$183 for an oil change

I was thinking it would be more like $130 including tax for the oil change at the dealership, but no. Maybe I should have waited or had my normal mechanic do it, I’m kind of kicking myself for going to dealership, but I also wanted to have things documented, and I don’t drive that many miles.

The thing is their labor rate in $220 an hour, an they charged for a half hour of labor like it was a technical mechanic, not just some newbie kid. 🧑‍🔧 Whatever, I guess that’s what Stealerships do. But at least I got a good Motorcraft Filter and Motorcraft Oil, and it should be good until the end of March when I’ll get the truck inspected, tires rotated, and other recommended services preformed. I would use my local mechanic but I still think it’s safer to pay the dealer tax. I know the can’t deny the warranty if you did all the recommended services with an independent mechanic, but with Ford you know everything is right up to spec. So I guess it’s worth it. I did pay $59,750 out the door for the truck, so what is $183 oil change if it protects the engine. Still, I could have bought the oil and filter probably for $60 and had it done in 15 minutes myself. And had all the used motor oil for perking fires up in woods. 🔥 I got Ford points and I’ll keep an eye out for coupons for the next oil change.

It seems like the to promising car deals for 🛻 turned out to be real low ballers, seeing distressed inventory and focusing on like a hawk 🦅 after seeing the truck has been listed for a month now. I might lower the price, and I’m willing to negotiate but not what the last few people have been offering – basically scrap metal value. Maybe I need to list the truck cap seperately. I kind of canceled my weekend trip to the Potholers, 🏊‍♂️ in favor of Schoharie but also I knew it wouldn’t be good to be off grid all weekend, even with remote working Friday, and that would still chew into my weekend. 🧑‍💻 Even if I headed up to Piseco-Powley with the violent thunderstorms this evening, ⛈️ I’d be working all day today.

So the plan is this morning to pack my camping gear 🏕️ for a weekend trip to Schoharie. Get down to the library around 9 AM, get logged into the Work Order System and Robodialer, make sure everything being processed is ready to go. Then I have campaign committee work to do, 📰 and I need to reschedule my doctor’s appointment for last week. I asked for a new appointment on the online system but I realized I never heard back if it was going to be approved. At lunch time, ☕ I need to get another bag of coffee and I should get more drip plates for the stove. The later has been on my list for a few weeks now, I realized I really need them now that I had a somewhat scary grease fire 🧯 this morning I was able to snuff out after much larger flames and a lot more smoke then I expected. Damn, when it was happening I couldn’t find my baking soda. Shit happens, no damage was done, doesn’t appear the wires were burnt or any permanent damage. Smoke alarm went off, but I turned that off, finished off cooking my breakfast. I don’t know how early I’ll leave for Schoharie this afternoon, I am supposed to be avaliable until 5 PM and I’m sure there will be stuff to process before the close of business, but at least I won’t have to deal with rush hour traffic as I’ll take the local roads from home out to Schoharie.

I am bummed out about not going to the Potholers 😩 but with work I just can’t afford to be totally off-the-cell grid anymore between now and November. Data work pays the bills. 💵 And there’s lots of them despite my frugal lifestyle. But I can’t be too bummed, as one week from now I’m heading north to Speculator to remote work and camp for Labor Day Weekend. Hike Snowy Mountain, ride dirt roads, lay in the hammock, look at the stars. 🌟 I didn’t see the lunar eclipse last night, it was cloudy and raining and I slept too well. Plus it would be kind of repetitive to drive up north two weeks in a row, same trip over and over again. I might take NY 443 and Hauverville Road out to Schoharie this evening for a change, plus then I’ll be passing by the Rensselearville Library to stop for the WiFi for any data jobs I need to run. 🧑‍💻 The oil is changed on the SuperDuty so that’s no longer a worry and no maintance is needed before now and spring time, though I still want to FluidFilm the truck before winter.