Transmission Noises

I drove Little Kat to college. I took his car because it has a college parking pass. Each time I pressed the gas from a stop, I heard a strange sound and felt some sort of rumbling in the vehicle. I asked Little Kat about it. He said he did not notice anything. I did a second test drive and felt the problem again.

Little Kat and I dropped the car off at my mechanic's. We pulled into the garage. Waited 20 minutes for him to show up. Ended up leaving it with some other employee. I called my mechanic. He said he did not feel or hear what I described. He said the transmission was a little jerky. But he could find no problem.

I don't want to have to pay for a new transmission or engine. That could run from $5k to $10k. The car is 5 years old with 27k miles. Online I got an estimated trade in sale price of $10k to $11k. I priced new cars with the same trim. MSRP is $21k+. But with $2500 of discounts, the car would cost $19k+. So maybe $11k total out of pocket to trade up to a brand new car.

Little Kat Graduates

This spring was Little Kat's last semester at his 4-year college. His semesters were divided into 2 terms. This last term he had only 2 classes. One was a capstone project course. The other was a presentations course. Both courses were taught by the same instructor. Both had a ton of work.

Little Kat had the option to walk in the graduation ceremony. The clothing alone costs hundreds of dollars. So he decided to skip it. There was some family drama when his dad did not get tickets to his graduation.

Initially Little Kat could not schedule all courses needed to graduate this semester due to course overlap. The school added new sections to make it possible for him and a few other cohorts to graduate in time. One of Little Kat's friends has a job already. The other has an internship.

I expected Little Kat to hit the ground running, looking for a job ASAP. Little Kat said he needed at least a gap month to rest and possibly travel. We will see how that goes. He cannot chill as he has student loans that need to be paid. I am involved as I had to co-sign for a lot of student loans.

Little Kat says he will take whatever job he gets offered. That includes jobs where he needs to relocate. His friend that already has a job said she would recommend him at her company. It will require a relocation to Dallas, TX. At least he has family close to there.

Firguring Out Dinner

Once again, somebody scheduled a lunch meeting. So I ran out this morning to get breakfast from McDonald's. It is almost always a #2. That is a sausage, egg, and chesse McMuffin. I opt for a large coke. As usual, the meeting runs over time. But I am not hungry.

Eventually, I figure I need to get a snack. I am going out to dinner with my college buddy. But I can't make it to dinner without a little more food. The best bet is two McDoubles from McDonald's for $3.99. I really would like to get a double cheeseburger from Roy Rogers. I could pile up pickles on the side at the fixins bar. The burger might be expensive though.

Finally I settle on Burger King. They don't have the best burgers. However I saw a TikTok post about one of their new melts - the Philly Melt. I suspect the creator was hired/sponsored to post about it. She seemed genuine. And she stuck to the facts. Crunchy peppers on top. Two slices of fully melted cheese. A lot of burget in the two patties. Plus a sourdough bun. Cost was around $7 just for the sandwich. It was all right.

The Passing of Chai Latte

 

Kit Kat reported that her gerbil was having trouble breathing last night. She called Little Kat, who went to her house directly after college. Little Kat stayed until midnight. Kit Kat took the day off. Around 10:00 am, Chai died. Kit Kat brought the body over to our house after school and work were over. Kit Kat and Little Kat buried the body in a checkbook box in our back yard.

Momoko called all the PetSmart stores in the area. The local one had 2 female gerbils. And the far away one we usually use had 2 more females. Little Kat and Kit Kat went to the local store and purchased 2 gerbils. Prices have gone up to $21 each. These gerbils seemed excited to come home to a clean cage that Momoko put together. Kit Kat went back home to see her boyfriend.

We added a clean gerbil wheel that the new gerbils were eventually able to figure out. Both gerbils try to run on the wheel at the same time. We also put a spaghetti box in the cage. They loved climbing on top and underneath the box. Later, Little Kat put a paper towel tube in the cage for them to chew on. We are debating what to name these first 2 gerbils. Kit Kat will eventually buy 2 more.

Falling Down the Stairs

Little Kat bought Momoko some pho for mother's day. I let them eat together and watch some shows. I was off eating my own meatball parmesan. Later, I heard that Little Kat fell down the stairs and sprained his ankle. Momoko tried to shop for an ankle brace at CVS. She could not find one.

Little Kat placed an online order for an ankle brace. I signed up to drive him to college. His ankle brace was delivered 30 minutes before we left for college. I found a map of campus online. I copied the relevant roads, buildings, and parking lots for my own knowledge. We got there in time, even though one lane of the road was closed. Little Kat and I had drank Dr. Pepper's on the way over.

Momoko and I returned to the college to pick Little Kat up. His class went the full length, even though this is the last week of class. When Little Kat came out of the computer science building, he did not initially see us. I drove my Taco Bell to purchase Little Kat's first meal of the day.

Kit Kat's Big Birthday

Kit Kat and her boyfriend went out of town for her birthday. They ate at a smorgasbord. They painted plates/mugs. I thought they might see a musical. But some weak one was playing. We were not able to celebrate her birthday timely. When she returned, we exchanged gifts with her.

Because this was a significant birthday, Momoko planned something bigger. We scheduled a session to "blow glass". Momoko invited Kit Kat's friends from work, along with her old friends from school. Momoko bought several types of veggies and dips. We also had a friend buy some more veggies and dips. Momoko also bought cupcakes.

I was delegated the task to drive us to the party. It was in a big city to the north. We had to go through a toll tunnel. When I got on the street of the venue, I needed to turn around to get to it. I ran into 5 intersections where u-turns were illegal. Momoko had mentioned the parking lot was small. There were only 5 or 6 spots.

I produced a glass vase. More factually, some worker there created the vase. I was told to poke or push it from time to time. I was only along for the ride in creating this glass item. It cost a whopping $70. I saw Kit Kat present her recently married friend from middle school with a ribbon flower bouquet. Kit Kat's high school friend seemed like the only one dressed for the intense heat of the glass factory.

Afterwards, we queued up in a gallery building to pay. This was a huge bottleneck. It took a long time to have each of the 17 people pay. Afterwards, Kit Kat and friends from work went to Hot Pot. Momoko and I brought our vegetables home and instead opted for Subway at a new location.