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Tuesday, June 06, 2006

He Did It AGAIN and The Truck Saga Continues

When I came downstairs today for the morning, I was greeted by a dead robin, and a floor covered with feathers. Somewhere in the hour after Hubby was picked up for work and when I got up, Buddy knocked in the aluminum screen (damn it!) and dragged poor helpless bird to it's demise on my entry way.

I suppose one of my questions has been answered now:  He does it as a gift to us.

As nice as a gesture as it is, it's DISGUSTING!  On to other news....

Well as some of you know, the car died again.  Oh, it didn't just die, it went into a friggin' seizure and then died.  Perhaps I should explain more:

We picked the truck up on Thursday.  I was happy. Friday we had plans to go register the car, then go to Emily's Pre-K Family Picnic at the school.  I had gone to the base to deal with more red tape on how to register the car.  Picked Hubby up, and we headed to town hall to get a tax exemption for it.  As we stopped at the light just before the building, the car alarm started making a fast "boo boo boo boo, boo boo boo boo" sound, and the locks were racing up and down.  I looked at my spedometer, and it wasn't working, the radio was dead....I tried to get the 500 feet into the parking lot.  Just as I pulled into the space, the car died completely. I would not restart.

We got out and I took the kids and  headed into the tax office to do what I needed to do. Hubby took a look at the electrical.  When I came out, he was pulling wires everywhere. I assume he was disconnecting all the fancy "add ons" the truck had.  We tried over and over to get the damn thing fixed quick to take it home. No Dice.  I called our friend Jen.  Emily was already late for school and I called the school to let them know she would be late.  Jen came and picked us all up dropped Hubby off (who was now livid, I will add, since we had just dropped $120 to get the damn thing fixed the day before) and headed to the school for the "picnic".  I silently thanked myself for making the ambrosia early that morning, before we went on errands. There was no way I would have had it ready in time had I not.

We got to the picnic, and it was a good time.  Our friend who let us borrow the van earlier in the week, told us we could use the van again.  The kids ate, played games and Emily's teacher bawled at the hand painted plate the class and the teacher's aides had made for her.  A nice time was had by all.  Then we got a ride back home, where we had to face the enevitable question....what do we do now?

Hubby was now calmer than when I had left him for the picnic, and we tried to come up with a solution....He decided we would get the truck towed back to the house and let it sit there to be fixed when re-enlistment bonus time came.  Then I would go and buy what I had been wanting for a while now -- a minivan! 

On Saturday morning, I set out and went to one dealership.  We were turned down.  I called Hubby, dismayed, and was afraid that if I went to all the dealerships, they would all tell me the same thing.  Of course, I was right.....  I went to one more dealership, and they actually seemed like they were going to be able to help us.  But they need to talk to someone at the bank.  And it was Saturday.  I had to wait until Monday.  Sunday we spent most of the day in bed hanging out.  I was depressed all day, and hadn't slept well all weekend.

Monday rolled around, and I knew we had to get the truck towed or else the police would tow it, and that would be BAD.  It was still at town hall.  After I dropped Hubby off in the borrowed van, I went home and started calling the dealership. Of course....I got the waiting game.  I decided I couldn't wait anymore, and after dropping Em off at school, I headed to town hall and called the dealership one last time.  Finally I got an answer: No, they couldn't help me.  I called Hubby to tell him the bad news, and promptly called the insurance company to have the truck towed.  I was told 30-45 minutes.  That was ok, I had time.  It was 12:45. 45 minutes came and went. at 2:15 I feaked out and called the insurance company.  They said the tow truck should have came by then.  I got off the phone with them, waited 10 minutes,  and called the company that was to tow us. Ironically, it was the place that had "fixed" our electrical last week.  They said they had had a busy lunch.  I told them I had a 2 year old who was hungry and tired, and sitting here for nearly 2 hours I was VERY angry and was reporting to my insurance agency about them getting taken off the list for towing and repairs.  10 minutes later they showed up.

I got the truck home, and in the car port.  I had 3 minutes until it was time to go get Em.  Thankfully, she went to a friend's house after school, and I headed home again.  Hubby was home by then and very down.  My friend Jess (a fellow Boat Wife) offered her husband to come over after dinner to have a look at it, since he was good with cars.  He was over about 6.  I got to talk to Ed's mom ad step-dad (Hi Nana and Nano!! I know you read the blog now!!), and while I was telling them all about the saga, I heard the truck start. I did a happy dance. But, a few minutes later it died again.  Hey at least they were making progress!!  After some more examination and testing, it was concluded the problem was....drumroll PLEASE.......

The Alternator.

Why the repair shop hadn't figured that out last week is beyond me.  I got on the phone and started to make inquiries about alternators.  While they are more expensive than I was anticipating, it's a lot less than what I was expecting, especially since Hubby can install it himself.  Today I am going to make more calls, and hopefully by the weekend, the replacement will be in, and the truck will be working. I won't have a car alarm or auto door unlocks, but it's a small price to pay.  Besides, Hubby says we'll get a PROFESSIONALLY installed one later this summer....

So keep your fingers and toes crossed that a replacement alternator is available soon and when installed, the truck works.

Herein ends the saga for today.....

3 flame(s) added to the fire:

Anonymous said...

Bless your heart!
I went through major car repair issues last summer with my car .. it was going to cost so much to fix that I sold the car. I live next door to both of my jobs and I have been walking everywhere for a year now! It wouldn't even be a option if I had kids though.

I hope that the new alternator works well.

Did you thank the cat for the "gift"?

Dr.John said...

Your lucky you have a husband that knows how to put in an alternator. If our car stalls I just sit and look at it.

Unknown said...

I read a book on cat behavior years ago, and it said that cats kill and then bring you the spoils because they are trying to teach YOU how to hunt. They believe that you are stupid because you go to the market for food when you have this whole world of food right outside your door. And you haven't lived until you've opened your eyes in the morning to a dead mouse on your pillow. Now that's one generous cat! This happened to me with our former cat Bingo (z"l) who crossed the rainbow bridge about 6 years ago. He was a HUGE killer of mice, voles, birds, squirrels, and once a bunny rabbit. Murderer!