Bad Luck Windshield, And The Best Way To Ruin A Saturday, Part 2

To understand this post a little better read Part 1.

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2016/09/bad-luck-windshield-and-best-way-to.html

So the good news is that my back windshield is fixed.  The repairman from Safelite Autoglass Repair was a really nice guy, and knew what he was doing.  I really recommend using them to repair your automobile.  They've done a great job for me a couple of times.

I first reported the broken windshield on a Saturday.  Since my vehicle is older, and the station-wagon model, I knew it would take a while to get the replacement glass ordered.  However, they said they would have the repairman out on Wednesday.  I couldn't complain about that.  That was actually quicker than I thought it might take. 

Here's the finished work.

I knew this windshield would be a pain in the butt due to it having the heat strips.  But I have to say, I tried them out the day after installation, and they worked just fine.  Again, I have to give many thanks to Safelite Autoglass Repair. 

Since I can't afford to buy a another car, I have been trying to keep this one in as good a shape as I possibly can.  I don't plan on breaking anymore windows, but if I do, I know who to call. 

Bad Luck Windshield, And The Best Way To Ruin A Saturday

All I wanted was to do a good job at mowing the yard.  Well, mowing has never been the issue.  Any trained monkey can sit on a riding lawnmower and cut grass.  It takes a person with patience to crank up the weed-eater, edger, and blower, and fine tune the yard.  I am not a person with patience.

So what began as a chance to manicure my lawn into a perfect white picket fence dream house, ended with a broken back windshield.  Let me explain.

I had already mowed the lawn.  Next, I had taken the edger around the yard.  I was 98% finished with the weed-eating.  That's when I noticed the grass growing through the cracks in the driveway.  I usually don't bother with that grass, as it doesn't grow big enough to worry me.  But I wanted to give it my all.  I wanted to give it 110%.  I wanted the lawn to look immaculate.  So I started to weed-eat it. 

The good news was that the grass grows in-between where the concrete was laid.  So it grows right where the road's asphalt meets the driveway's concrete.  In other words, it grows in a straight line.  That's great!  I can walk and weed-eat in a straight line, and knock it out real quick.

So I get one side of the driveway.  Then I continue weed-eating the other side.  I had the weed-eater on full blast due to the kind of grass that was growing through it.  We have St. Augustine, and I was trying to cut it down completely, and that meant going through the roots.

So I was weed-eating when I thought I heard a gunshot.  I looked around, and didn't see anyone or anything.  I looked over to my left at Mom's Ford Escape.  Everything looked fine.  I looked at Dad's Ford F-150 next to it.  Again, everything was fine.  So I continue weed-eating the grass in the cracks.  I get to the side of the driveway where I finish weed-eating that line of grass. 

That's when I look over to my car to see my back windshield exploded.  Here's a picture of it.

Apparently what I thought was a gunshot was the weed-eater picking up something (maybe a penny or other piece of metal) and slinging it right into my back windshield.  I was just trying to make the lawn look nice.  Now I had a completely destroyed back windshield.  I'll be honest, I still thought it was a gunshot when I looked at it.  I thought it went through the edge of it making the two holes.  I checked out Dad's truck to see if there was a bullet hole in it.  I couldn't find one, so I must have slung something into the glass.

So the insurance and glass people were called.  I then did the only thing I could do.  Start cleaning up the mess.  I got out my toolbox with my long hammer and heavy duty gloves.  I know that glass can cut up a person really quick, so I made sure to wear my gloves.  I also got out my shop vacuum, and two brooms, and a pan.

I'm glad I had the shop vacuum to clean up the inside of my car.  Here's before the vacuuming:

And after the vacuuming:

I still need to get into some of those nooks and crannies, but I got all the major glass out of there.  Next, I had to drive to the back of a corporate maze of businesses to find Safe Light Glass.  I drove around for 45 minutes in Thonotosassa pissing off the locals.  But I finally found it, and they put a temporary cover on the back for me.

It will be Wednesday before my replacement windshield arrives.  That's fine.  I didn't expect them to have a 2001 Ford Focus Station wagon on hand.  This windshield is a bit more expensive than other ones due to it having the defrost strips in it.  So, I'm sure it will be a pain in the butt for the installer. 

I feel like Dante in "Clerks" when he says, "I'm not even supposed to be here today!"  All I wanted was to mow the lawn, and get some things cleared off my "to-do" list.  Instead, I have more work on my list due to this.  I just wanted a nice lawn.

I also have the feeling that certain folks in the household don't believe that the windshield broke due to an accident.  I'm sure they think I lost my temper again, and took it out on the car, and that's why the windshield broke.  Of course, my hands would be cut to shreds, and would need massive stitching.  I'm sure they would then think that I smashed it with the weed-eater, except that it would have gone all the way through the glass, and not made it ripple like it did.  Well, I can only control me, and not what other think of me. 

So I will write an update when I get the new windshield.  I'll leave the car where it is so I don't look so white trash going down the road.  Luckily Mom will let me borrow her car for the time being so I'm not S.O.L.   

Unfocused

For the last 10 years I have driven a 2001 Ford Focus.  I inherited it from my Grandmother when she passed away.  This is it:

I know a lot of people will say, "Why drive a Ford?  Don't you know it means, "Fix or repair daily?"  Well, I have to say that this Ford Focus has needed 10 times less repairs than my Saturn SL2 did.  And that Saturn was supposed to be a higher end vehicle that was 100% made in the USA.  So my Ford is now 15 years old, and I have been really lucky, in that, it just hasn't needed much work on it during it's lifetime.

I think where a lot of people mess up with Fords or vehicles in general is that, they don't do the maintenance on them that they should.  This past weekend I went a bit crazy with the upkeep.  But, I truly believe that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

It started with my driver's side headlight.  I noticed that it was dim, and the bulbs probably needed replaced.  I had replaced them three years ago because I believed they where still the original light bulbs, and they were severely dim. 

It was when I took it apart I noticed a problem.  The bulb had all sorts of gunk on it, and the actual plastic headlight unit was melted on the inside.  This is probably due to the insane mechanism that is used to hold in the light bulb.  I think it came apart when I changed the bulb three years ago, and it didn't hold the light in place.  Therefore, the light bulb melted the inside of the headlight unit.

So it was time to get a replacement headlight unit.  I took Dad down to LKQ (You Pull It) auto parts.  They have almost 2000 vehicles on the lot.  Dad and I walked over to the Ford section, and I saw it immediately.  Another Ford Focus.  I got closer, and saw it was also a 2001.  I walked up to it, and saw the whole front end was missing, except the driver's side headlight.  I thought, "Jackpot!" 

It had taken five minutes to walk out to the field, and three minutes to take the headlight off the Focus.  And the good news is that it only cost $30.00 for the part.

So we went to the auto parts store to pick up all the things I needed to do some basic maintenance.  I needed the new headlight bulbs, oil, filter, windshield wipers, windshield washer fluid, air filter, and a cabin air filter.

To make a long story short, we got the headlamp and new bulbs working.  Although, the old bulb cover did not fit on the newly acquired part.  So I ordered one from my local Ford dealer.  But so far the replacement headlight is working.

I was able to get the windshield wipers on, and the wiper fluid added pretty quickly.  I then changed the air filter after pulling four long screws.  The funny thing was the air cabin filter.  I never knew I had one until I checked the FRAM filter website.  So I found where it was supposed to go, took apart everything, and found !!!!!  nothing.  There was never one put there.  Which is kind of a relief since I would have felt stupid having never changed one for 15 years. 

The next day I changed the oil and filter.  I gave my car a good scrubbing, and I used some decent foam glass cleaner to clean all the glass.  So my car is in good shape.  I had already checked my fluids and tire pressure a few weeks before.  So everything is as it should be. 

The only thing left is to stop by Elder Ford and pick up the light bulb cover.  In a weird tale, it seems that Ford made a production headlight, and a replacement headlight.  They took different headlight cap covers.  The headlight that I took off the Ford Focus in the field must have been a replacement headlight since it took a different cap.  That's why my cap didn't fit the replacement headlight.

So my cost for this adventure?  It was $30 for the headlight, $4 entry fee for two of us, $96 for all the parts at the auto shop, $5 to buy new car wash soap after the old bottle ran out, $8 for the new cap.  So figure $143.  It's a bit for the average person, but still better than a car payment.

100,000 Miles

So, my car flipped 100,000 miles today.  That's not bad considering I drive a 2001 Ford Focus SE.  My Grandmother bought it back in 2001 after my Grandfather had died.  He drove a big Ford Econoline Van, and she wanted something smaller.  When she passed away in 2005 I inherited the Ford Focus. 

The funny thing is despite this model's reviews, this has been an awesome car for me.  Very little has gone wrong with it in the almost 10 years I've owned it.  I think that's namely because I have been very strict about routine maintenance, and not dogging the engine. 

I think back to my 1992 Saturn that I had before the Focus.  When it was about 13 years old it was starting to give me all sorts of trouble.  I can't say it was any worse than any other vehicle in it's class, but it certainly wasn't any better. 

This little Focus has really surprised me.  To this day it still gets 25 MPG in the city, and 33 MPG on the highway.  I was actually thinking of getting a new vehicle sometime this year, but due to the way life has turned out I may be keeping this Focus another five years.  But if it still works like it has the last few years that won't be a problem.