Them’s the Brakes

So that grinding noise came back last week and stayed and I knew I was going to have to replace the brake pads on the rear wheels, after all. But I was finding it impossible to get psyched up to do it. Stopped at my ol’ buddy Jimmy Vantuyl’s used car lot on the way to the office this morning to see if he knew anybody who did brakes and, sure enough, he did. After work we drove to his buddy Andy’s shop. Soon as Andy raised the whole car off the floor with the hydraulic lift I knew I’d made the right decision. Andy had the rear pads out in about ten minutes and, amazingly, they were in fine shape. I wanted to go ahead and put in the new pads, since I already had them. Well, it turned out I’ve been carrying the wrong pads around for four years. So, Jimmy and I took the “new” four year old wrong pads to the parts store across the street, where another of his buddies works. He was willing to exchange them for a correct set, even though I didn’t have a receipt, and even gave me $10 back, since the right pads were cheaper. Amazing. Back to the shop and, after putting the rear wheels back together, Andy decided to pull off a front wheel, even though I was sure they were good, having replaced the pads just four years ago. Well, not so, as he found them worn down to metal. Apparently, the grinding noise was communicating along the frame and sounded like it was in the back when it was really the front. As we’re standing there shaking our heads and realizing I’m going to have go back to the parts store, we noticed the pads looked very similar to the wrong ones we just exchanged for the rear wheels. Back to the parts store and, sure enough, they were the wrong pads for the back but the right pads for the front. The guy sold them back to us for $20, since they were four years old and it’d save him having to re-label and re-stock them. So I ended up with new pads all around, plus Andy “turned” the rotors to true them up and take off the shine. For old times’ sake, or maybe cuz he still owes me some legal fees, Jimmy put everything on his tab, no doubt heavily discounted by his pal Andy; but I still gave Andy a $20 tip. It was great to meet somebody who was not only competent but willing to actually do a good job. And, yes, the grinding noise is gone.

Day in Court

|Wednesday was the day for oral arguments at the Kansas Court of Appeals in the case of Schlup vs. Bourdon, which has been in the courts since summer of 2003. I wrote a little about it in my other blog a while back. Fortunately, we didn’t get another blast of freezing rain that day, so the drive to Topeka was drizzly but uneventful. The Judicial Building is across the street from the Capitol. It doesn’t look very impressive from outside, but inside there’s a three story statue of “Kansas Justice”. As you get off the elevator on each floor you’re looking out over the atrium with the statue rising up. It makes up for the blah exterior. Arguments are limited to 15 minutes per side; if you’re first up you can reserve some of your time for rebuttal. The worst part is waiting to start, but once you get up and manage a couple of intelligent sentences it’s not too bad. Of course, they interrupt with questions, so you often don’t get your canned speech done. There are eleven justices on the Court of Appeals, but cases are heard by a panel of three; the Supreme Court has seven justices who generally sit en banc. Anyhow, I thought I did all right while my opponent crashed and burned. My client thought so, at least; and I noticed a few smiles from other lawyers in the gallery waiting their turn. But, you never know, especially these days as I’ve lost most of whatever faith I used to have in the ability of the legal system to uphold the rule of law and dispense justice based on merit. We should have a decision in a few weeks.|

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Po Doggie

Doggie seemed to have a little cold when we picked her up from the vet. She really sneezes big for her size; and you can’t help but laugh when she looks at you after. Like she’s saying, “Wow, I don’t know what that was, but, ‘scuse me, okay?” It got worse during the week, coughing and wheezing. It’d wake us up at night. Took her to the vet this afternoon. Of course, she couldn’t come up with so much as a sniffle. He thinks probably bronchitis, but it’s not too severe. He didn’t charge me for the office visit, figuring she probably caught it there over Christmas. Getting the prescription was a hoot.

I’m hearing about 10 foot snow drifts on I-80 up around Tahoe. Nineteen feet of snow since Dec. 28. I reckon our aborted trip would’ve been tame in comparison. Looks like it still hasn’t quit raining down below the snow line, either. Those dikes Doug pointed out on the way to Sacramento may get a good test, after all. I see a flood warning for portions of San Francisco.

The ice has mostly melted from the trees. Driveway is clear where I threw salt on it. The other part is still under ice. A “winter weather advisory” including freezing drizzle is in effect tonight. They’re already cancelling schools in K.C. for tomorrow. ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

:winter: