Day: February 11, 2016

Today was one of those days that felt, initially, like it was gently spiralling into being incredibly frustrating. You know those days when each and every time you go to do something it takes 20 times as long as you think it will, and every step involves 7 frustrating things you weren’t expecting.

Eventually, though, I managed to get the power supply out of our media PC (it is, as I thought, not a 220/110v supply, but 240v only), and I managed to work out where I’d hidden my payment cards (in the wrong bit of my bag and under my raincoat), and where my account information was for my bank account. And I got the battery out of Rebecca Mog, and loaded it in the back of the Dodge Van to try and find a replacement.

Then I headed off into the wilds to try and get Rebecca’s licence plates issued. Despite the previous statement I’d been given that I must (must) must have the original customs document with a red stamp on it, it turned out that the one that the broker sent me a couple of days ago (which states on it “ELECTRONICALLY ISSUED DOCUMENT”) was fine. Although it took some debate, and I had to surrender my UK Registration document… which made me feel a bit sad.

My poor old V5 is disappearing into US bureaucracy.

But in return:

The mounting situation ‘leaves a little to be desired’. But I wanted to get the plates on in time for work. At the front things are perhaps worse, with the plate sitting really, really low. It’d be much easier if I could just trim a bit off ;)

Still, she’s got plates, and is titled, insured, licensed. All that shiny stuff. So super-yay to that.

But most of my time today was spent treking back and forth across Olympia because whatever thing I chose to do, I’d find that I couldn’t do that where I was and they’d direct me to somewhere else that was the opposite side of the city.

So, the auto licencing place I went to is just past the auto factor, so I thought… I’ll get the battery for Rebecca once I’ve got the plates. Got the plates, and then thought – well, I might as well go to Electronics Resourcing Inc* and check them out and grab the PC’s power supply because there’s auto factors over near there, so ‘no bother’ I thought. Only no, ERI were out of ATX supplies**, although I did grab an HDMI cable and a PC power cable while I was there. He directed me to 4th Dimension computers who…

…are back about half a mile from the auto licencing place I’d been to. Ironically, just across from the auto factor I’d skipped going to. So back I went. And lo, 4th Dimension had a power supply. Hurrah (the people did celebrate). So I took myself across the street from 4th Dimension, to O’Rielly. Who…did not have a battery suitable for the Minor. Or they did, but they were really keen to find something closer to the Minor’s standard battery than the 500 cold cranking amp things they had. Which I wasn’t that hassled by, except that it turned out that ‘Batteries Plus Bulbs’ (they must have worked for ages on choosing a name) actually had a battery at about 1/2 the price of the 500 amp ones O’Rielly had in stock that’s “correct” for the Austin America. Which is what I’d chosen because it has the posts the right way around and an A+ engine.

The one tiny, tiny problem? Batteries Plus Bulbs is….all the way back on the other side of town. So I treked back onto i5 for the third time today, ran across there and grabbed a battery.

Then I drove home – pleased with my success but wishing I’d planned things a touch better, perhaps by ringing ahead of time.

Still. Power supply obtained, new battery in Rebecca and licence plates on her too, I think we’re working towards success.

Incidentally:

and

EEPROMS! They have EEPROMS! As a stock item!

I mean, seriously, how cool is that.

* Which turns out to be awesome, and I totally retract my “there’s no where to get electronics in Olympia” utterances, because there is, and it’s fucking amazing**. It’s like Henry’s electronics in Newport when my dad took me there, or like the overstock electronics place that he took me to in some basement in London in my teens. That place was fierce-filled with random stuff. But also all the parts you could need.
** Just one large bluebottle in the ointment. They’re closing. Now. To move to a new (undisclosed) location at an (undisclosed) time***.
*** I put my name on their mailing list.