You may recall in my last post, I was working on the Subaru, trying to pull off the rusty towbar. Well, here it is. Not as rusty as you might think, but enough that I wanted to pull it off and give it a good scrubbing. And painting. So when I put it back on, it won't immediately start rusting again.
The kids were doing stuff last night. Nothing stupendous, just sitting around, working on computers. Kinda got my attention when I realized they were all just sitting, not actually moving. A bit lacking in the physical department here. So I made a resolution that they were going to become more physical. Like, going outside and riding bikes or something.
Of course, that means that we parents must set the example.
Right after I get this blog work done. Really.
Yesterday was a lot more frustrating than it needed to be, in my humble opinion. I was already upset because the license plate for my new (to me) car had not arrived yet, and the temporary tag had expired, which meant that I could not legally drive the car. Not a big deal, really, since the Corolla is still running great, and it will still get me to work. But we had called the dealer last Friday and he had said he would mail the plate on Saturday, so we were expecting it by Monday. After all, it wasn't going to need to travel very far.
But.
Cheryl called me up at work to report that the van was acting up. She had taken the kids downtown to their class, and then this weird whining noise started up, and the car started having great difficulty shifting gears. Those of you with Plymouth or Dodge minivans, you can see it coming. The transmission was going out. She managed to get it all the way to the dealership -- it had just been there a week ago for brake work (which was another very annoying story). She caught the shuttle home. They called up after a while and announced that the torque converter was shot and it would be $2200 to rebuild it, $3000 for a new.
We weren't foolish enough to go for the new one. And it isn't just because of the extra money involved. Those of you with Plymouth of Dodge minivans understand.
So we were down to one car we could legally drive.
Naturally, there was yet another complication. The youth group was planning on going to the amusement park on Tuesday and needed extra drivers. We had put our names in as possible volunteers. And, naturally, the youth minister called up in need of extra drivers. And we had to beg off due to the dead van and the illegal Subaru.
I was not in a good mood Monday evening.
It took all my restraint to not yell out loud when I called up the two dealers to talk about (1) why my van, which had just been in for service, suddenly decided to die (I don't believe in coincidences); and (2) why my license plate, which was supposed to have been mailed on Saturday, was still not mailed out yet on Monday evening. For the Dodge, there wasn't much I could do, other than to authorize them to fix the transmission and kiss two thousand bucks good-bye. Hard to do much about seemingly coincidental events. For the Subaru, I rejected the dealer's idea to "meet him halfway" (about a half-hour drive) after his daughter's birthday party (about 8:30 p.m.) and told him to send it to me overnight (i.e. FedEx).
I felt really sorry for the young lady who came around the neighborhood around dinnertime seeking to get people to sign up for some Clean Water group. My patience was gone and the document she was shoving in my face, was seriously lacking in details -- like how much her little group was going to cost me (Mr. Taxpayer). I was rather abrupt, short, tense, and dismissive.
It didn't help that dinner was on the table.
Today was a little better. The kids didn't have to be at school, and the license plate showed up (FedEx) right on time for Cheryl to tape it to the back window and take James to the orthodontist for this 3 o'clock appointment.
And when I got home, I was able to attach the lovely new license plate, move both of my cars into the garage, and take a little picture of 'em.
Walked out on the front porch as the sun was setting tonight, in a calm, reflective mood, and admired the sunset.
1 comment:
two vehicles in the garage at one time. Wow! That makes me want to go home and clear out the other half of our garage so Roy's pickup can rest in there.
Glad to hear you have your little car legal now but sorry to hear of the expense for the other one.
The sunset picture is beautiful.
And I love the pictures of the kids.
Keep up with the writing.
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