Blog Roundup: Murphy’s Law Edition
The overall theme of this links roundup is dealing with unexpected events and the resulting expenses. If it can go wrong, it probably will, and most likely at an inconvenient time. Here are some fellow bloggers who have also had a not-so-great time recently.
- Single Guy made an offer on some investment property, but got outbid.
- Grace was hit with an insurance hike due to making claim for a fire in her garage.
- PaidTwice is having problems with her check engine light as well. I’m nearly over 100k miles too. How easy is it really to replace your own O2 sensor? Popular Mechanics makes it look easy.
- Saver In The City shares about her job history and salary negotiating history.
- Patrick is now prepared to lose his wallet. Hmm… that sounds wrong.
- Chief Family Officer is re-committing to reducing her family’s spending on food.
- The Dividend Guy deals with Pfizer’s dividend cut. Even investing based on dividends has been rough recently, with Wells Fargo and GE cutting their dividends as well.
- Tricia tried to take a day off from thinking about money, but found it harder than she thought.
- Glblguy describes the joys of home ownership. Read: broken fridge and overflowing septic tank. Fun.
- Ben’s friend managed to get in an argument about how much to flush the toilet. I’m sure they’ll look back on this one day and laugh. (I hope so.)
March 16th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Thanks so much for including my post! It’s actually going fairly well
Ben’s post about flushing the toilet made me laugh too - seriously, it’s not a good idea to make a pregnant woman angry!
March 16th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Cathy and Johnathan, I had to cringe when my buddy told me his story. A pregnant wife pretty much holds all the cards. It doesn’t seem wise to tangle with her when she’s so grumpy from being up all night going to the bathroom : ) Thanks for the mention.
March 17th, 2009 at 6:33 am
I replaced both oxygen sensors in my 99 Passat a few years ago. I used a scanner to diagnose the problem. The parts markup and labor saved in changing just one sensor more than paid for my scanner. It is very easy to change an oxygen sensor: unscrew and unplug the old one and screw and plug in the new one. Put antisieze on the threads of the new sensor–my Bosch sensors came with a small tube of antisieze. However, it can be very difficult depending on location and obstacles. On my 99 Passat, the sensor at the inlet to the catalytic converter sticks out the top of the engine compartment and it took about 2 minutes to change. The sensor at the exit of the c.c. is in the middle of the engine compartment, surrounded by all kinds of other things. That one took 30 minutes to replace and I also had to buy a few socket extensions and a universal joint to get my socket to the sensor! I also had to buy a special socket to fit the oxygen sensors, it has a slit on one side for the cable.
March 17th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Just want to comment on the engine light issue since it seems to be a favorite topic here.
If you happen to be driving when it pops on, take a quick look at the odometer for a nice round number.
I had a Suzuki Sidekick whose light came on exactly at 80,000.0 and again at 120,000.0 A friend who worked for a dealership looked it up and confirmed it was simply a programmed ploy to get you into the dealership where they would sell you “preventative” things like a new timing chain.
BTW, I drove that thing hard until 175,000 when the rear axle popped off and it never needed a timing chain! (I had ignored the leaking axle oil for 2 years because its time had come but it still wouldn’t die…)
March 18th, 2009 at 3:45 am
Well, there are many companies that are still increasing dividends without using the “we need to preserve cash” BS to mask the fact that the companies’ management is incompetent in utilizing cash effciently..
However dividend raises don’t get as much media attention, because the story of “we are not going into a great depression” doesn’t sell news..
March 18th, 2009 at 9:51 am
Changing the O2 sensor on my 1990 GMC Seirra is very easy
March 18th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
I guess I could handle losing my wallet, but I wouldn’t look forward to it!
Great picture by the way.