The Van Saga - Part 3

Ptui! The van is still being repaired. Since a week last Friday. And that's not counting the two days in a smaller garage where the fellow sent me on the a bigger garage. Most of the time has been spent waiting for parts. It has a fried climate control something or other, and a toasted compressor. More $$. I have noticed that some things, repair parts, catalog orders, etc. are taking longer and longer to get here. I'd guess some of that is in part due to our faltering economy, the price of gas, and the remote location of our little city. It is not economical to drive over here with just one thing. They expected parts on Wednesday and those went right in but one little part did not come, a filter of some kind, due in Friday. It showed up Friday and IT WAS THE WRONG SIZE. And they didn't get it yesterday, Monday, either. Wah, wah! My eyes are going around in my head like those little fruit things on a slot machine. A rider with no horse.

And I remembered there was a muffin in the way back seat cup holder that one of the grandkids left behind. I mentioned it when I called and the guy told me it hadn't gotten moldy; it had just dried up to a rock like consistency. Great! They've had my van so long the muffin fossilized. And then my filled-in punch card for my favorite drive-through coffee place is in the van too. You can have anything on their menu free with a complete punch out on the card. So there is a giant mocha latte with whipped cream waiting for me on the way home from the garage with the van. I repeat; wah, wah,wah.

Car Garage Part 2

Ah cars...we dropped my van off at the repair emporium today. The air conditioning died last fall. Earlier this week I took it my local gas station/garage but they couldn't fix it, that the problem appears to be in the electrical system and is keeping the compressor from starting, and they couldn't fix that. Okay, I know what a compressor is but this is beyond my ken. So we went to larger auto repair place here in town that does all sorts of autos including one like mine. As I mentioned before, reputations spread like wildfire in this small town and this place is one of two larger auto repair places that seems reliable. But still I feel ignorant and like I am casting my fate to the winds. My van is a few years old but the mileage is low. I want this be the last car I buy. I fear seeing $$ flying out the window, but hubby melts when the temps reach 72, I'm okay up to 90 with the windows open but we get small and large dust storms here in the summer and who needs that in the car? I also cart several small, granddaughters around on a regular basis. Blah, blah, blah. So into the garage it went.

I've heard that stuff about how your car says who you are. Maybe, I guess to some degree my cars say I'm more practical than fanciful. Most of my life, I have driven small station wagons including a red pinto wagon in the 70's that lasted forever with no problems. They were easy on the mileage, and held my two kids and all our junk. When both sons moved out the same summer I got a Ford Ranger XLT, a great little truck for an empty nest single mom who did her own dump runs and still camped. The last wagon was a dark green Ford Focus wagon which worked for traveling with friends and carrying the two toddlers in our family. The two have become 9 of assorted ages. Now I have a Kia Sedona van and except for the a/c I like it a lot. I got it used with 15,000 miles on it. It's fun to drive and while it doesn't fit the "green" option for gas mileage at about 22 mpg on the highway, it does have a 5 star crash rating. An accident I could walk away from at 40 might do me in at 67. And I can just squeeze in six grand-girls and their assorted booster seats, including a 2 year-old still needing a heavy duty car seat. The safety issue is no small feature. The doors shut with a solid thunk, and the driver's seat is nice and high, I can see very well out of it. And if I ever want to run away from home I can toss the backseats into garage (well, not toss maybe) and sleep in the back until I want to come back. Beware hubby (mad laughter, ha, ha, ha).