stress levels = high, thanks WALMART

I swear I will be glad to see the back of the house flood issues. we are getting close but there seems to be little things that are driving up the cost. I know they are not fluff items though and are needed hence why I accept them being done, I just wish I knew about them earlier.

On things that are annoying me (see total tangent LOL) I had to have the clutch replaced on my car. 860 dollars paid out so far and another 200 to go to make it 100 percent. It is drivable till I can get the last fixed (leak on the reservoir that allows it to be driven as long as I keep an eye on it). I would have grudgingly accepted as my car is getting older and is close to its 200K birthday. As I said I would have grudgingly accepted it if it were not for the fact that It was the incompetence of a Walmart "mechanic" that caused this issue.

How, I hear you, do I know its Walmarts fault? Simple In the last 60-100K miles the only company that has topped up my fluids (during oil change) and did my oil changes has been Walmart. How do I know its their fault. Simple the mechanic who worked on my car found the cap of a DOT3 fluid bottle lodged in my reservoir which had blocked the fluid from getting down the hose. Their words, "this is what caused your clutch to fail".

I am going to email Walmart corporate and explain what happened and see what they say. I don't think they are going to say anything but I am going to make clear that this is the last straw for me and that they have lost my business and that I am letting everyone know what happened. Also I am pointing out that this is not the first instance of incompetence, the list is long that I let them away with :-

1. not balancing a new wheel, as soon as I hit 50 mph it started wobbling like crazy
2. taking car in with dying battery and indicating that If dying please replace. they replaced with WRONG battery.
3. leaving the oil cap off after an oil change (oil every where)
4. leaving cable disconnected to air filter (old car)
5. leaving tools sitting on engine when completed.
6. selling a wheel that was faulty (out of round) then blaming it on alignment (finally another store looked and agreed it was a tire issue)
7. the last straw - the clutch issue.

While it would be great if they came back and apologised and offered to pay the costs because they are just that type of company I am not holding my breath. Have a google of "walmart car problems" or similar and you will find that Walmart is prone to fobbing issues off to their insurance company who then find ways to deny it (you took your mechanical issues to a mechanic instead of bringing it to our guys who only do minor things like oil changes tire changes etc.). I hope that Walmart will prove me wrong and will report on anything I get back.

More unrelated news - weigh in Sunday 237lbs

crazy times - still

So we are still fighting with issues after the May 1st floods. The end however in the case of AC is I hope close. Getting FEMA to assist well that is another matter. Work has also been contributing to the crazyness but I am hoping with the hiring of someone within the next 4-6 weeks that will be alleviated.

Now down to the real stuff you visit here for. What have I been up to in the battle of the bulge!!! Well weight is down around the 237-240lb mark. This weekend was crazy and I never got to weigh in hence the average. Cycling wise I have been getting on the bike. 2 times in the last 4 days. Not long rides but acceptable. About 5-7 miles on Saturday and then 2.5 miles last night. I know, I know no where near where I need to be but I'm on the bike. We also walked the Clarksville Greenway Sunday and had 5.2 miles of walking goodness so it was not a sloth like weekend (including the 4-5 hours of working on the front yard Monday).

I will have a minor announcement coming soon. Some of you already know what it is about but for others just watch this space *LOL*

OK going for now.

S.