Had to stay home to get the Jeep repaired. Generally you should probably change your shocks every 60-80,000 miles. I'm at 170,000 and the factory shocks have finally told me where I can shove it. Starting last week (after an odd sound I can't quite describe), the Jeep would sway horribly, almost to the point where I couldn't keep her on the road.

Had new shocks put in today.

Oh wow. It's like a new car. I mean, she still drives like a tank, but a smoooooth tank! So, there went a few hundred dollars right there.

As I was waiting on the Jeep to get fixed, I walked home. Being that I sweat a bit on the 2 mile hike back (uphill both ways), I thought I'd take a shower. A cold shower. Not that I wanted to, but it was quite apparent I didn't have any hot water.

#*&(@ water heater died. Like the shocks on my Jeep, this thing lasted well beyond its expected life (it was 20 years old). Actually, I think it's been dead for a while. The other day I noticed very little hot water during my morning shower. Of course, even with the power to the heater off, I almost burned myself tonight. You see, the AC unit is cooled by water which in turn returns the hot water to the tank. During the summers when the AC runs all the time, the water heater never even turns on since the AC return keeps it scalding. It just happened to be a cool morning and I noticed the lack of heat. I wonder how long it's been dead?

So, several hundred dollars later and tomorrow I should have a new water heater. Which I won't use much over the summer.

If you want to meet me at the 2A Blog Bash, look for the guy crying in the corner because he's too broke to buy anything on the show floor.