a transmission system flush two years ago.  I have a idea of how it might have happened.

Scenario One:

During the transmission system flush, oil was drained from the transfer case, either mistakenly, or intentionally.  Not totally, the vehicle wouldn't last very long with no oil.  Taking a portion sufficient enough to allow heat to build, over a period of time, it took time to manifest, but the oil eventually burned out on the inside of the transfer case.

Scenario Two"

During the transmission system flush, something was, either mistakenly, or intentionally, introduced into the transfer case an agent that might have adversely impacted the viscosity of the oil in the case, burning it off over time.

I'm actually leaning towards the second scenario.  Particularly if a de-greasing agent is introduced during the transmission flush.  I am going to stand fast on this one, because I didn't F anything up.  I'm going to ask them who worked on the transmission in 2013, if he/she is still employed, how long had they been on the job in 2013, any other complaints about this persons work?

Until last Tuesday, 2015 was just another year to forget, too.

December 7, 2015

Today is the 74th Anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  More than 2,000 people were killed, thousands more wounded, and a crippling blow on the US Navy was delivered in a short period of time.  Americans came together, rebuilt the fleet, and masterfully conducted war on a global scale, proving to the world that, "You don't *&$# with America."

September 11, 2001, Islamist terrorists hijack four commercial aircraft, slam two of them into the towers of the World Trade Center, another into the Pentagon, and lost the fourth to a courageous group of passengers who forced the plane into the ground, killing everyone aboard.  All totaled, more than 3,000 people lose their lives in the attack, thousands more wounded, and thousands more with ongoing medical problems from the dust from the falling towers, or injuries related to the attack.  Americans came together, rebuilt the tower, toppled a sadistic dictator and a tyrannical leadership bringing freedom to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Fast Forward another fourteen years, to 2015.  Islamist terrorists publicly behead anyone in Syria and Iraq that isn't affiliated with ISIS.  They carry out attacks in Germany, German warplanes fly 1,100 sorties in a week.  The terrorists kill 130 some people in Paris, French warplanes fly another 1,200 sorties in a week.  In California, 14 people are killed by a couple who have pledged allegiance to the "Islamic State," the President cites the need for more gun control, our Governor flies to San Bernadino to get a few photo's taken before he goes to Paris to show the world what a Paradise he has created in California, and it takes Presidential speech writers 4 days to come up with a spin on the attack that meets with Obama's approval.  Meanwhile, US military aircraft continue to run less than 50 sorties per week.  Is it me?  Or is there something wrong?

First of all, the Right to own weapons is guaranteed by our Constitution, more correctly by the Second Amendment to the Constitution, such Amendments being known as The Bill of Rights.  It would take a Constitutional Amendment to change that, and that just cannot happen.  The sole purpose of the Second Amendment is to protect the citizenry from a Government that seeks to ignore the Constitution for the purpose of oppressing We The People.  While many are distracted by gun control, many others are assailing our Right to Free Speech under the guise of Political Correctness.  All the while, the President, by his own words, "has a phone and a pen," and no intention of living up to his oath of office to, "protect and defend" the Constitution, not "object and suspend".

I'm 64, and have 30 - 35 years, tops, left on this planet, and yet I may still live to see this Country suffer some horrendous injury.  That thought saddens me in ways I cannot describe.  I pray, every day, that Americans put aside their petty arguments, and start working together one more time.

In the 20th Century, American history was a continuing story of overcoming any disaster, Natural or man-made. So far, the 21st Century is a story of vanity, over-sensitivity, and entitlement.  It's not a great start, but together we can overcome anything.  We're AMERICAN'S damn it!  It's time to go back to acting like it.