Thursday, February 23, 2012

My Thursday Sloth Report

National Geographic says:  The sloth is the world's slowest mammal, so sedentary that algae grows on its furry coat. The plant gives it a greenish tint that is useful camouflage in the trees of its Central and South American rain forest home.


Photo ripped off from the owner, National Geographic.com

Weeeelllp. That explains my lifestyle!

Spent the Wednesday afternoon loading the boat with food and snacks for the weekend while Sadler Point Marina was doing their best at determining the best method to unfrack the head vacuum system.

Note; Never bite your fingernails after replacing the joker valve.

They replaced the infamous unfunny valve (It's a one way valve for waste to go to the collection tank and no where else...) and did more investigating, at $70.00 bucks an hour. The head is back in service but there is some more work to be completed, it will have to be next week at the earliest. I drove off into the gray evening with the Barco and enjoyed a solitary PBR on a vacant river, surveying placid water in the warm winter evening. Click to enlarge!

Leaving Ortega River for the St Johns.

Downtown is about four miles away, I keep in the channel because it gets skinny outside the markers!

Calm waters and no rain, yet.
After I tied up secure to our home dock, the skies opened up with a warm and gentle rain. Lucky end to a good day for the Barco!

Speaking of funded snipe hunts; The Family Truckster was finally returned from Brumo's Service, the bill was stunning, as was the level of service by the attractive blonde lady and her crew of technicians. Thanks to proper prior planning, our portion of the bill was a tolerable 25% of the actual costs. (Which included our scheduled service!) The Warranty paid the rest.

About that Warranty; Last Summer, I was having some work done on the car and the regular warranty had expired and the Service person had a pinched/fallen look on their face as they described the full cost which I would have to pay. They suggested I consider looking into extended warranties.

Background:
I was offered an extended warranty by the selling dealer at the time of purchase (and they made it sound like I would not get another chance at this gooood deal), but it was going to cost $7200 bucks!!! What can go wrong, right?  I have never paid for an extended warranty and expect that a modern auto will not have any appreciable troubles until at least over the 100K mile mark... at least that has been my experience with most of my other cars, the 1979 MGB to be conspicuously excluded... Anyway, after six months of owning our jalopy, we had taken it in for service approximately three times. Brumo's asked if we might still be interested in that warranty again... still at $7200!

No.

There had to be another way, so online I went to Consumers Online and looked up what reputable companies were available and I got a couple internet quotes. Royal had the best price ($3600) and they rebate $400 at the end of the three years if you pay upfront. They want you to pay monthly installments but offer the break for paying all as an incentive to those who might be able to afford to.

Well, the dealers charge a mark up of 100% for warranty products. Gotta keep the lights on at the business, don't they? But still, 100% vig is an awful lot to pay for not doing proper research/homework online. I'm still unemployed so I have plenty of time to study.

After purchasing the Warranty, I really had little expectation it would actually be a good value in practice, so I have to provide compliments to the nice folks at Royal Auto Warranty for standing by their product when I really needed it. They have earned my business for a long time to come and I will buy that warranty again for my next auto purchase. Of course, it pays to cut out that nice middle person.

As for Brumo's Service; Outstanding. They had our car for two weeks and worked closely with us to minimize costs  while making sure we were never without transportation, to include a free 2012 loaner car. I wish the GMC Truck Dealer was as attentive to my needs as Hurley Haywood's boss.

Today I will be running about smartly, loading up last minute items in preparation of our early departure.

Stay safe out there and remember to act like you actually care about others. It's the only way to ensure they ask you back again and again into their lives!

The Sloth will now return to his regular tree and resume hanging upside down.

This video is for the folks enduring winter.

5 comments:

Buck said...

Well, you've explained that greenish tint I've acquired over the last ten years; thanks for that. And here I thought it was sumthin' I ate...

In re: extended warranties. I've never bought one either. But then again, I've only owned one car in my life where the service/parts cost could greatly exceed the purchase price once stuff starts goin' bad. Ironically, that car also began life in Der Vaterland. What IS it about those Teutons and their prices?

When are ya gonna kill the word validation thingie? It's a MAJOR PITA thang, now.

Barco Sin Vela II said...

"When are ya gonna kill the word validation thingie? It's a MAJOR PITA thang, now."

Buck, I haven't thought about it at all. Is it that bad? I seem to remember doing the w/v at the portales blog. I thought we all had to endure w/v. Maybe that's why my relatives (who read this religiously...) never leave comments.

Barco Sin Vela II said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Barco Sin Vela II said...

Ok. W/V is gone. Let's see how many girls come aboard telling us how we will all be fulfilled in life if we date Mad Ethiopian Hebrews at some creepy dating site!

Thanks for the critique. We aim to please... You aim too. please!

Buck said...

We thank you! Don't forget to check your spam comments from time to time. Blogger has an EXCELLENT spam filter but sometimes it catches valid comments.