Mike Crutchfield/TDI DR!V3R/KL0PFER

Picture of the week / Snowmageddon

2010-02-08T18:41:00.000-05:00

Well, here is the picture of the week, this time of "Snowmageddon 2010" This is from the Friday->Saturday storm...and guess what, we have MORE coming Tuesday Night->Wednesday (prediction is 1ft). Expect a mid-week update on this snow total.

Picture of the week - Make-up post

2010-02-06T21:13:00.000-05:00

Since I never got around to posting my Picture of the week last Monday, I will do a make-up post. This coming Monday will probably be of the snowmageddon. Anyway, it is amazing what can be done with legos. This is a scale model of the Mainz Soccer, sorry, "Football" stadium from Lego Land Deutchland. Anyway, it is amazing how much detail there is. That is all there is to say this time.

Fun with drywall.....yeah...uhuh...

2010-01-23T12:54:00.000-05:00

So, we are going to install some in-wall speakers in the coming weeks, but unfortunately, it looks like the easiest way to get into the wall is to actually drill down into the basement, rather than up from the basement, which means cutting some holes in the drywall to get the drill in there, then patching those because the holes for the speakers themselves will be WAY too high to drill down into the basement. It is going to be SOO much fun.

Copilot is a wonderful thing

2010-01-23T09:23:00.001-05:00

Fog Creek Copilot is a wonderful piece of software. I am remotely connected to my mom's PC doing trouble shooting without having to set up port forwarding on routers, or VNC, or remote desktop or ANYTHING. And the best part is, it is free on weekends. Oh, and it works on Windows or Mac. Kudos Fog Creek....kudos:
http://www.copilot.com/

Missing the truck

2010-01-20T10:50:00.000-05:00

Let's try this again. I had already written this post once through Picasa, but blogger gave me an error and deleted the post entirely. FUN!

So, as the title says, I miss my old Frontier. It was a truck big enough to haul things to the dump, pick up things at home depot, and transport my old big-screen TV THREE times (Best Buy->Elkridge, Elkridge->Millersville, Millersville->House of co-worker that bought it). It didn't take up too much space in parking lots, and got decent fuel mileage for a V6 pickup truck. I had a lot of good times in that truck, including when Chrissy & I drove cross country in it back in '02. This picture is the perfect one to show of the truck too. I did more modifications to it later in it's life (TJM Bull Bar on the front), but eventually traded it in when I bought the Jetta before the PCS to Germany. It just didn't make sense to take a pickup truck with over 100K miles on it to Germany. I wish I could pick up a used one (preferably with the same rough specs as my old one) but it just isn't in the financial cards at this time. So, instead, I will just post up a pick of the old one in all its muddy glory.

CDANS(?) - Once again open for business

2010-01-18T16:42:00.000-05:00

It has been several years since I did paid web development work. Well, I am back in the mix. Granted, it wasn't much, but it might line up future work, and I actually had fun doing it (when was the last time I actually had fun doing work? a LONG time ago).

Now I have to decide if I actually want to stand up a business website again. CrutchfieldDesign.com lapsed a LONG time ago (and was grabbed by some company in Japan...?), but I still have cdans.com locked up until 2014. The problem with cdans, it was "Crutchfield Development and Network Services" and I plan on sticking to the development side of things. Maybe I can think of a different meaning for cdans. I will have to get legitimate hosting for a business domain though (unlike my current half blogger/half server in the basement with dyndns setup). I guess I can leave it as CDANS because the network services would include configuring hosting, etc... Will have to ponder that.

Of course, I also will need to figure out how I want to market myself and what kind of projects I want to take on (assuming I can find projects to work on). SO....I guess what I am saying is, if you need help with a website...let me know!

Picture of the week

2010-01-18T13:25:00.000-05:00

Well, this one is pretty darn obvious. Yes, that is the REAL Eiffel Tower, not some imitation. I was toying around with the black and white setting on the camera and liked the perspective of this shot. I haven't taken many B&W photos, but this is by far, my favorite. Hence, why it is the photo of the week.

Photo of the Week

2010-01-11T18:27:00.001-05:00

This panoramic was taken at one of the U Turns on Stelvio Pass. Despite the roads narrow appearance and blind corners, it is two-way traffic all the way up the side of the mountain. It actually made for some harrowing situations especially when we were also passing bikers (the pedal kind, not the motorcycle kind). This is the road that Top Gear (the REAL one from Britain) hailed as the greatest driving road in the world. It was also featured in an issue of Motortrend (which lead to us finding it in the first place). It was a blast driving up and down the mountain with the convertible top down. Maybe someday we will get back there.

Shot of the week, Lake Geneva

2010-01-04T12:00:00.002-05:00

I hope to actually make this a regular segment. I will go through and pull up a photo from my collection (usually historical, but sometimes it might be from that week) and talk about where it was, and share any other interesting tidbits about that particular shot.

This photo is an HDR image I created while we were staying at the Hilton in Evian-les-Baines, France (one of several times we stayed there). This was probably our favorite view from any hotel we stayed in. Looking out over Lake Geneva, with the Swiss Alps in the background, and the French Alps were directly behind the hotel. By taking this photo at three different exposure levels and combining them into a single HDR image, you can see the detail in the clouds, but still have clear definition of the leaves on the trees in the foreground. Very little of the sky is at maximum saturation, yet the rest of the image is bright enough to see magnificent detail. I know this is a place we will both want to return to if we make it back overseas. Evian is a very quiet location, but the drive to Geneva is reasonable for a day trip (we stayed here for the Geneva Auto Show) and it was close enough to Germany for a weekend jaunt if we hit the road early enough on Friday.

The pain of being DINKs (Dual Incomes No Kids)

2010-01-03T17:56:00.000-05:00

Now that tax time is here, it is time to be reminded just how much it sucks to be DINKs. Even with a mortgage, donations, education loans, refinance costs (1/2 point), we are going to owe big time. While we were overseas, w/o a mortgage, Chrissy and I both claimed 0 on our W-4. Now that we are back, I claimed 2 figuring, with our mortgage, we should be good (Considering, when it was just me, I had 5 exceptions with my mortgage and still got money back). Well, looks like that was a gross mis-calculation. We might get wolluped this year in taxes. That is the only problem with not having little tax exemptions running around. We will see once I get the final info, but it isn't looking good.

Scirocco, how I want thee

2010-01-03T15:13:00.000-05:00

Damn you, damn you VWOA. Damn you for not brining the new Scirocco to the US. It is one hot little hatch back. But nooo.....you are worried about how it will cut in to GTI sales. Well, guess what. There are people who would buy the Scirocco that wouldn't buy a GTI, and there are some visa-versa. How about this, you could limit GTI's to the 4 door if you really want to differentiate them. But bring the damn Scirocco here! Ugh....this is what I get for browsing through old photos.

Track Days

2010-01-03T14:24:00.000-05:00

Ahh, days at the track. I was flipping through old photos in Picasa and came across this gem. This is Ben's 325ix, our Jetta and our 325i at hockenheimring after spending some time out on the track. Chrissy was cruising around int he 325i and I hit the track in the Jetta. I wish I could go to a race track here in the states as cheap as I could in Germany. That was insane! Here, it is insane how much it costs. Ohwell, just thought I would comment on that one. Oh, I also need to post up about the cluster fuck that was my domain name changes. Let's just say, google apps + custom DNS name + blogger with that domain name = chaos. Oh well, things are smoothed out enough with some behind the scenes magic using ZoneEdit.

Changes are coming

2010-01-02T17:33:00.000-05:00

Since my website's start page and my blog layout were VERY similar, I am just making the later the former, gradually. I started by updating the style of the blog to match the theme I had running on my website. Next will be some behind the scenes DNS changes and some changes to the widgets that are on the blog. Finally, will be figuring out a way to create the sub pages I have on my site in a way that make sense. I am thinking it will be by making them different tags in the blog and doing a massive post-fest in the blog to create those pages.

I liked how back when I was using Wordpress you could make pages that weren't blog posts by were still part of the blog, and unfortunately, blogger doesn't seem to offer that capability (or I just totally missed it). If I can't find a way I am happy with that, I will keep the sub pages on the server in my basement, but those pages will be a home.mikecrutchfield.com rather than www.mikecrutchfield.com. (Part of the behind the scenes DNS changes going on). Oh crap...just remembered I have to get the Slingbox plugged back in tonight. I will take care of that after dinner. Otherwise, Mom wouldn't be able to watch the Ravens game tomorrow.

Chrissy's Driver rant

2009-12-28T22:26:00.000-05:00

drivers everywhere:
-- It actually takes some hardware and software changes to make the rear fog work on your cars. Knowing that, you made this edit consciously and you should at least know that unless you can barely see the lines on the road, you shouldn't use it!
-- Just because you have a headlight out, doesn't mean that you need to flip on your high beams.
-- Don't speed up to pass someone and then hit your brakes before you've even completed the lane change.

New Content Schmu content

2009-12-27T15:46:00.003-05:00

So, I said I was going to try to add some new content to my site this weekend, well, in a way this is new content (granted it is a real cop out). I planned on working on adding ACTUAL content, but the AT-AT Walker took up most of yesterday, and today, we ran to Best Buy, I am watching the Ravens rack up penalty yards, and I am backing up my computer (got a 1.5TB backup drive). Oh, I also got a new mouse, because the left mouse button on my mouse had started failing. I posted two bad videos of the AT-AT walker on Flickr. I will take some good pictures soon.

Well, I did add a bit of content, I updated the sites/links page and I updated the photos page to add a few more HDR images. Well, that is it for now I guess. I had some other things in mind, but I got distracted when the ravens lost

Walkin' in an Essex Wunderland

2009-12-23T19:55:00.003-05:00

So, I figured I would post about what is goin on right now while I rock out to some Mashups (currently Beastie Boys vs Dandy Warhols). It turned out to be a very green Christmas, green as in money. I basically had told half of the family not to send stuff, to just send cash (well, check....can't really trust those postal workers ) It actually worked out that all of the close family just sent cash. While that means less "stuff" to open on Christmas day, it really is what we needed this year to pay down some debts (the year of hellish car repairs + getting a back deck). Combine that with the fact that we are ahead on the mortgage, have cut down our electric bill in the last few months, now have a 15% discount applied to our cellphone service, we are getting in MUCH better shape financially. (BTW - I am now listing to "One Vision" by Queen and picturing part of the movie Iron Eagle in my head.....hell yeah!)

So, anyway, right now, my sis is in town from Cairo and is staying with us and borrowing Kl0pfer for a few days before she flies down to Fla and then after she gets back from Fla, which means we are tooling around in the Jetta. That's all fine and dandy (we hadn't been driving it much since the great blow-out back in July/August) except that the CEL went on on Monday....I mean seriously...WTF???? From the looks of it, it was just the misfire coming back again, and it cleared itself and didn't show and problems today when we were driving it. It currently has around 84,000 miles on it, and the rabbit has just under 50,000. It would be nice to trade in the Jetta on a MkVI Golf TDI in the next year or two, but I doubt that finances will support that as comfortably as we would like.

As with last year the Christmas card from Mom & George included the surprise of a new pup (this time, a 6yr old Swissy Rescue). They took him in so he wouldn't be put down at the shelter. Speaking of Christmas, this year we are hosting Chrissy's family at the house, so for once, we don't have to go anywhere...not Fla, not NJ.....no where. It will be a nice change. I think next year we will try to hit up Fla for Christmas (hopefully I will have more leave available next week).

I am going to try to put some time into adding more content to mikecrutchfield.com sometime in the next couple weeks. Not sure if I will get to it, but I will try. Need to think about what I want to add and where. I have thought about leveraging the server to have web cams in the house that I can monitor remotely for security reasons. It would be cool, and since the server is in the house, it wouldn't have to constantly be uploading images.

Well, this is an unusually long update for me (at least by normal recent trends). I am gonna jet for now, but if I get around to adding content to mikecrutchfield.com, I will blog about that here as well. For now, I will leave you with am image of a winter wonderland:

The grain of salt with which to talk this blog

2009-12-06T14:10:00.002-05:00

Like Yoda why am I speaking? Just felt like it. Anyway, I just felt I needed to add a little something to point out that I usually blog at certain times, mainly, when I am in a fowl mood. Why? Because that is just when I feel like sitting down to type usually. When I am distracted and keeping myself busy, I don;t usually sit down to type. Unfortunately, this leads to a very jaded view in the blog. It is all of the bad and none of the good.

For instance, I didn't blog about how Nick and Georgia came over last weekend, and Nick and I played hours of Rock Band (me on Guitar, him on drums) and that we met Chrissy and Georgia for dinner and then came back to the house, played some more Rock Band and then played Fact or Crap.

Sure, there is still a lot for me to be unhappy about right now. The holidays so far haven't been as enjoyable without Mom Mom. My weight is still an issue (which BTW, I am starting on Nutri-System after Christmas). Work is miserable right now (still). So much so, that it has me thinking about going Contractor for the first time since my career began (I am working on my Resume).

So, yes, right now, the lows outweigh the highs (no pun intended, but it was a pretty good one). As time passes, some of those things will improve. I figured I would throw up a blog post right now while I was in a good mood for a change. I just finished rocking out on the Guitar and Drums in Rock Band, we planned out where we are going to put the Christmas tree (now we just need to pick one up). And our finances are improving. That is it for now...gonna go.

Acquaintances I have....it's friends I need

2009-11-11T13:17:00.003-05:00

I KNOW a lot of people, but my list of true friends is very short. Of the 190 "Friends" on Facebook, three are true good friends. Unfortunately, one lives 2+ hours away, one is very occupied with his (VERY CUTE) kid, and the other lives half-way across the country. Back when we were in the states before (and we didn't live in bumfuck) Matt, Heather, Chrissy and I would often get together, or we would get together with Kirk & Sarah or occasionally Chris (when he wasn't TDY and didn't get lost....I joke I joke )

While we were in Germany, there weren't any issues in that regard because when I was feeling down, we would just drive to one of the tracks, and there were a few co-workers we would hang out with. We were also going on vacations regularly to other countries and I was enjoying doing photography as well. Then we came back.

Now we are back. There are a few people I talk to at work, but I sit in a spot separated from them. Because of how far we live out and that we work on an earlier schedule than most of our friends, we can't do we what used to do which is cruise home to the house and THEN figure out what we are going to do. We have to plan ahead for getting together with people. I don't drink so meeting up with people for drinks after work isn't really that fun for me (because it makes me want to drink, but after one drink I feel like total crap).

I miss it being convenient for people to just come over and hang for a few hours, not being required to devote an entire day to it. I also miss when I had the energy to do ANYTHING We used to go bowling, now I get winded waling down the f-ing hallway. Fuck....lost my train of thought...screw it...I will end the post here.

Windows 7 - How far we've come

2009-10-27T18:33:00.002-04:00

Windows 7 is here, and after my time with the release candidate, I decided it was time to bring us forward from (mostly) XP and one Vista machine. Why? Not because of Microsoft's ads, not because of the press, but because of my experience with it. I had set it up on Chrissy's computer (which was a little underpowered for Aero) and my Macbook Pro in Bootcamp. Both ran good (although I knew I was going to upgrade Chrissy's hardware before I moved her to 7). I had been running Vista Ultimate 64bit on my primary machine for some time and ended up still having a clunky-feeling when using that machine at times, even after a RAM and graphics card update.

Windows 7 ran smooth all throughout the time with the Release candidate and hasn't disappointed since upgrading to the released edition. The new task-bar (while a copy of the OS X Doc) is very nice, as are the previews of running applications for Aero capable hardware. Even Windows 7 Starter edition which is on this Netbook I am using right now is not bad. Sure, there is no Aero, and it is limited in RAM capacity, etc... but for a Netbook, running on a 1ghz Atom processor (that only has a 30W power supply) this thing actually runs fairly smooth. I won't be gaming on here, or multi-tasking much, but it works.

The new Home Network features are nice, and it does a much better job of finding devices on the network (such as printers). The carry-overs from Vista (such as the new System tray) are welcome and Microsoft's decision to sell a Family pack of upgrade licenses is also a plus.

Even on my Macbook Pro running Leopard (which doesn't official support Windows 7 in bootcamp, and never will) is very happy with Windows 7. Now if only my battery were happy (that is a separate issue all together though).

So final tally: Windows 7 is much better than Windows Vista and might finally pry people away from Windows XP. In the line of consumer windows versions that were really solid, I think Windows 7 stands tall with Windows 98SE and Windows XP. Kudos!

Oh, and this isn't the post I said I was working on, just thought I would throw this out there too.

Missing my "rolling therapy"

2009-10-27T04:20:00.005-04:00

While we were in Germany, whenever I was in a funk, we took a drive. That drive usually consisted of going 120mph+ on the autobahn ~ 1 hour north or south and ending up at a race track. Once there, I would put in some track time. That was the most cathartic "therapy" I had ever found for myself. After 3-4 rounds on the Nürburgring, I would be exhausted and happy. 15 minutes on Hockenheimring could have the same effect. Unfortunately, that isn't an option anymore.

Yes, driving is still helpful for me at times, but nearly as much as in Germany. Having gone as fast as 155 behind the wheel, driving over here feels like a hell (unlike the Green Hell, which was Heaven). Now, a thrilling drive is one where I don't get stuck behind a tractor. Wooo! So now I need to come up with an alternative to my "rolling therapy." Especially since there is so much involved in going to a track day here in the states.

So, where does that leave me? I am not really sure yet. I just wish going to the track was as easy here (and cheap) as it is in Germany.

PS - I have already started another entry as well, but this one was the quickest to finish.

Random Musings

2009-10-19T18:11:00.002-04:00

Figured I would post one big-ass-post regarding a bunch of recent thoughts and goings-on...I guess I will start with a brief commentary on Balloon-Boy:

I'm glad they plan on pressing charges. Even if it wasn't a hoax, those people are freaking idiots, but I am doubly glad that child protective services will also be taking a look into things. They reportedly have taken the kids out of school on multiple occasions to chase storms. Really, is that where you want to have 3 small kids following you. And that Rap video by the kids? Come on! Seriously. My opinion of that family....

Ugh...what next. Oh, well, it wouldn't be a blog post without mentioning the Nobel Peace Prize. Did you know it comes in Cracker Jack boxes now? lol....but seriously. MAYBE....and I mean MAYBE, Obama will do things during his term to warrant earning the peace prize. But, this isn't middle school, we don't give out medals for participation (Oh, that's another rant I need to start). I am not going to say Obama would never deserve it, and given the specific award, he might complete steps toward that, but that is for time to tell. (Even the Washington Post had an article pointing out that it might be unconstitutional for him to accept it while serving in office without the prior approval of Congress && the money isn't his to donate to charity, and get the tax write-off on, but rather it becomes the US Government's money).

Ok, participation trophies....I mean, I know we want everyone to feel wanted, and valuable, etc... but I shouldn't get a trophy for coming in last place. You don't get a promotion when you are an adult if you are the worst person in the office, you get fired (unless you work in the government, and then you eventually do get promoted). We need to start weening kids off of these participation trophies and allow competition sports in middle schools (wasn't allowed in Howard County so you had to play in youth leagues...so why did we have a mascot and if it is so evil, then why do youth leagues exist in the same county?). Don't get me wrong, I have trophies from little league, and they actually MEANT something. I made the All-Star team twice and my team one the league one year. But the trophy I got for being a shitty bowler in a father-son league, or a ribbon for participating in the turkey trot in middle school (3mile walk/run) I KNEW were utter bull-shit and don't hold any meaning. (I enjoyed the bowling league that one year, and didn't need a participation trophy to know that)

I guess I have a bit of diarrhea of the mouth right now, because I actually feel like typing more. There are aspects of living in Germany that I really miss. The Autobahn and the race tracks are two major components of that. Nothing is more relaxing for me than a quick run up to 120mph+. Unfortunately, that would get me arrested over here if I were caught, so I try to avoid that (I plead the 5th on whether it has happened or not back here). Anyway, that was like my own brand of therapy. Being back here, driving around just isn't as helpful as it used to be. It is still one of the things that helps me the most when I am strung out, but just doesn't cut it. I also miss the frequent photo opportunities of amazing sights. Castles, the Rhine, old architecture, cathedrals, and LOTS of really expensive cars (We passed/were passed by Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Lotuses, and Porches EVERY time we were on the road...and I am not talking Boxters here, 911GT2, 911GT3 and Carrera 4S models).

Work hasn't exactly been helping matters back here either. Yes, I hated my job there the second half of the tour, but back here, I went from a shitty job, to a job that was SUPPOSED to be amazing (and might be at some point). Right now, it just sucks ass because I have too little to do. If it weren't for the whole mortgage payment, bills, etc... I would quit and get a job that I enjoyed working part-time. Alas, that won't be happening any time soon.

Well, I guess I have rambled enough. I suppose I should change the title graphic of my site since we sold the 1er, but with the Jetta also driving like shit, I will wait till I can resolve that before making that the banner.

New Server

2009-10-03T13:54:00.003-04:00

Well, I moved my web hosting. It is now hosted in my basement. Ahh, they joys of high-speed internet access, a linux box and dyndns

What's going on

2009-09-28T13:09:00.005-04:00

I figured I would write a post about everything that has been going on in the last couple weeks. It hasn't been long since my last post, but a lot has happened. My grandmother passed away on September 16th after having suffered a severe stroke on September 14th. My Aunt made a video that was shown at the funeral home (I will try and get that up on YouTube within the week) and my step father delivered a beautiful eulogy.

Mom mom hadn't had it easy these last few years, having suffered from pulmonary hypertension for the last 4 years, followed by a battle with cancer that she beat. The stroke came on suddenly, she had been playing Freecell, and won her first two games ever. Chrissy and I were supposed to be heading there for dinner on Tuesday (Originally we were supposed to go on the 11th, but they had to reschedule because they had a viewing to go for for a friend's death). Pop pop was home and was able to quickly summon help, but it was a battle she just couldn't win.

Heather flew in from Cairo (and brought a cold with her) for the funeral. She spent most of her time staying at our house and it was good to see her, just not under the circumstances (nor was it nice catching the cold). It was nice to see everyone in the same room for the first time in ages..the normal holiday crew and the folks from the hill.

Well, that is all I want to post for now...I will be sure to follow up again before too long.

It's been a while

2009-09-13T19:12:00.002-04:00

I have been meaning to update, I just have managed to distract myself with other things. Facebook Apps, PS3, fetching things for Chrissy (she has a broken Fibula). So, the Jetta is still driving crappy, I meant to work on it this weekend, but did an oil change of the Rabbit instead (it was due) and we went Grocery shopping, the Ravens game and the NASCAR race were on, and I have been feeling a bit fried from work.

Things I will be checking on the Jetta include the EGR and anti-shutter valves for build-up of residue and the timing. I also have Diesel Kleane in the tank, but we aren't driving it much right now because it is misbehaving. The Rabbit is running great but it is now at 39,000 miles because it has been getting so much use with the Jetta being problematic.

I did manage to get the Rabbit working with Amber turn signals (and will eventually enable the rear fog once I feel like climbing under the dashboard). I want to put front fogs on the car too, but all of the OEM-style kits are expensive (and we have a lot of other things to pay down right now). I did manage to seel a bunch of old PS3 and X-Box 360 games though, and rather than buying any new games right now, I am back with the Game-fly 1 game membership (Think Netflix for video games). I have already rented 2 games I would have seriously considered buying to find out they wouldn't have lasted long (Ghostbusters and Wheelman). Ghostbusters was an awesome game, but too short, and Wheelman was too GTA feeling.

The Ravens' game was great to watch. Flacco had a great start although they were a little sloppy at times still. As for NASCAR, it is a shame that Dale Earnhardt Jr couldn't make the chase, but it is great to see Mark Martin riding on top. I am not going to even mention the other Baltimore based major sports team....sad...just sad.

On the movie front, Chrissy finally watched Crank (I had gotten that on iTunes while I was still in Germany) and we watched Crank 2 today. They are very strange in some of their filming angles, and the plots are WAAAAY out there, but it is a fun ride and very entertaining. A couple other recent movies I have watched is Echelon Conspiracy and Dragonball Evolution. Echelon Conspiracy was a good watch, but Dragonball, well, let's just say I enjoy the cartoons MUCH more (even if they are just as strange and cheesy).

As a side note, I am watching a fellow MD alumni, Shaun Hill, beating the Cards! GO TERPS!

Well, that was a very ADD-ish post, I guess that is all for now. Just wanted to say, hey...still here...even if I don't update much. Honest. Plan to update more though. Maybe I will post my opinions of socialized healthcare...I have a scar to prove I have dealt with it (in Germany) so I have more insight than many Americans do.

The car saga continues

2009-07-24T16:00:00.002-04:00

"A long long time ago (4 weeks) in a car shop far away my auto(the Jetta) went in the shop. "

Ok, now I will elaborate. 5 weeks ago, the Check Engine Light came on. 4 weeks ago, I dropped off the car at a well-know shop for european auto enthusiasts (that for now shall remain nameless). We will call this 'Shop A.' My Cam shaft and followers were shot. COMPLETELY shot. It was almost time for a new timing belt, so they changed that and the water pump as well. They also changed the oil cooler because it was possible that some metal shavings had made their way in there as well. $3800 and 1 week later, I pick up the car. I get about 7 miles from the shop, and with a big white cloud of smoke, the car looses all power and I pull to the side of I-295. FUN!

They tow the car back to the shop. They change 2 fuel injectors, all four fuel injector seals, and the car still isn't running right. Through this time, they never mentioned one price, and they often proceeded without talking to me first. After 3 more weeks, they call in a Diesel specialist from a VW Dealership (also to remain nameless at this time). We will call this 'Shop B.' He saw some strange things and wanted to look at it at the dealership. Shop A has it towed to Shop B at their expense.

Two days later, having not heard anything, and after talking to Shop A, I call Shop B. The Service Adviser at Shop B sounds pissed off at the world to begin with, gets an attitude with me, tells me he isn't the actual SA for my car, but that SA is gone, but reads off my old phone and address (I have been there since the new address, but ok...) and I tell him that is wrong and ask him if I can update it. He only lets me give him the phone number (1 phone number, not even home/work), and is done with me.

Yesterday, after work...Chrissy calls Shop B from the car since we never heard anything from them. Our SA is already gone for the day. Since it is a simple request to find out what the status of our car is, and they are open for 3 more hours, it shouldn't be difficult for this other SA to provide a simple answer as to the status of our car. He finally takes our number and says someone will call us tomorrow and Chrissy tells them she would like someone to call us that night at which point he hung up on her.

Today, I call Shop B and our SA is actually there (Wow, did I win the lotto?) and I am transferred to her. She pics up the phone and says "Can you hold please?" I say "Ok" and then the count begins. 30 minutes later, she finally takes me off hold (maybe she was hoping I would just hang up). When I finally talk to her, she says the car needs a new turbo, but that they aren't sure when they could get to it. (Grr...more waiting) Oh, and the turbo will cost $2000.00!!!!! Now, why Shop A couldn't figure out the Turbo was now blown, I don't know. But now, I have paid Shop A $3800, will be paying Shop B $2000, won't get the car back till at least late next week if not later, and consequently have driven the miles on the Rabbit to almost the end of it's bumper to bumper warranty (and will be beyond that soon enough).

Oh, and for some reason the owner of Shop A would like to talk to me on Monday. It will be interesting to see how that turns out. And Shop A said they could probably do the turbo replacement for less, but seriously, would YOU send your car back to Shop A for a new turbo when they couldn't even diagnose the problem?

I will try to post again once I have spoken to the owner of Shop A. Oh, and I submitted a complaint to VWOA regarding the level of customer service at Shop B.