Plate 0' Shrimp » Automobiles

Model A

admin — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:08:46 +0000

Model A in Pleasanton After Good Guy’s Car Show

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:23:41 +0000

Restored Model A

I Knocked Off My Damn Side-View Mirror

admin — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 03:18:35 +0000

I was on my way to a meeting with a prospective client on Wednesday. I had come in to my space the previous evening at a weird angle because of some foot traffic. The huge 4×4 parking over the line into my space didn’t help either. Didn’t make it out of the carport without some uneeded excitement:

Here it is in my trunk. I want to use it as a decoration in my apartment.

SMOG Certification Required at a Test Only Center

admin — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:09:00 +0000

I received my Vehicle Registration Renewal Notice a few months ago, and as is my custom, I put off renewing it until about a month before it was due, even though it required a SMOG check. I’ve been through this a few times, and thought I had it all figured out. In the past, even if I had failed the SMOG check, like with my old American cars, they’d just make an adjustment, I’d pay some more money, and I’d be on my way in the same day. Little did I know the significance of the words “Test Only Center.”

First thing I did was got a list of shops in Pleasanton that do smog checks and got quotes. They ranged from $64.40 to $98 (a bit more expensive than last time I had to get a SMOG check). So I called back one of the $64.40 shops, Harry’s Auto Repair, to see when I could bring my car in. Any time, as long as my Registration Notice didn’t say “Test Only Center” on it. It did. So back to my search info, and luckily one of the other “cheap” shops, EPPS Test Only Center, was, well, a Test Only Center.

EPPS has a very sparse office. The light wasn’t even on, but since it was day I guess the ambient lighting was enough. Nobody was there, so I pushed the intercom button a couple of times, and a guy showed up, took my paperwork and was off to test my car. Not much to read while waiting except for the wall full of information from the Bureau of Automotive Repair about how you can get State assistance in paying for repairs if you are directed to a Test Only center on your Registration Notice. So that’s what I read.

When he returned, the SMOG guy informed me that my car had failed and began to explain what I had just read on the wall. Yeah, I already knew that, so he just gave me the paper work.

I took a little over a week after filing my application to receive the “Letter of Eligibility for Repair Assistance.” It came with a list of repair stations that you have to use. The only one in Pleasanton is Harry’s Auto Repair. So, letter of eligibility in hand, I called Harry to set up an appointment. No appointment is necessary, but since Harry is required by the State to keep my car on the premisis from diagnosis to completion of repair, it will take about a week to get my car back. He says the State can be a pain to deal with. And since the State will not reimburse for rental car, and my registration is soon expiring, the fun has just begun.

Car Review – 2006 KIA Optima

admin — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 13:11:00 +0000

Due to my crash last month, I had the bumper on my 1998 Toyota Camry V6 LE replaced, courtesty of the other driver’s insurance. While my car was in the shop, I drove a new KIA Optima LX. The LX is for “Luxury.” It had just over 1000 miles on it, and the new car smell was a bit much at times.

The color was the Deep Ocean Blue. Very nice color. I think my next car will be that color if the choice is available. First thing I noticed was this car was pretty peppy. Either peppy, or the accelerator pedal was improperly calibrated, because I just tapped it and was almost rocketed into another car in the Enterprise lot. Anyway that took some getting used to.

A feature that appealed to me was the ability to turn off the front passenger airbag. Handy if you need to have a kid in the front seat. You can also control the sound system from the steering wheel. Nice to have one less distraction while driving, once you get the hang of using the controls without looking at them. The rear passenger seat had a large pulldown armrest with storage inside, which is handy if you have two kids back there who squabble now and then. Of course who gets to use the storage? Ok maybe not a good thing.

Automobile Accident on Valley Near Santa Rita

admin — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 13:51:00 +0000

I live near a horrible intersection in Pleasanton. Being in the hub of activity is convenient. I have a Safeway, and all the schools my kids have gone to or will go to within walking distance from my humble abode. Walking is the key. Driving is the problem. Access to 680 is one way, and 580 is the other. Lots of reasons to be at that intersection. Lots of traffic. This satellite picture was obviously not taken during a commute time.

In fact the traffic here is so bad that it was an issue in the past election. The Stoneridge Drive Extension, which is planned and funded in the Pleasanton General Plan, was meant to relieve much of this congestion, but has been blocked by certain groups here. Coincidence or not, all of the candidates for Pleasanton office who supported the Stoneridge Drive Extension were elected. Those who opposed were not. I digress.

In the center of this image you will see a car with a white roof. That is the exit to the Safeway/Walgreens parking lot. Valley is the avenue oriented from left to right. The woman in the black Mercedes was making a left out of that parking lot onto Valley. I was traveling in the far right lane, she looked at me, but thought I had made a right into the driveway past her. As I approched, I watched her face gaze out past me to the other lanes to see if her left hand turn was clear. She continued with the gazing as she crawled out of the driveway and into my front bumper. Crunch.