it's been a momentous day! 2nd best compliment ever! (nothing will top being made an honorary Australian, seriously. You have to have spent as much time, and love as mush Australian stuff as me to appreciate how much I dig being made honorary Australian)

So, 2nd best? 

I have been appointed by Stefan Marjoram as his advertising department and PR guru!

Again, nothing can top being made an honorary Australian, I think you'll see why, AND I think you'll see why the next best thing is to be appointed by Stefan as his advertising department and PR guru, for much the same reason!

See, I've loved his photography, event coverage (NSRA, Pendine, Montlhery, and Goodwood for example), the Beast Of Turin 1st person coverage from him, and movie maker about the restoration of it!, and of course, his sketches, and watercolors, and "how to" deomonstrations https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/search/label/Stefan%20Marjoram and because I misspelled his name for a long time (remember, I'm just a car guy, not a linguist) https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/search/label/Stephan%20Marjoram

starting way back with his photos on PBase.com (you're not going to remember that site is my guess) in 2009! 

Ok, there is other good news!

I adopted a cat today, that seems to be VERY happy getting petted, likes my place, loves the window, and seems to match my list of things I wanted a adoption cat to be, about the right age, healthy, likes to be petted (a cat that ignores you, well, that's not a great match for someone that wants to pet the cat ) has super fine super soft fur, short coat (hopefully means less hairballs) as my last two cats (25 years sequentially) were both long hair/medium hair and had hairballs occasionally. 

And there is more good news!

The engine on the commuter which was replaced due to the excessive oil consumption at about 65,000 miles... well, that was built with a bad rear main seal, so it leaked all summer, very little but consistently, and when the dealership looked into what was the problem, they also found a bad oil gallery plug missing. 

When they put it back together, and I get the car back last Tuesday, then I noticed the transmission making noise. Well, not only is that cause for concern, BUT, it's still under warranty, AND it seems like the problem is likely going to result in my transmission getting replaced, for free, under warranty! 

When the engine was replaced, I had a new clutch installed, and new serpentine put in. Yup, that wasn't cheap, but, done in hopes that it prevents problems, and makes my car able to handle the next 5-8 years trouble free. Right? new engine, new clutch. 
And now? Probably a new transmission! 

I did spring for a new clutch actuator hose, that was a thou. I kid you not, hourly shop rate at the dealership is now 300 an hour.