Car in Shop

I took my car into the shop today. They gave me a loaner to drive, a mini pickup, but unfortunately, it is very hard to start. Took me five minutes to jiggle the key in the right manner after putting a bit of gas into it, to get it to free, in the key lock, and then start. They told me this was a problem, but I least I had a ride home.

I"m often doubtful of the capacity of mechanics over 40 to fix a car by hearing a sound it is making, due to a mechanic's overexposure to noise. They often lose the capacity to hear higher frequencies quickly. Anyone who has been exposed to high noise levels, even loud music, for too long, begins to lose the capacity to hear higher range frequencies. This inability is more common among mechanics and those who attend race events or who involve themselves with loud machinery of any sort. And these are just the people you depend on to be able to hear and diagnose noises a malfunctioning car might make. Too bad there are not machines that would enable them to hear higher frequencies better for the sake of repair. Maybe there are.

Anyhow, I'm going to let the one noise go, as I determined it is related to the heater fan, probably a bearing going out, and yes, eventually it will get louder and the heater (and air conditioner) will stop functioning. But for now, I am more concerned about the second noise, the metalic chatter noise the car makes only when I engage the gas pedal, but especially when the transmission is under any torque and trying to shift to a lower gear.

It is automatic, so shifting occurs automatically and this type of engine shifts frequently. Before settling into a gear, it sounds like it is "pooling" out, unable to engage, with the sound loud at this point, until finally a gear is locked into and the sound disappears. It's hard to describe. So I am wondering about a few things, transmission, axles, vacuum leak, timing chain, those sorts of things. And that's from a nonmechanic who knows almost nothing about cars, especially the newer front wheel drive cars, with their computer chips and no room under the hood to even put your hands syndrome.

I have never changed the transmission fluid or filter, but I have checked the levels and they're fine and the fluid looks clean.

Well anyhow, I just got some bizarre call from a stranger, who starts it off with some mumbing before asking for someone by name and isn't my name. I said "What'd you say, at the first there, in the mumbling part?" "Oh," he says, "that I am recording this." "Oh," I said, "goodbye." And hung up. I have no idea who the hell he was. The area code he called from is 732, New Jersey, so my guess is scammer. I could hear a TV on and other people talking, like a kid screaming too, in the background. Scammer, is my best guess.

Soda went to a home yesterday morning. It's in Philomath. The woman has one other cat and a five year old daughter and is on disability for back problems and an autoimminue disease, she said. I was a little worried about it, since they live right on Main.

I think Soda will be just fine with this woman.

I'm hoping to build some cat houses today, to locate at a few places where people feed outside cats because the weather is supposed to turn ugly, snow maybe on Sunday and a deep freeze setting in afterwards with temperatures in the teens.