I'm in pain. Physical pain.

Over the last couple of months (and especially the last couple days) the Su garage has been collecting piles upon piles of car parts that need to be thrown out. Most notably, one 1991 Toyota Corolla transmission. This was from Project Corolla and the busted transmission has sat in the corner of the garage for months and never thrown out.

Well, yesterday was the beginning of bulk garbage collection in my neighborhood. You just leave your big items to be disposed of on the curb and throughout the week it will get picked up by the City of Austin. So Sunday evening I laid out a nice nasty pile of car parts on the front lawn awaiting pickup. Yesterday morning I call the City of Austin just to make sure that they will pick up car parts. The lady on the line tells me that they will NOT pick up car parts, which is kinda ridiculous in my mind because they'll pick up an entire lawnmower, but won't pick up aluminum and steel piping from a car engine??

Either way, it turns out that the City of Austin landfill has a metal recycling center and I can drop off my engine parts and transmission there. So early yesterday morning I load up my car with the parts. Unfortunately, the transmission weighs at least 80 pounds, and really requires two people to properly pick up without injury. However, I thought I could do it since I really just needed to lift it into the car trunk. It wasn't too bad, and when I got to the landfill I also lifted it out by myself and tossed it into the pile of metal things. It should be noted that the tranny is an odd shape and there's really no good way to hold it. You especially can't hold it close to your body because of some sharp edges.

Anyways, by the afternoon, my back was hurting like crazy. I think I strained something or threw something out. As I'm driving, I can't even rotate my torso enough to check my blind spot. I can barely sit still or lie down or move around without being in super pain. I'll probably need to take some pain killers so I can sleep tonight. The moral of the story is, get a friend to help you lift a transmission.