June 15th and it's sunny!

I know, that shouldn't be news, right?  Overall it has been a nasty wet cold spring in Maine and I am sick of it. I admit we have had some nice days but not enough when you consider we only get 5 months of warm here. But it's sunny here today and I will be outside as soon as the overgrown grass has dried up a bit., so enough whining.

Enough whining about the weather, anyway. We are still dithering about our vehicle woes. Well, I'm dithering-J has set his mind on a new van. Our mechanic looked it over and we can't justify the cost of fixing it when it will probably last only one more year. Next up is Ameranth's car, which is registered (in MA) but not inspected or insured. We'll have that looked at and hope that it doesn't need anything major- I have power of attorney for her for just this situation. (I have had an uneasy feeling about our car for some time now).

Speaking of Ameranth, after 3 weeks of walking, she is now in Ohio and much relieved to get out of the claustrophobic hills of western Pennsylvania. She didn't realize that was the problem until she was into a more open, rolling hills type landscape. The stroller she is using has been a big improvement over last year. Although pushing it up the side of mountain roads has been challenging, her back, knees and feet thank her every night. In fact, Anna is pooping out first these days- something I never would have expected! She has stayed with and talked to a lot of friendly people, including a passing policeman who gave her some pepper spray on a key chain. I thank the nice people who gave her rides around towns they didn't think she should be walking through, who fed her veggie food and offered her showers  and yards to camp in.

Boomer says 'hey'.

Not in front of the refrigerator!

 J's check engine light had been on for a few days- well, not J's light, the one in his pickup truck! (Although wouldn't that be handy to have warning lights for people? But where would they be, oh and how would they be reset? Never mind- back on topic) Then on Saturday after he released the parking brake, the "brake on" light was on, as well as the ABS one on the other side. Setting and releasing the emergency brake made no difference, so we called our mechanic on Monday and brought the little fellow in to be checked.

 The good news was that the aging truck apparently had a loose gas cap gasket and a little dirt in a valve. That and we are ignoring the ABS module if it happens again, because the brakes are fine. But...our van apparently was jealous of the attention J's truck was getting, so decided to act up on the way over to the shop. After I paused before pulling out, the engine briefly raced and I glanced down to see the N light up for a second, then it changed back to D. What? Thank goodness J was there to witness it, and he said it had happened to him too, although it was so fast he had doubted his eyes. So we left the van there to be checked out, hoping it did not need a new transmission.  It's a 2000 model with about 160K miles on it and we do not want to have to replace it.

Why, vehicles, why? We feed you and oil you and I just took you to the car wash last week. I even washed the inside windows. We don't speed (excessively) or burn your rubber. Okay, we didn't build a garage for you, but the tools needed a home more than you did.. You are tough Maine autos, you can take the weather! And, if you rebel too much, we do have Ameranth's car here as a backup.
Just sayin'.

(We've even given it cosmetic surgery after a deer attack. Twice.)

When we sighed with relief that the bill for the truck was lower than we feared, even with the oil change, someone decided they needed equal time? (I'm looking at you Ms. Caravan)  I got the call this morning: They think the shift cable may need to be replaced, and it will be a few hours labor and an extra day. We are crossing our fingers that will do it this time.

And we are not discussing this in the kitchen or the laundry room. Just in case.

              

Bad day for Ameranth, and by extension, me

 I woke up to Ameranth's phone call saying her car had been vandalized last night. If you want a visual, go here:
sad picture 

All 3 windows on her driver's side were broken, and the mirror was hanging off the door. Her apartment has no parking attached, and she has to use a municipal lot in back. But this is a small town, and she hasn't ever had problems before.  The policeman she flagged down suggested it may have been due to recent 'unrest' between townies and out-of-state workers on a nearby store.  The state in out-of-state? Yes, you guessed it, Maine.  So they may have seen her license plates and reacted rashly.

So, the next sad part? This was her day off, and she intended to register her car and get it inspected to be all legal and MA proper.  One day too late. 

The next sad part is lack of insurance- apparently we each thought the other was paying the bill, and didn't question the lack of said bill. All I can say is ADD, lack of health insurance and lack of medication makes Ameranth's life interesting.
I have no excuse.

Good news is a nearby salvage yard had all three windows available, so that will help a lot with repair costs.  And, maybe the repair shop will also do the point-by-point inspection she needs. It would be nice to have something go smoothly for once.  Crossing my fingers.

Weekend update

So, another weekend is past, one day was sunny and one rainy- guess which one J had to work on? Right.

The good news is that the b-i-l came home after a day in the hospital, with no lasting ill effects, and Re's surgery had no surprises.

Saturday I got out early (for me) and hit a couple of yard sales, with no major finds. I did get one goodie for J, which I knew he would love. And he did.



I dodged a bullet at the first yard sale- After pulling off the road unto a mowed portion of the field, I heard a horrible metal-scraping-the-the-bottom-of-car sound. Stopped and looked underneath, and I had bent a metal rod, about as thick as my thumb, and two feet high. How I didn't see it I don't know, it must have been right at the corner of the hood, and hidden.

Anyway, I tried backing up- only moved a few inches, and when I checked again underneath, it was wedged between the muffler and a clamp. There was a small tree and about 20 feet between me and people, and no one seemed to be staring at me, so I figured I would act casual and shop a bit, pretending that I was not stuck on a metal pole. In case I haven't mentioned my social anxiety/phobia, I hate making mistakes or actually, doing anything in public. "Nothing to see here, move along" is my motto.

So, I bought hangers for a quarter, and then mentioned to the lady that I had run over a rod, I'm very sorry. And she said Yeah, you did, which blew my theory about nobody noticing right out of the water. She yelled for a man to come over, and we went to my car. I must say, they were both very nice about it. He confirmed it was just a stick, nothing attached- a surveying post, in fact, and told me I could probably drive forward and off it. So, of course I put the car in reverse first! I did make my escape, with no damage other than long groove running down the side of the muffler. Whew!

On Sunday we drove into Lewiston and shopped a bit. Outside the Dollar Tree was a couple getting signatures for a petition to overturn the gay marriage bill. The lady was pretty aggressively approaching people, walking toward everyone as they got out of their cars, not waiting until they came to her table. I was waiting for J to catch up to me, and she got through with the man who had been loudly agreeing with her about court decisions, unfair votes, etc, and called after us "Will you sign this to allow the people to define the meaning of 'marriage'?" Normally I shake my head and keep walking, but in this case I told her, No, I think it's fine the way it is. Which was extremely bold for me.

Then, to top that off, when we came out of the store(circling around the other exit- no need to provoke anyone) we saw a third person had joined their group. I thought at first that he must be arguing with them, since he had long hair, a beaded choker and a large earring. But that is why you don't judge a book by it's cover. He and the lady went over to a parked car, that we had noticed before. It was a station wagon, completely painted in Grateful Dead style- yellow, with skeletons on the body and red flowers on top, with a California license plate. Did they really drive from CA to protest a Maine law? That doesn't seem legal, or ethical, or something. Why don't they mind their own business?

That was our weekend. Today it rained, and J has to work at 4 am this week. He has Wednesday and Thursday off, and has to work both weekend days. Darn inventory anyway.