Where's the comic, Ethan?

On its way! Let me explain the holdup. 

It started on July 4th when, on my way home, I discovered that my car's alternator had decided to give up the ghost and I was able to just barely make it home before my car sucked the battery dry.  So, I ordered a new alternator off of Amazon for $84 (Autozone was going to charge me $124 for one of their infamously unreliable rebuilt alternators, and that price is AFTER the core charge) and went to work.  Now, I drive a 2012 Fiat 500 which is a subcompact which means even the most simple sort of engine work must be as difficult as possible and I had to unbolt the engine itself and jack it up several inches just to pull the old alternator out.   I'm also covered in grease and filth because the CV boot on my driver side axle had split and spilled its contents like a 5-year-old does with their lunch given the onset of stomach flu. More on that later. 

So, I get the new alternator in, and the first time I start it, I hear my starter making that SCKRAK SCKRAK SCKRACK sound that is the universal signal from any automotive starter that they, too, are about to pile it in. So, I order a new starter from Amazon, and the next weekend I was able to replace the starter (which was much, much easier than replacing the alternator) and I go to start my car and... nothing. 

Turns out I had a blown fuse (don't know how) but I took care of that the next day and I still wasn't off to the races.  The CV boot, remember?

Now, when you're dealing with a CV boot on a FWD vehicle, normally you have to do whatever it takes to remove the axle and if you didn't mark correctly where the knuckle screws onto the axle then you have to get an alignment to boot.  At this point I was so tired and worn out from working on the damn thing that I went and did something I normally wouldn't, and that was order a split CV boot replacement kit from jolly old England.  With this kit, you fit the (split) boot over the axle (after cleaning everything with several cans of brake cleaner) and apply the glue and then pack the joint with CV grease and clamp everything down.  Now, this glue is something interesting, because the kit came with plastic gloves and very, very blatant warnings to not get this glue on your skin or in your eyes. Not only did that shit set rather quickly, I've driven the car about 100 miles in summer heat and it hasn't split open. 

So that's what's been holding up the comic. My little car currently has 113k miles on it, I've used it to tow U-Haul trailers with every move (which does like a champ despite its size) so I'm still happy with it.  I received minor body damage on it last Christmas when someone in a big white Chevy pickup was driving too fast for conditions collided with my rear driver side, but I'm currently fixing that as well what all with the dents pulled out, and I'm about to do the Bondo thing and then repaint (I've already finished painting the replacement rear bumper cover.   Next time I'm buying a Toyota, though.  Or a Nissan. 

Alright, back to work.  Thanks for your patience.