New CV joints, less garage clutter

The CV (constant velocity) joint on the left front wheel of our Subaru Forester has been falling apart and making more and more noise over the past couple of months, but we''ve put off repairs because of cash flow problems.

I got a check on Tuesday from the State of Indiana for some unclaimed funds from my mother's estate and decided it was time to bite the bullet and fix the car before it got any worse and failed in a catastrophic way while Maria was driving to or from work.

Reporter Curt Hodges recommended Gateway Tire down on South Caraway, so I turned them loose on it, with instructions to replace both CV joints. They did the work in less time and for far less money than we'd expected.

I also went to the local quick-lube place and got an oil change and lube, since the oil level was so low that the dipstick was dry. Even so, the oil warning light had not yet come on.

The guy at the quick-lube opined that I had an oil leak, but I assured him it's a consequence of a leaking head gasket, diagnosed more than a year ago at Bob Rohrman Subaru in Lafayette, Ind. That's why our oil and coolant levels need monitoring.

A head gasket replacement is a $1,000-plus bit of work and that's just not in the budget as long as we have two house payments. Besides, the engine seems to run fine, the car still delivers about 24 miles per gallon and the "check engine" light hasn't come on yet.

When I delved into my photo archives for a picture of the Subaru, I came across this HDR image from the last snow we had, on Saturday, March 8. I was struck by how much stuff we've cleared out of the garage. We had a narrow path between the bikes and the boxes back in March. The pile of boxes now ends about even with the right side of the green trash container. That's not quite enough room for both cars, but it's a huge improvement.

It's raining here this morning which means I can't mow the lawn today. It's 54 degrees and the high temperature is supposed to be 63 - more than 20 degrees cooler than yesterday's high. Autumn is definitely here and I'll be glad to dig out the turtlenecks and corduroys that I stockpiled last fall when I was plundering Dillard's discount center.