Shamrocks and Shenanigans Part 1 of 3

No, this has nothing to do with House of Pain.  Before it turns into April, I should probably recap what's been going on for March.  I last held you hanging on the Corktown Race, which I did end up making it to. 

The thing with the car right now is basically that it has body cancer (e.g. rust) and basically that rust is going to give way to either my bumper falling off or my strut mount going completely through to the top of my trunk.  Sparty1 has had a good run though, serving me for a good 8+ years without hardly any maintence outside of the norm and the low low price of $3500.  I'm half tempted to find a good body shop, drop a grand to shore up both sides with some new steel and just run with it some more, because the engine is still running really strong.  I don't know though, I mean, someday I may want such luxury options as:  A/C, a working gear display, back windows that roll down, power locks that work, a radio that gets stations outside of a 15 mile radius, a heater that works on more than one (high) setting, and a working odometer (it went out around 156,000 years ago, so I have no clue how many miles are on it other than "a crap load").

The scary thing is, with the used car market up, a new one almost makes sense, and I just am not a new car person.  I'm not even a newer used car person.  I like cheap cars I can work on (wish I was a welder), without having any desire to keep them clean (which isn't possible) or safe from being stolen, and can run into the ground.  I'm like a car hospice caretaker that specializes in Buicks, or a cheap old man.  Either way...

So, I ended up driving it down to Corktown races, which I ran incredibly late for, and was the very last car they let onto Michigan Ave.  That green car in the middle of a line of cop cars going down the street, that was me.  They were nice enough to let me around the barricade and through with a little coaxing.  Detroit's finest and I seem to have an understanding, considering the many times I've talked myself, my friends, and my car out of binds down there.  I need to start doing some of the police charity runs just to pay them back for being so kind to me.  After the pass-thru and the escort, I just had enough time to park illegally (followed by a gaggle of other cars), grab my packet, run it back to the car, and race.  I clocked a 27:58, which is respectable at this point.  I'm just going for being faster than me at this time last year, and I had that nailed by about a minute. 

Then, because I'm off drinking until Easter (minus the ACTUAL St. Pat's Day), I got out of there before it got too hectic.  Once the parade starts, Corktown starts drinking like it's their job.  I already witnessed that fanfare last year anyway, so I escaped to downtown, where it was dead as a doornail.  I ate a chimichanga at Loco, giving the bartender her "1st customer of the day," even though she'd been there 2 hours, and headed back home so the puppy wouldn't be stuck in his crate too long.

I still owe 2 St. Patty related entries, and more.  I'm really starting to see the benefits of becoming one of those video bloggers.  The only reason this one's getting cranked out is because I'm putting $21.95 worth of final touches on the complete fixing of this dishwasher from last month.  Its pump seal failed and I had to special order a new one.  I'm running a cycle with some dishes again just to make sure it doesn't start leaking, and then maybe I can finally go to bed.

See what I mean about my penchant for old mechanical friends?  I should probably have pulled it out, taken it out back, went all "Office Space" on it, and then bought a new one.  That's just no fun, though...except for the "Office Space" beatdown part.