Updates · 9:37pm Nov 17th, 2014
So, I know I've been late on just about everything, and I'm so sorry about that. Please know that I am working on stuff. the next chapter of Shadow has about 1600 words written, and the second chapter of Probitas has 750 words. Also, I have the series of events mapped out for the last chapter of TD the Alicorn Princess. The last chapter before the sequel, of course. I know, I know, I'm sad to see it end too, but TD has grown into Antares, and we need a book to transition to that.
Anyhoo, now onto the plushies. I'm so, so, SO sorry that we haven't gotten those out yet. Rest assured that we ARE working on both the regular and mini plushies. Once again, if you haven't told me what you want, please PM me ASAP so we know what minky to get and whatnot. Also, as an apology, we'll be giving you all some extra goodies with your order to make up for the long wait.
We're also planning to expand our line a bit to get more stuff out for you to buy. Corn warmers, Christmas ornaments, Christmas stockings, and stuff like that. We have some cool plans that I think you'll all like.
Now to close with a rather interesting story. A big reason I'm not farther along on either Probitas or Shadow.
So my sister and I were driving back from Highlands Ranch to Greeley so we could get back to school. It's nighttime, so it's pretty cold. The temperature is shifting from between -3 to about 6 degrees. So frigid. We're about ten-fifteen minutes away from school, and I'm dozing off when I feel a bump. I open my eyes and see smoke billowing out from the right side of the car. Turns out the tire... Well, I don't know what you want to call it. You decide the adjective.
So we pull over and turn the hazard lights on, praying for someone to help us out. After about fifteen minutes or so (I can't really remember, but let's go with that) someone does pull over. He knows how to change tires, and we do have a spare in the back. Like a saint he gets some tools and changes the tire. Unfortunately, the tire is too small, but as I said, we're only about fifteen minutes from Greeley.
We make it about a minute before this tire also busts. The rubber separated from the metal. Also, the hazard light button got stuck, so we were driving that minute with the hazard lights on.
So we pulled over AGAIN, and stayed on the side of the road while calling people to figure out what to do. We had no more spare tires left, so changing it again wasn't an option. However, the same guy noticed us again and pulled over. He checked the size of the tire we needed and drove back to his house and looked for one, but he came back and said that he didn't have any. I say here and now that despite everything, that man deserves to go to heaven for helping us out. And to get sainthood. So we waited, and waited, and waited some more. Did I mention that at this time my sister believed that keeping the engine running would drain the battery? So we had no heat. Again, it was between -3 and 6 degrees out, and the driver's side window was broken, so the window was cracked about an inch. So we were both shivering like mad.
We called a tow truck, and they took a long time to find us because we were in the middle of nowhere. Eventually my dad let my sister know that keeping the engine running actually charges the car battery, so my sister turned on the heat, ensuring that I didn't lose all ten of my toes to frostbite. It was seriously so cold that I wondered if I was going to freeze to death in there. But eventually the tow truck came, and we made it back to school.
This whole process took three and a half hours. We were fifteen minutes or so from school when the tire went out.
So yeah, not the best of nights at all. But I'm alive, and I hope to do some writing today. Maybe even get something out. We'll have to see.
Sounds like a POS car, to be perfectly honest. No offense to you or anyone who may love that car, of course.
Dude, that sucks big time. I'm no stranger to car troubles, but that's a new level of "ouch", even for me.
Wow, I'm glad that you survived that ordeal.
2601073 The car is almost my age, so it's not a POS so much as getting on in years.
Teh fek is a corn warmer....?
2601099 It's a little pouch filled with dry corn, you put it in the microwave for fifteen seconds, and it comes out hot. You warm up your hands and whatnot with it. Works beautifully.
2601116 i would say SHUT UP AND TAKE MAH MONEH! But, I'm 12 and I don't have a credit card :(
Don't forget the news about the changes to the movie. We might want to consult everyone about it.
Get all your tires checked if you can. Assuming that they were all purchased at the same time, if one goes the others are also getting towards the end of their life.
The donut going was probably due to the cold, and the fact that it is a donut tire. It's meant to be small to save room, down side is a maximum speed of 40ish miles per hour.
Learn how to change a tire. Practice a couple times.
Make your sister take an auto class.
Take said class with her, given that it appears nobody in your family can change tires.
Keep a bag in the car with blankets, spare socks, warm hat, hand warmers and energy bars.
Other than that keep writing. Please. I need something to fill the void that could be my life.
Much like many others, I am glad you are unharmed, but very curious as to how your sister got the idea that running the engine would drain the battery, since the battery clearly was not dying while you were driving.
To paraphrase Sir Babbage, I am not rightly able to comprehend the kind of confusion of ideas which could induce such a belief.
Are you going to finish The Life of a Non Brony?
Glad to hear you're alright. You should take time to rest up and don't let people get to you about plushies or stories.
2601195 Of course. I want to update that soon too.
2601195 Does it have a cancelled tag on it...?
2601618 Nope.
2601628 Then he is going to finish it.
Well I'm glad someone actually stopped to help you. The last time I had a flat tire, me and my buddies spent a good twenty minutes trying to figure out how to change the tire ourselves before someone pulled over. Said someone then proceeded to ask us for directions, and after he had them he got right back into his car and drove off. Fortunately, we were eventually able to change the tire ourselves but yeah
Whoa that's scary... I went to school at CSM so I've got a rough idea of where you're talking about. I don't missing living in the snow
Something similar happened to me once (close to home in the summer, thankfully), and I tried... and failed to change the tire myself. The tire shop that changed it last had the bolts so tight that a hand wrench couldn't loosen them. I found a new tire shop after that.
How do you know how to drive a car, yet not knowing something as simple as changing a tire? Well not to try to single you out, but in general it's way too common. Probably not knowing what tire pressures do and how to check them also comes with the territory. Or how to check the motor oil. And some people keep their seat belts under their arm instead of on their shoulder..
There's more to driving than traffic rules and how to get your car moving from point A to point B. I wish these things would get taught more often. Would save people from lot of inconvenience and in the very worst scenario, lives.
2603988 Well I don't drive. And I do know roughly how to change a tire, but there was also the fact that we didn't have any of the tools necessary, like a jack, for example.
I'd go into a rant about how much I hate those disposable spare tires you get when you buy a car, but that would only tell you how incredibly old I must be to remember when cars came with full-sized spare tires...
Either way, I'm glad you got out of that situation in good shape. Huzzah!
PS: You might want to check, but most cars still come with a (cheap) jack and lug wrench kit. The previous owner of my car lost part of the set, of course. There's usually a diagram showing where the kit is, most often printed on the underside of the hood.
Pro tip, always remember that you have to add air to a tire when it gets cold out. Most cars have tires that are rated for 32 psi (usually there is a sticker on the drivers side door telling you exactly what your car requires). That said, air contracts in the cold and expands in the heat, and you have to adjust the pressure accordingly. A tire may LOOK fully inflated, but that doesn't mean jack in the grand scheme of things. Always have a pressure gauge in your vehicle, and check the pressure of each tire frequently as the temperature rises and falls. Remember to take out the air you added as it gets warmer or your tire is gonna go BOOM and it most likely won't be a "what was that?" It will be "OH SHIT I don't have control of the vehicle!"
I'm just guessing, but I assume low pressure caused the tire to fail.