seafoam + brick

Lovely soft greens in this sneak peek from d*s of Chad Kouri and Margot Harrington's Chicago home. Hand lettering extravaganza, too (a big plus in my book).

Tune-Up Tips- When to Get Your Truck or Car Tuned up/Spark plugs etc.

When to get your car or truck tuned up is not a very hard question if you look at a few things. The first thing you can do to find out if your car needs a tune-up which is the easiest thing here is to pull a spark plug out and examine it. After 20-30 thousand miles the center electrode will begin to wear down forming an increased gap and begin to round off. At this time if you determine that a car or truck tune-up is needed, remove the rest of the spark plugs and replace them with new ones.

Auto Repair Savings

Examine each spark plug as you remove them and look for signs of a black shiny substance on them. If you find one then this tells you that you are leaking oil into that cylinder from either your piston rings or your valve guide seals. A white chalky appearance would let you know that your engine is burning on the lean side which is good. Now on the other hand if you noticed a black carbon appearance this means your engine is running rich which is a bad thing and you need to have your car or truck looked at by an engine performance expert hopefully ASE certified. Here are a few more ways you can tell if you need a tune-up on your vehicle.

1.      If your car or truck has over 30,000 miles on it.

2.      Your “check engine” or “service engine soon” light comes on.

3.      You just purchased a used car and you want to keep track of your vehicle maintenance schedules.

4.      If you noticed that under a load such as driving up a hill and you feel the engine cutting out, you need a tune-up.

5.      Planning a road trip and you want to make sure that your car or truck is going to make it to your destination ok.

Important Reminders: Car and truck tune-ups can be classified in 2 categories. You either need a minor tune-up or a major tune-up depending on the mileage on your vehicle. I will discuss the difference in my next article. Most of the newer cars and trucks built today require the use of platinum plugs which auto makers claim should last you up to 100,000 miles before needing to be changed out. My experience tells me that this just isn’t true. For more auto repair savings and tips please visit my blog at, “Auto RepairSavings And my Special Links.” Happy driving!

Tags: car and truck, tune-up, spark plugs, vehicle, mileage

judge a book by its cover

Drooling over The Pelican Project, a Pelican Book cover archive at Things Magazine. What a spread.

Car Title Loans/ Midwest Title Loans Saint Joseph, Missouri/ 603 S. Belt 64507

Car Title Loans/ Midwest Title Loans Saint Joseph, Missouri/ 603 S. Belt 64507

Have you ever wondered how the car title loans work and could you lose your car, truck, or vehicle to places like Midwest Title Loans of St. Joseph Missouri? Well the answer to this is YES you can lose your car to these individuals who call themselves business people. Midwest Title Loans reap the benefits of sometimes over 300% interest rates and when for some reason you can’t make a payment, Midwest Title Loans and places like them will reposes your vehicle when you least expect it. Your best bet is to shop around first to find the best interest rates available and ask questions like when will they reposes your car or truck. Car title loans should be your last resort! And as far as choosing a place to get your loan from, Midwest Title Loans in St. Joe Missouri should never be an option to do business with.

Midwest Title Loans

 Unfortunately I had fallen prey to this car title loan shop in St. Joseph Missouri. I had no idea Midwest Title Loans would move so swiftly and pounce on my 7 year old son and me to repose our car. We were followed from our home in Kansas through 4 counties then into Nebraska before they saw an opportunity to use the extra key I supplied them and take our vehicle from us within minutes. The police were called only to find out Midwest Title Loans informed them they were a bank and will be repossessing our car. I immediately called Midwest Title Loans and offered to put our rent on hold and use that to pay the $300 owed to fulfill our obligation to them. Midwest Title Loans informed me that the total due now was $1,200.00, and had to be paid NOW or our vehicle will be put on their auction block.

MIDWEST REPO SPECIALISTS

 Car title loan places like, Midwest Title Loans in Saint Joseph Missouri should be used with extreme caution! Although these places smile and encourage you to take out more money each time you return, do not do it. If you happen to fall prey to these con artists here is an idea you can do to protect yourself from being repossessed. Go to the other guys down the road and have them pay off your loan and start paying them instead with lower interest rates. Be prepared to lose your car or truck even if you are current with your payments. What I mean is, for some unknown emergency down the road you cannot make a payment, know that your vehicle will be taken from you and placed on their auction block. Good luck!

labels: midwest title loans, saint joseph, missouri, car title loans, 64507 belt,

Happy sunday

A little something to think about for your Sunday.

Mad mad world

Loving this Mad Men inspired treasury that features a Mid Century graphic LP from my vintage shop. Are you as excited as I am for the new season to start tomorrow?! A little Jon Hamm eye candy for your Saturday. Happy weekend, all!

Vintage sale this weekend

If you're in Minneapolis this week, please stop by!

king of the road

Charming images from the 1979 book by called Rolling Homes: Handmade Houses on Wheels by Jane Lidz. I'm inspired by the nomadic spirit of these folks and their travelling abodes. Makes me want to pack up and go!

[images via Amy Merrick's photo set]