My Lord, I've been lazy!
With the warmer weather, activities have shifted to being out of doors more often, and that means less time inside to work on projects.
Scanning has all but stopped - although I still have boxes of it to do, and even have photographs to be scanned on my desk. I think it stopped in part due to the size of the project - I really should have set myself some rules as to daily targets instead of just doing what I could as time allowed.
Of course, scanning was always just a portion of what I was trying to accomplish. Along with scanning photographs I was also trying to do detective work - finding out names, dates and locations. All time consuming tasks.
I've been enjoying the Audi I bought - a 2000 A6. It has required extra money to catch up on maintenance - why do people ignore that when trying to sell a car? Actually, it hasn't been too bad - oil changes are regular and ongoing, so I don't count that against the car. I did have to replace a ball joint/control arm (and subsequent alignment). Still requiring attention are the rear brakes (parts ordered); a rear ABS sensor, and then a good look under the hood!
When I got the car, it was supposed to have had the timing belt changed - although there was no paperwork to prove that it did. I have been chasing some oil leaks, due, it turns out, to poor crankcase ventilation. That is the crankcase pressure was high than it should have been, forcing oil out under pressure where ever there was a weak spot. I am thinking at this point that the cure may well be taking it in and having the timing belt done since that requires replacing a lot of gaskets as part of that job. The upside being that I will know for sure that the maintenance has been done, with the receipts to prove it!
I still need to call and get some quotes on what timing belt replacement costs - I have read that it is best to also replace the water pump and thermostat at the same time, since those parts are all maintenance items and why replace the same gaskets more than once? So, slightly higher labour cost and a few extra parts, and a savings on not having to work on the same part of the engine twice, and a savings on gaskets - one set vs two.
I think I may be catching up!
