Islamist News

Faleh Almaleki, the Iraqi ‘honor killing’ poster boy who ran over his own twenty-year-old daughter because she went to college and had a boyfriend, received a thirty-four year prison sentence. Justice would have been staking him out in the same parking lot where he ran his own child down and slowly backing over his head with the same Jeep he murdered her with. Murderer

In more news from the Religion of Submission, even their sacred Mosques no longer protect the worshippers of Islam from true believer monsters. Indonesia suffered its first suicide bomber incident Islamist Protest Method. An Islamist blew himself up inside a Mosque, maiming twenty-eight people at Friday prayers. Supposedly, this practice of exploding oneself in the midst of innocent men, women, and children of your own faith, is in revenge for Indonesia cracking down on other Terrorists. Yeah, that’ll teach ‘em. Since burning a Koran can inspire these Medieval geniuses to kill and mutilate each other worldwide in protest, I wonder what a despicable insanity like blowing yourself up in an Islamic ‘holy place’ for the purpose of murdering innocents will provoke the followers of Islam to do. Probably nothing, because in the warped world of Islamist thought this is standard operating procedure within their holy alternate reality. Sooner or later some evil math people in the Western World will figure out if burning a Koran sets off a hundred Insano Islamists to kill and mutilate each other in wild-eyed protest, then if they print and burn a thousand a day our worldwide Islamist problem would be over inside of a month.

Libya Gets Important Endorsement

There’s no longer any doubt who it is Al Qaeda backs in Libya. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama Bin Laden’s chief for all these years came out in a video clip calling for Arab Armies to enter Libya to depose Gaddafi al Zawahiri's Pick. Since we are at war with Al Qaeda all over the world for good reason, this is an opportune time to get the hell away from Libya. If we really had some intelligent design going on in that cesspool, we’d wait for these ‘Arab Armies’ to heed the call of Bin Laden’s sock puppet and march into Libya. Then we could have a target rich environment from which to choose. Even better would be if al Zawahiri pretended it was Groundhog Day, and decided to stick his head up out of the cave and lead the ‘Arab Armies’ into Libya. We could send him to join his mentor in hell. For some unfathomable reason, unknown  advisers to President Obama hyped this moronic intervention, costing the American taxpayers a fortune to act as an air wing of our past decade's deadliest enemy. It's insane and I hope the names of these idiots hyping this Libyan disaster are made public.

Publishing Piranha

Not everyone is happy with the Amazon, Smashwords, Nook, etc. self-publishing craze. I used to belong to an MSN group called Writer’s Café, and after its demise along with all other MSN groups I’ve kept in touch with many writer friends from the site. The ones who were already published have been a tremendous help in tips on publishing trends and recommendations over the years. They have legitimate gripes about the publishing marketplace created by the advent of easy self-publishing. It was pointed out to me, rather humorously I might add, that by selling novels at 99 cents to 2.99, people actually depending on their writing for a living find their livelihoods in jeopardy. I’m now known to my handful of published authors from the group as Freebie. Every e-mail I get from them starts out with Dear Freebie now, which cracks me up to no end. We’re friends and they were overjoyed when I landed contracts for Lancelot and Cold Blooded. It was one of them who told me to quit giving Wild Child Publishing so much time and find out what happened to Cold Blooded. It’s past the editor now and in copy edits at this time, finally. Anyway, I never take offense at anything they tell me. In this case they’re probably right, but I did defend the decision pretty well.

Look, we all know how hard it is to get an agent or publisher. It’s nigh impossible. Keep trying, keep trying… blah… blah… blah… I know, and I do. But… when no one’s buying what you’ve created and an opportunity comes around to at least reach a few readers, it’s just too hard to resist. At one point I had six manuscripts on the query trail, with no takers, even though I had accumulated a couple of publishing credits, and I’m now 90,000 words into my latest. When Charles Gramlich and Jordan Summers illustrated the ease of Amazon publishing I just couldn’t pass it up. Monster and Archangel were two non-stop action novels which were too long and too political for agents and publishers. I had an agent from Canada request a full look at Archangel who gave me one of the greatest let-downs ever. She said, ‘I couldn’t stop reading it, but it was like driving by a ten car pileup. I couldn’t stop looking but felt guilty the whole time. Thanks for the look, but I can’t represent this.’ I still have her e-mail rejection on my back room wall at work. I made the case to my old friends from the defunct Writer’s Café that it was impossible to sell Monster and Archangel to anyone in publishing, and I pulled the sixty card on them – wahhh… I’m old and I don’t have the time to wait.  :)

Then I got an e-mail that started out Dear OLD Freebie, how would you like it if people were giving away free automotive repairs all around your business? Heh… heh… heh… I nailed my buddy on that one. It just so happens there are what we call in automotive repair ‘Backyard Bobs’ doing free or next to nothing vehicle repairs all around me. They’ve generated many new customers for me. I’ve even consulted and bailed out a few of the nicer ones who didn’t realize their limitations until it was too late. Point being – if you’re good at what you do or you create a product people want, they’ll pay what the market dictates. At this time the publishing market is in a state of war because there are a plethora of frustrated writers marketing their goods cheaply. I’m sorry I’m one of them and my 99 cent specials selling a few copies a month are adding to the degradation of the publishing world. Wait a minute… I’m not sorry… light a candle… cry me a river… my querying list is about to go up to five novels again and if I don’t sell an agent or publisher on any of them in the next few months there may be a bunch more 99 cent specials on the way.  :)

If it seems like I had a good time with this, you're very perceptive.  :)

California Dreamin'

In California, repair shop owners have to ask the right questions because we have the toughest smog laws in the nation. When a customer comes in and says they want an appointment for a tune-up, nearly eighty percent that I handle have flunked the smog check. Smog failure… tune-up… then pass smog. I’m afraid not. The situation has to be handled right or I will have a very unhappy customer and a comeback. Yesterday’s stop-in illustrates my point. A customer drives in with a 2001 Mitsubishi. She’s hopped out of the vehicle and is already pointing a finger accusingly at the poor Diamante. I greet her at the front.

“I need an appointment for a tune-up on this thing,” she states.

“Sure, may I ask if you’re having any particular problems you believe are tune-up related?” I’m trying to gather info without coming across like I’m looking to pad the bill.

“It runs great. I flunked the smog test so I need to get it tuned.”

Uh oh. “Why don’t you let me see your test results and I’ll try and find out if your smog failure is tune-up related?”

Ms. Diamante scrunches her face up at me. “Of course it’s tune-up related. What the hell else could it be?”

“Many things in the computer feedback system can cause failures in these. Is your ‘Service Engine Soon’ light on?”

Ms. D’s face goes blank for a moment. That would be a yes, but she thinks it would be better if the answer is no. “I don’t know what light you’re talking about.”

“Did the tech who did the smog check mention anything about codes?”

“Uh… I’m not sure. Look, can’t you just tune it?”

“I can, but the 3.5L engine in these is an expensive one to tune. It runs over $600 because the upper intake manifold has to come off to reach the rear ignition parts. That’s a lot of money to pay out for nothing if it doesn’t solve your problem.”

Ms. D laughs. “$600? Ridiculous. I can get it done for under two.”

No, she can’t, but there’s no use getting into that discussion. I stick to the facts. “My point is, whether you pay $200 or $600, it will be a waste of money if you still can’t pass smog. I can tell from your test results if you’ll allow me to see them. Looking is free.”

“Fine!” Ms. D angles inside the car and pulls out some papers from the glove compartment. She brings them out and hands them to me.

It takes me only moments to see the actual exhaust readings out the tailpipe are as good as you can hope for in a ten year old car and well within the test parameters. Carbon Monoxide, Hydrocarbons, and Nitrous Oxides are all comfortably below the fail point. The key engine indicator is very good – that’s the dreaded CO2 (Carbon Dioxide). In a combustion engine the higher the CO2 in the 14 to 15 percent range the better the engine condition. When CO2 drops below 14 percent, it’s an indication of a poorly running vehicle. Hers read 14.5%. What flunked her was the two codes set in the computer memory listed as failures – PO421, which I knew from so many of them over the years, is a code indicating failure of the Pre-Catalytic Converter. The other code was a PO455 for a large Evaporative Emissions Leak.

I asked her for her key and went over to start the Mitsubishi. I pointed at the ‘Service Engine Soon’ light glowing in plain sight. “This is what’s making you fail smog, and I’m afraid the one code being set is for a very expensive part. I would need to make some tests to confirm it. Have you left the gas cap off recently for a time?”

Ms. D’s face went blank again. That would be a yes.

“That can cause this Evap code. The test results indicate it’s a history code so once it’s erased it probably won’t come back. The tune-up will not help you pass smog. It may be a great maintenance idea if it’s been a very long time since you’ve had it done, but it won’t help you with the smog fail due to these codes.”

“How much is that Pre… Pre… whatever you’re talking about?”

“The last one I did was in the $1400 dollar range. California Mitsubishi Pre-Catalytic Converters can only be bought from the dealer and they are very expensive.”

“Ridiculous!”

I agree, but I’m not taking the rap for it. “It sure is, but I don’t make the parts or the cars.”

Ms. D plucks the test out of my hands and dives into the driver’s seat. “That’s more than the car’s worth.”

Maybe… and then the smart-ass thoughts stream through my mind from the couple with the Cad from my last blog as I watch Ms. D back out of the shop – but what about the sentimental value… does the Mitsubishi have a name? Yeah, I know… I’m bad...  :)   Anyway, the point of all this is it’s very important to ask questions even if it costs you work. Having Ms. D storm back in with another smog failure after I did over $600 work on her car is a no-no.

Advice

I finally had a blog worthy customer encounter, rather than the hum-drum business as usual stuff. A guy drove up in an old Cad with the 4.6L Northstar engine, a notorious cooling system disaster vehicle – in that GM at one point was issuing directives to put cooling system sealing tablets in them once a year. You can imagine the great customer relations they received over that. These engines also break head bolts and a myriad of other costly repairs. Anyway, Mr. & Mrs. Eldorado brought in their 1995 Cad with over two hundred thousand miles because someone had already changed the radiator, and when it still overheated they were told they needed a water pump, which the radiator replacer wouldn’t do. I noticed when they left after making the appointment they left a big puddle of coolant where the overflow was. I promised to look it over and give them an estimate for free; because it doesn’t take me long to examine these monsters, and the estimate is usually so far in excess of the car’s worth I immediately advise dumping it.

Mr. E leaves it off the next morning with the added clip note that the Cad hesitates badly with no power. I say goodbye to him and get in the beast. The engine roars but creeps forward. Uh oh… cooling system is only one thing wrong. I do a quick visual – tires bald in front, brakes at the sensors in front, trans oil up but setting codes related to major overhaul needed. I hear a major vacuum leak hissing noisily under the engine cover which I remove and repair. It’s a simple fix and I don’t want that distracting me. The water pump isn’t leaking and there’s circulation, but the Cad overheats when run unless the AC is put on so both cooling fans run continuously. The vacuum leak has been leaning out a couple cylinders for so long I know the rough miss in the engine is related to burnt valves. I could confirm this but not without a compression check which would cost a couple hundred dollars. Seeing as how I’d determined repairs on it would be in the thousands of dollars that would have been beating a dead horse. I call up Mr. E and explain my findings in detail for twenty minutes along with my advice to get another vehicle.

The Eldorados show up, get out of another clunker and I greet them. Mr. E points at the Cad and says, “so, what’s wrong with the car?”

To which my annoyance meter blows through the top of the tube. “Are you not the man I talked to a half hour ago on the phone for twenty minutes explaining what’s wrong with the Cad?”

He didn’t expect to get that response. “Uh… yeah… I forget what you said.”

I can tell by the way he keeps glancing at Mrs. E that she wasn’t buying what he’d told her. I again explained in detail how much maintenance had been overlooked, coupled with the cooling system problems, and trans failure while she stared at me like I’d just dropped in from The Red Planet. I kept it simple – repair cost outweighs worth of vehicle.

“So, what can you do to keep it running,” Mrs. E asks bluntly as if I hadn’t been speaking for the last fifteen minutes.

This was becoming a costly freebie. “I can’t patch it if that’s what you mean. The transmission overhaul will cost you in the neighborhood of two grand by itself and I would have to refer you to a trans shop I know of. The engine repair would be astronomical because it’s way past the mileage for stop gap repairs. It also needs tires and brakes. My advice is get another vehicle.”

“So, you can’t fix it?”

Wow, this is fun. “I can fix it if you don’t mind spending as much to repair this as you would to nearly buy a brand new vehicle.”

Mrs. E looks at her husband and says, “ask him about fixing the 240SX,” as if I wasn’t standing right in front of her.

“I already know that needs an engine,” Mr. E replies, looking at me as if I were going to contradict him. “It’s an old Nissan 240SX with a blown engine but it has sentimental value.”

“Never think of a vehicle as having sentimental value.” I’m thinking, because if you do they’ll break your heart like a 2 bit hooker. “That is a sure way to get rid of tens of thousands of dollars and still have nothing when you get done. Dump both vehicles and get a reliable one for transportation. Take care of it and don’t ever get romantic about it.”

Mr. E laughed but Mrs. E gave me the scowl.

“C’mon, maybe we can find someone to fix it. You drive the Cad.”

Mr. E thanked me for my time after Mrs. E turned away and got into their other junker without another word. She drove off and I backed the Cad out for Mr. E to drive away in. I wished him good luck and watched him drive away, hoping he could prevail in reasoning with Mrs. E. Better him than me.  :)