"Oh, hey, mom, my check engine light came on and the car is bumping badly when it shifts gears." #1 Son was the bearer of this cheerful news on Sunday evening.
The past 8 weeks have been spent with me in the car two hours a day, ferrying Bigger Girl to and from work M-F. School doesn't start until next week. So this was going to be the week i got a bit of a break.
Yeah, right.
When i asked him when it started, he said, "Yesterday, on my way home from work."
Okay, i told him, we'll take it to the dealership in the morning, and you can use your Dad's car for a couple of days.
Plans were made to have Brother-in-Law, The Mouth, take Sweetie to and from work Monday morning and bring him home that night. We also determined that if it would take longer than a day, i'll take him to work each morning, and The Mouth can bring him home.
Monday morning came, as it always does, and it became a comedy of errors. We took the car to the dealership where i bought the car, but they no longer work on those cars at that dealership. Across town to the other, and i finally get it checked in.
By the time we got back to the house, #1 Son was in such a rush to get to work he forgot the work key and had to come back for it.
They didn't even bother to call me Monday.
Tuesday, after i had dropped Sweetie at work, done the weekly grocery run to Sam's and Wally World, and taken the three foster kittens to the vet for surgery, they called.
Six different engine codes came up with that check engine light. $700, none of it covered by the extended warranty we got. Also, they wouldn't be able to tell if the transmission was involved until after those things were fixed. They might be causing the rough shifting, or there might be an actual transmission problem.
Well, whatcha gonna do? They have you, so i authorized the repair.
There was no transmission involvement, and i'm not sure, since that would have been covered, if that is good or bed. Meanwhile, Wedenesday morning bright and early i had Sweetie run me up there to retrieve it before #1 Son had to go to work.
So after that i got to stay home and get some work done, right?
What world do you live it?
Wednesday was the start of public schools around here. Besides having to run Bigger Girl to her friend's house, young neighbor and friend Sammy showed up right on time for his usual afternoon ride home from school.
Who ever came up with the silly idea of Stay at Home Mom, anyway?
Anyone else want to form a mob and go tie him/her into the car for a couple of decades?
Today is:
Abbotsford International Airshow -- Abbotsford Airport, Abbotsford, BC, Canada (Canada's National Airshow, through the 14th)
Aloha Day -- unofficial celebration of the annexation of Hawai'i
Anniversary of Snick-Snacker's Left Foot -- Fairy Calendar
Awa Odori Festival -- Tokushima, Japan (through the 15th; one of Japan's largest dance festivals, Awa-dance is said to be a "fool's dance", and the saying is "It's a fool who dances and a fool who watches, so if both are fools, you may as well dance!")
Capitolfest -- Capitol Theatre, Rome, NY, US (showing rare silent and early films; through the 14th)
Edinburgh International Festival -- Edinburgh, Scotland (through Sept. 4)
Festival for Hercules Invictus -- Ancient Roman Calendar (through tomorrow; based on an even older Greek celebration of Heracles at the same time of year)
Ginza Holiday -- Midwest Buddhist Temple, Chicago, IL, US (Japanese Cultural Festival, with craftspeople from Japan demonstrating Edo, folk dancing, martial arts, drums, and other cultural displays as well as traditional foods served; through the 14th)
Grouse Day/Glorious Twelfth -- England; Scotland
Her Majesty the Queen's Birthday and National Mother's Day -- Thailand
International Youth Day
Julienne Fries Day
Kool-Aid Days -- Hastings, NE, US (festival in the town where Kool-Aid was invented; through the 14th)
Mae West Birthday Gala -- New York, NY, US (through the 17th, her birthday)
Middle Children's Day -- on some sites, listed as Aug. 14; either way, Middle Children deserve a special day!
National Huckleberry Festival -- Trout Creek, Montana, US (through the 14th)
National Toasted Almond Bar Day
Osirian Mysteries; Feast of the Lights of Isis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar
Sewing Machine Day
St. Porcarius' Day
Tetnkaha Rendezvous -- Lake Benton, MN, US (travel back to the 1840's, including a muzzle-loader contest; through the 14th)
Vinyl Record Day
Zaraday a/k/a Zarathud's Day -- Discordianism
Birthdays Today:
Pete Sampras, 1971
Skip Caray, 1939
George Hamilton, 1939
William Goldman, 1931
Alvis Edgar “Buck” Owens, 1929
John Derek, 1926
Michael Kidd, 1915
Jane Wyatt, 1912
Cantinflas, 1911
Joe Besser, 1907
Alfred Lunt, 1892
Cecil B. DeMille, 1881
Christopher "Christy" Mathewson, 1880
Edith Hamilton, 1867
Katharine Lee Bates, 1859
"Diamond Jim" Brady, 1856
Robert Mills, 1781
Thomas Beckwith, 1753
Today in History:
The last ruler of the Egyptian Ptolemaic Dynasty, Cleopatra VII Philopater, allegedly commits suicide by asp bite, BC30
A conjunction of Venus and Jupiter occurs which may have been what the Bible calls the Star of Bethlehem, 3
Crusaders win the Battle of Ascalon, 1099
Juan Ponce de Leon arrives in Puerto Rico, 1508
Praying Indian John Alderman shoots and kills Metacomet, the Wampanoag war chief, ending King Philip's War, 1676
Isaac Singer is granted a patent for his sewing machine, the first one to be practical for home use, 1851
Asaph Hall discovers Deimos, 1877
The last quagga, a subspecies of zebra once plentiful in South Africa, dies at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam, 1883
Hawai'i is annexed by the US, 1898
William Somerset Maugham published "Of Human Bondage", 1915
Alleged date of the first Philadelphia Experiment test on United States Navy ship USS Eldridge, 1943
The Soviet Union detonates its first thermonuclear weapon, 1953
Echo I, the first communications satellite, is launched, 1960
South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games because of its racist policies, 1964
The first free flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise, 1977
The IBM Personal Computer is released, 1981
Canada, Mexico, and the United States announce completion of negotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), 1992
The Oscar class submarine K-141 Kursk of the Russian Navy explodes and sinks in the Barents Sea during a military exercise, 2000
Caturday Saturday
1 hour ago
Wait a minute... they start regular school in mid-August? That's still the middle of summer! (Yes, that is my outraged inner child using the exclamation point.)
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's just a geographical thing, but out here on the left coast, school doesn't start until round about Labor day.
On the plus side, this might mean you get a break now and then, yes? Hopefully?
When i was a kid, they started after Labor Day.
ReplyDeleteNow, they start the first to second week of August, and we do get a week for Thanksgiving, two for Christmas, one for spring break, and days for Mardi Gras, plus if we don't have any days lost to hurricanes, they are out by mid-May.
Personally, i liked the later start date myself. Waiting for Labor Day seemed to put a period on the summer.