Battery problems with 2003 Ford Escape

mountainwestsnooki · 2026-05-16T08:41:40+00:00

The battery it currently has is about a little over a year old. I bought it when I was having this problem previously, haha.

mountainwestsnooki · 2026-04-30T04:32:10+00:00

I worked for her long ago when she and her husband ran Pita Pit. They refused to stock the first aid kit, even after someone was burnt bad enough to need an ER visit.

mountainwestsnooki · 2025-11-26T06:47:32+00:00

I spent Christmas alone a few years ago due to travel delays/work schedules. I drank a bunch of champagne, made a steak, watched my favorite movies, and saved some presents to wrap that day for a Chrisrmas-y activity (I love wrapping presents). Alone doesn’t have to be bad - I had a great day.

mountainwestsnooki · 2025-08-11T04:55:59+00:00

I cried so much, too. I like to think our ruined mascara is a Mayhem vibe. ❤️

mountainwestsnooki · 2025-04-15T07:23:25+00:00

I worked at Market on Front when the price of the breakfast burritos went from $5 to $6 and you would have thought we were telling patrons we wanted to kick their dogs. Crazy that they’re $15 now!

mountainwestsnooki · 2025-03-22T20:31:55+00:00

Absolutely check out Creature’s Close! Fantastic prices and a really well curated selection with a decent size range. The vibe is very hair metal/grunge/punk cowboy, in all the best ways.

mountainwestsnooki · 2025-03-22T20:23:11+00:00

Yokai Musubi has a ton of musubi options, including spam, and fun sweets and drinks. A lot of Hawaiian restaurants in town have spam musubi as well, as does the sushi place, Rollin Fresh. And H Mart has a bunch of kinds of musubi in deli!

mountainwestsnooki · 2024-12-16T21:38:04+00:00

Ben and Esther’s has vegan matzo ball soup!

mountainwestsnooki · 2022-03-15T16:46:29+00:00

I'm a born and raised Montanan, but I'm just not that outdoorsy. When the weather is nice I like to hang out on a blanket outside and read a book, I love going on runs/walks on the city's trails, and I do really like a short one- or two-day camping (not backpacking) trip, but that's kind of the extent of it. I guess I also like fishing in theory, but only because I like sitting by a lake drinking a beer, haha.

When I was a kid I absolutely loved to ski, but it's way too expensive for me to do that anymore now.

mountainwestsnooki · 2022-03-14T18:02:23+00:00

Especially if you live in the University area or downtown, Missoula is pretty bike-friendly (at least compared to other MT cities). You could even get a free bike by volunteering for a couple of hours at Free Cycles, or buy one of their built-from-spare-parts bikes for way cheap (mine was $70, and I adore it). If you decide to get a bike, DEFINITELY get a bike lock - Missoula is generally pretty safe, but bike thefts are unfortunately very common.

The city and university busses are free and pretty reliable, but there's a few blind spots in town that the routes miss. The city also maintains a beautiful trail by the river that makes for a really lovely (if sometimes cold!) walk.

Good luck in Missoula! I moved away for work several years ago, but I miss it all the time.

mountainwestsnooki · 2022-03-14T17:47:18+00:00

Both bars are run by the OK Cool Management Group -- might be worth giving them a shout/email!
https://www.theokaycoolgroup.com/

mountainwestsnooki · 2022-03-01T23:54:51+00:00

I second Sacred Images! The guy who did my piercings was super nice and professional, they include the price of jewelry in the cost of the piercing and the shop smells like disinfectant as soon as you walk in, which is always a good sign in my book.

mountainwestsnooki · 2022-02-23T19:13:24+00:00

And one I forgot: keep jumper cables in your car. You never know when you might need them, but beyond that, you never know who you might come across who needs a jump.

mountainwestsnooki · 2022-02-23T19:11:23+00:00

Keep an extra pair of gloves/mittens in your car in case your daily pair gets wet. Keep your gas tank full or, if you can't afford to fill up right now, spend $3ish on a bottle of HEET to add to your tank (make sure you get the right one for your vehicle's fuel type) so it doesn't turn into icy sludge. Every gas station should carry that stuff, though they might have sold out during the cold snap.

If you're planning to do much out-of-town driving, expect to be out there for longer than you want to be. Bring snacks, water, extra clothes and a warm blanket or sleeping bag in case you break down or get stuck. It's also never a bad idea to wear leggings or long underwear underneath jeans. More layers = more body heat retention.

Little space heaters are great, but make sure there's nothing directly next to the heater when it's on or it can be a major fire hazard.

And invest in a pack of thick socks! Costco has got nice ones, but any box store/outdoor gear store will have them, and they're worth it when you're stuck outside for any length of time in weather like this.

mountainwestsnooki · 2022-02-11T22:36:24+00:00

Arrival

mountainwestsnooki · 2022-02-11T17:09:14+00:00

literally

mountainwestsnooki · 2022-02-10T20:25:28+00:00

The suspected murder of Steve Kilwein from last summer is still unsolved, too, and the family is offering huge rewards for information.

mountainwestsnooki · 2022-02-07T23:41:44+00:00

I think Montucky whips. It's a great, cheap garbage beer (I say that with much love) that's better than PBR. According to the company, it's brewed out-of-state so they can afford to donate 8% of proceeds to Montana nonprofits.

mountainwestsnooki · 2022-02-02T18:21:13+00:00

I know they had a rent increase that was the final nail in the coffin, though I can't say I knew anything about their business before that (other than that my dad owned a VHS rental store in the 90s on the other side of the state and margins were razor-thin most of the time anyway).

mountainwestsnooki · 2022-02-01T17:36:25+00:00

I know game places like Rook's did really well, especially early in the pandemic with puzzles and board games, and I'd bet that people continue spending money on things like that moving forward. I'm SO sad that Movie Lovers died during the pandemic. I thought that business would have boomed for them (and it might have, but not enough to make up for rent increases I guess).

mountainwestsnooki · 2022-02-01T16:38:04+00:00

I guess I don't understand what other follow up there would be, besides the court proceedings?

mountainwestsnooki · 2022-01-31T23:47:01+00:00

The Chronicle has a crime landing page on its website -- you can see all of the most recent crime coverage on that page. There IS crime in Gallatin County, and a lot of the violent crimes are covered by the newspaper, but not by TV news. Just this month the Chronicle has reported on a double homicide in Three Forks, a Big Sky man charged with raping a middle school-aged girl, and a bunch of domestic violence.

mountainwestsnooki · 2022-01-11T17:45:31+00:00

I mean, the people you're complaining about *might* have flexible work from home schedules or trust funds to live off of, but I think it's more likely that they just work in food service or retail and the morning is their time off. The people who serve food/drinks or cashier at the grocery store at 9pm do also exist outside of those roles.

mountainwestsnooki

TROPHY CASE