This morning Jen and I dropped the Saturn off at the shop down the street for to be looked at. I drove it to experience the problems she described, and found that turning the wheel was almost impossible. When I pulled into the lot and popped the hood, my suspicions were correct—the belt running to (what I think is) the alternator was not moving at all, meaning the power steering was kaput. I was amazed it even started, considering the temperature outside. I don’t know if this means Blue will need thousands of dollars of repairs, but I’m hoping the cost is low. The guy behind the counter was real nice, and we took that as a good omen, but the story remains to be told. Cross your fingers for us (and do not use the phrase “timing chain”.)

Update: It appears to be a “belt tensioner,” which means a couple of hours and $300. Strange.

When I drive Jen to work, I take Route 70 to pick her up. There’s a bridge across the Patapsco river out there that the DOT spent all of last year sanding and painting. Recently, it got tagged by some uninspired individual, who hung his ass 100 feet out over the valley to hit each empty span with his ugly name. Recently, somebody else came out and covered the center sections with a better message: “FEAR BREEDS FASCISM”. I’d like to tip my hat to you, my friend.

Has anybody else here noticed just how bad the Smoking Gun has been sucking this year?