Dear friends:

I have had a very difficult summer trying to keep my car patched together enough to pass NYS Inspection (which was due in October).

I simply cannot be without a car of some sort. Being chronically homeless since early 2003 is bad enough. Being homeless without “wheels” of some sort (either a car or a minivan) is simply unacceptable to me, especially in light of the fact that I am “no spring chicken”, having turned 57 about a week ago.

Month after month this past summer one major car repair after another kept me both busy and broke. I have listed these repairs below.

1. At the end of May, just before summer started, I had to do an emergency repair in regard to the rear brakes. One of the rear brake shoes was grinding against the rotor, making a heck of a noise whenever I stopped. This meant rotor and pad replacement on both sides in the rear, of course.

2. The first major car repair I had this summer was the radiator, which began leaking, and needed to be replaced.

3. The big radiator fan (one of two) had also had seized up, and was not turning at all. It was replaced at the same time as the radiator.

4. While I was doing the above repairs on the radiator, I also replaced the upper and lower radiator hose and the thermostat. I considered these parts replacements “cheap insurance”. I did not want to get into the cooling system again, if I did not have to (or so I thought).

5. Well, I had to get into the cooling system again anyway. About two weeks after I changed the radiator and fan, I noticed a coolant leak on top of the transmission. Thankfully, this was only a $20. plastic part that routed coolant to various hoses. It only took me a few hours in which to change.

6. Unfortunately, while I was repairing the radiator, I noticed that the steering rack needed to be replaced. I had so much looseness in the front end from a worn out steering rack that my car never would have passed inspection.

7. Along with changing the steering rack, I changed the high pressure line for the steering, as it had very deep rust, and needed to be replaced as well. Even used, this was an $80. part.

Thankfully, I am only “buying parts”, as I have some car repair experience, and can do most of my own work (as long as the job is not beyond my skill level).

Both of the above jobs (radiator/cooling fan and steering rack/high pressure line replacement) took me about a dozen hours each. I could barely walk at the end of the day from soreness, exhaustion, or both. (Thankfully, my son Willy helped me with the steering rack replacement. His help on this job was invaluable.)

8. While I was doing the steering rack, I noticed that I had a leaky exhaust. I bought a used muffler and resonator to reduce my expense here, and installed them myself. (I simply could not afford the “cheap muffler place” in town, which wanted $609. to replace these two parts with new ones.)

9. After I changed my leaky muffler, I found I still had another exhaust leak. This leak is coming from the catalytic converter. Hopefully, this problem can be welded or brazed, as this is an expensive part. I am going to try this “cheap fix” as soon as I get a few dollars in which to do so. (This repair is not yet done.)

Old cars can sure be a problem, but I had never had this many problems all at once. And the above is only a part of it. What follows is the rest.

10. In the middle of the summer, I finally became fed up with an on-going alarm problem with this car that I have had for almost two years. To fix this I had to spend two days taking apart the front door (twice) to replace a micro switch that was faulty. (This bad part caused the car alarm to go on at the most inconvenient times, and I simply had to wait while the horn beeped a few dozen times for it to go off.)

Wait, the list is not over yet… l0l

11. I needed tires “all the way around” to pass inspection, as the ones on the car were worn out.

I finally got everything to the point it would pass NYS Inspection, or so I thought.

It passed about three weeks ago! At least I got an inspection sticker that will last for another year, which was one of my major goals to begin with.

12. Within a week after I passed inspection, a flashing red brake warning light came on. After changing the front brake pads, and checking two sensors, it appears that I have a brake problem that I need outside professional help on, as I just can’t figure it out. I suspect either a plugged brake line, or a weak master cylinder (these are the two things that come up on the Internet when trying to find an answer to this problem).

The two car repair manuals that I have for my car both say “DO NOT DRIVE THE CAR” except to get it to a repair shop ASAP, when both the ABS warning light and the flashing red brake warning light are on. And both lights are on every time I start the car (and do not go off), as well as the flashing red brake warning light “rings” for a bit.

Well, at least my brakes work for now, despite the warning lights saying I have a serious problem with the brake system. And at least my car has a current inspection sticker.

My car, a 2000 VW Jetta, has 195,000 miles on it. It is truly a piece of junk. Although it runs for the moment, it still needs more money sunk into it for me to feel safe while driving it. Or it needs to be replaced.

Conclusion

My having so many car problems this summer has been a real wake up call. I came so close to “both homeless and walking” it is not funny.

I have taken putting off my own needs… and “self-sacrifice” for the cause of trying to help the world understand how to correct depression, manic depression, schizophrenia, and the like… about as far as I can for the moment.

I am still about $1,000 in the red from all of the repairs listed above. (I owe my brother and my son Willy about this much.)

And I have no money to afford to do any more repairs on my car.

I need to change gears in my life for a “while”. (I finally recognize and accept the fact that I have to take care of my own needs a bit more. I knew this years ago, but in the interest of the greater good, I put this off for as long as I possibly could.)

This “while” may be quite a few months, if not close to a year.

I will be back when (1) I have a car that is far more solid than the one I have now, (2) some extra dough for any emergency car repairs that may arise, (3) enough money for supplements and other natural measures to remain well (such that my brain is able to and wants to write), (4) a new pair of glasses, as my other pair broke months ago, and I have been wearing a very old pair that is close to 20 years old, and (5) I have found a supportive environment in which to write. (For me, a supportive environment is simply a roof over my head, and the company of even one single person that believes in me, and in what I am trying to do.)

I can’t wait to come back and continue my twelve year battle with the evil industry called Big Pharma. (This battle began in the fall of 1997. It began when I realized in very personal way that drug oriented medicine was treating the multiple nutrient deficiencies inherent in bipolar disorder with “drugs and only drugs”… while intentionally ignoring the fact that nutrients and other natural measures were fully curative! of this condition.)

I promise everyone that I will be back writing, and widely posting helpful material to the Internet, as soon as I possibly can.

All the very best,

Allen Darman

http://nutrientscure.wordpress.com


http://my.opera.com/nutrientscure/blog/