I haven't been inspired to blog lately. Tonight changed that. I was half listening to an NPR program earlier where the author/reporter asked random people the same 3 questions: What do you live for? What would you die for? and I forget the third one. Like I said, I was only half listening. So I'm going to make up the third question: What are you afraid of right now?
What I'm afraid of was sitting to my right at the bar of the American Legion on San Carlos Island tonight. She was petitie, blonde and frowning. She had on a turquoise sweater and matching short shorts. She had on a lot of jewelry and her fingers had recently been manicured. She kept up a steady patter directed towards her husband. She talked about the menu for her next dinner party; she talked about what the table next to us had ordered for drinks, she talked about how she wanted the chicken for dinner but wasn't ready for it yet, she talked about her next manicure ( Thursday) and her next pedicure (Friday) (she wanted to get them on Monday and Tuesday but Monday is a holiday and her girl takes Wednesday off, so it had to be Thursday and Friday.), and as we were leaving, she was planning where her dinner party guests would park.
I don't know what I'm going to do over then next year or so, but God, please save me from being this person. Amen. It's what scares me right now.
Wilda Jeanne
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Things I have learned: Further's A/C
I considered calling this "A/C Chronicles" but decided to be optimistic. I hope to only feel compelled to write about air conditioning on Further this one time. God willing.
We are back at the La Quinta. Around noon yesterday, we noticed that Further was getting hotter... well, you want me to start at the beginning, don't you?
While we were still in Phoenix, Further's A/C system had some work done to it. We paid the bill. The marina had subcontracted with a new repairman because Mr. Tried-n-True couldn't come right away. I'm not sure why it mattered, since we weren't there anyway, but I guess it did.
What we didn't know is that Further has two A/C systems. Only one of them got worked on: the one in the salon. The system that cooled the two bedrooms was never touched. So, of course, it broke down after we had been sleeping on the boat for a couple of weeks. For a week, Tom and I and the dogs lived and slept in the salon - a room the size of our master bedroom back in the house in Peoria. The couch is L-shaped; I got the shorter part. It was okay - we lived through it because we knew that Mr. Tried and True had been called this time and that he was coming to rescue us.
When he came, the dogs and I left. When we came back, the A/C in the bedrooms was working. We slept in our bed for the first time in a week. Then we noticed that Further was getting hotter... We watched in disbelief as the breaker switched itself off repeatedly after we tried several solutions. Nothing worked. Tom and the electrician from the marina worked on it all afternoon, but there was no joy on Further. It was 4 pm on Friday. Mr. Tried and True was called again and persuaded to come work on the salon unit on his day off. Tom and the dogs and I headed to La Quinta.
We spent a blissfully cool night and Tom left at 8:30 am on Saturday to meet Mr. Tried and True at Further. I sat down at the computer to write this blog and spent the next hour playing Spider Solitaire. I took the dogs out for their second walk and sat down at the computer to write this blog. I watched the last half of a movie on TV with Jesse Eisenberg who was playing an Orthodox Jew who was a drug mule and peddler. I sat down at the computer to write this blog and Tom called. Still no joy on Further. I called La Quinta's front desk and told them we'd be staying another night. I sat down and, finally, started writing this blog.
Fifteen minutes later, Tom walked into the motel room and said they had been able to fix the A/C after all. We still spent the night at the La Quinta while waiting for Further to cool down. We're now preparing to go back to Further. We anticipate that she will be cool.
The end?
We are back at the La Quinta. Around noon yesterday, we noticed that Further was getting hotter... well, you want me to start at the beginning, don't you?
While we were still in Phoenix, Further's A/C system had some work done to it. We paid the bill. The marina had subcontracted with a new repairman because Mr. Tried-n-True couldn't come right away. I'm not sure why it mattered, since we weren't there anyway, but I guess it did.
What we didn't know is that Further has two A/C systems. Only one of them got worked on: the one in the salon. The system that cooled the two bedrooms was never touched. So, of course, it broke down after we had been sleeping on the boat for a couple of weeks. For a week, Tom and I and the dogs lived and slept in the salon - a room the size of our master bedroom back in the house in Peoria. The couch is L-shaped; I got the shorter part. It was okay - we lived through it because we knew that Mr. Tried and True had been called this time and that he was coming to rescue us.
When he came, the dogs and I left. When we came back, the A/C in the bedrooms was working. We slept in our bed for the first time in a week. Then we noticed that Further was getting hotter... We watched in disbelief as the breaker switched itself off repeatedly after we tried several solutions. Nothing worked. Tom and the electrician from the marina worked on it all afternoon, but there was no joy on Further. It was 4 pm on Friday. Mr. Tried and True was called again and persuaded to come work on the salon unit on his day off. Tom and the dogs and I headed to La Quinta.
We spent a blissfully cool night and Tom left at 8:30 am on Saturday to meet Mr. Tried and True at Further. I sat down at the computer to write this blog and spent the next hour playing Spider Solitaire. I took the dogs out for their second walk and sat down at the computer to write this blog. I watched the last half of a movie on TV with Jesse Eisenberg who was playing an Orthodox Jew who was a drug mule and peddler. I sat down at the computer to write this blog and Tom called. Still no joy on Further. I called La Quinta's front desk and told them we'd be staying another night. I sat down and, finally, started writing this blog.
Fifteen minutes later, Tom walked into the motel room and said they had been able to fix the A/C after all. We still spent the night at the La Quinta while waiting for Further to cool down. We're now preparing to go back to Further. We anticipate that she will be cool.
The end?
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Break Down In Junction, TX
6/15/2012
Break Down in Junction, Tx
That's my advice. We found a mechanic who seemed knowledgeable and honest, a comfortable motel room for a reasonable cost, and a restaurant with friendly service and good food. If you have to break down somewhere, I recommend Junction.
Daniel, my son, and I (and the rest of the family) knew that it was only a 50/50 chance that we'd make it to Orlando in the 1989 Toyota Camry we'd bought. But we loaded it to the gills and took off - just him and me. It was doing fine until we got into Texas, and then it started overheating. We stopped somewhere along the way around 4:00 am to let it cool down and got back on the road. In Fort Stockton, we stopped for breakfast and to let it cool down again. (I don't recommend breaking down in Fort Stockton. The only place we could find for breakfast was a Burger King.) We found that the car needed both oil and coolant; we filled both and continued on. By the time we hit the rest area just east of Junction, the Camry was overheating again. By now we knew that it would take a couple of hours for the car to cool down enough to get the lid off the radiator, so I spread a blanket under a live oak tree and prepared to take a short nap. Until I noticed that the puddle of liquid under the car was coolant, not the water it had been last time. I woke Dan up to take a look. I called Tom. I had Dan crawl under the car. We decided to go back to Junction and seek professional help. (By now I had been up for about 30 hours and was pretty sure I needed professional help of a couple of kinds.)
We decided to look for the mechanic. How do you find a trustworthy mechanic in a small town in Texas? (In any place, for that matter.) We stopped in at the NAPA store and asked. NAPA pointed us to Rite A Way and Randall Newton and his two assistants, Billy and Bob. We sat in his waiting chairs a long time that afternoon. And it was worth every minute. I knew we were in trouble when Bob brought in a bucket and had Randall sniff it. Randall shook his head. Then Bob sniffed it again and shook his head. Then they both went out to the shop. A few minutes later, Randall came in and sat in the chair next to me. "What have you all been putting in the radiator?" "50/50 coolant." "You put anything red in there?" "Nope, the 50/50 is green." Randall nodded like he thought we had good sense. "You didn't put anything red and stinky in there?" "No." "You had any work done on the car?" "Yes, we took it to the dealership for some work." "Huh." He got back up and went out to the shop again.
He came in a few minutes later. "Who messed up your timing belt?" "The dealership did, but they said they fixed it after we complained." "Huh." Out to the shop again.
The third time he came in to talk to us, he brought the thermostat housing in for us to see. One of the 3 ears had been knocked off the elbow piece. "How'd this happen?" We shrugged. The he showed us the corrosion hole in the threading of the other piece of the housing. "Looks like they tried to patch this up with black silicone." "From your tone of voice, I'm guessing that that's not the best way to fix that problem?" "Nah. We can probably get you a replacement piece tomorrow. But that's fine since the engine still isn't cool enough to get a good look at things... I'm happy to fix it for you, but it'll take a couple of days. I think you should consider junking it." "Dan has to be in Florida by Friday or we lose the apartment and the apartment deposit. Junk it." "I don't mind fixing it, I'm just not sure it's the best solution." "It's ok; junk it." "I called and I can get the part, but it'll take a couple of days." "No, we need to get moving. Junk it." "It still isn't cooled down; there might be other problems we haen't found yet." This went on for awhile. I finally convinced Randall that I was okay with junking the car, calling the rental car company in the next town over (that's another story), and getting back on the road.
Which we did the next day at about 5:30 pm. After breakfast in the very comfortable, clean and cheap motel called Legends; and after checking on the rental company and being assured they'd get us that morning; and after checking on the rental company and being assured they'd get us by 1:00; and after having lunch in Isaac's; and after checking on the rental company and being told it would be awhile bef... well you get the idea. Like I said - another story.
Later - Wilda Jeanne
"Is there a car rental place close?
Break Down in Junction, Tx
That's my advice. We found a mechanic who seemed knowledgeable and honest, a comfortable motel room for a reasonable cost, and a restaurant with friendly service and good food. If you have to break down somewhere, I recommend Junction.
Daniel, my son, and I (and the rest of the family) knew that it was only a 50/50 chance that we'd make it to Orlando in the 1989 Toyota Camry we'd bought. But we loaded it to the gills and took off - just him and me. It was doing fine until we got into Texas, and then it started overheating. We stopped somewhere along the way around 4:00 am to let it cool down and got back on the road. In Fort Stockton, we stopped for breakfast and to let it cool down again. (I don't recommend breaking down in Fort Stockton. The only place we could find for breakfast was a Burger King.) We found that the car needed both oil and coolant; we filled both and continued on. By the time we hit the rest area just east of Junction, the Camry was overheating again. By now we knew that it would take a couple of hours for the car to cool down enough to get the lid off the radiator, so I spread a blanket under a live oak tree and prepared to take a short nap. Until I noticed that the puddle of liquid under the car was coolant, not the water it had been last time. I woke Dan up to take a look. I called Tom. I had Dan crawl under the car. We decided to go back to Junction and seek professional help. (By now I had been up for about 30 hours and was pretty sure I needed professional help of a couple of kinds.)
We decided to look for the mechanic. How do you find a trustworthy mechanic in a small town in Texas? (In any place, for that matter.) We stopped in at the NAPA store and asked. NAPA pointed us to Rite A Way and Randall Newton and his two assistants, Billy and Bob. We sat in his waiting chairs a long time that afternoon. And it was worth every minute. I knew we were in trouble when Bob brought in a bucket and had Randall sniff it. Randall shook his head. Then Bob sniffed it again and shook his head. Then they both went out to the shop. A few minutes later, Randall came in and sat in the chair next to me. "What have you all been putting in the radiator?" "50/50 coolant." "You put anything red in there?" "Nope, the 50/50 is green." Randall nodded like he thought we had good sense. "You didn't put anything red and stinky in there?" "No." "You had any work done on the car?" "Yes, we took it to the dealership for some work." "Huh." He got back up and went out to the shop again.
He came in a few minutes later. "Who messed up your timing belt?" "The dealership did, but they said they fixed it after we complained." "Huh." Out to the shop again.
The third time he came in to talk to us, he brought the thermostat housing in for us to see. One of the 3 ears had been knocked off the elbow piece. "How'd this happen?" We shrugged. The he showed us the corrosion hole in the threading of the other piece of the housing. "Looks like they tried to patch this up with black silicone." "From your tone of voice, I'm guessing that that's not the best way to fix that problem?" "Nah. We can probably get you a replacement piece tomorrow. But that's fine since the engine still isn't cool enough to get a good look at things... I'm happy to fix it for you, but it'll take a couple of days. I think you should consider junking it." "Dan has to be in Florida by Friday or we lose the apartment and the apartment deposit. Junk it." "I don't mind fixing it, I'm just not sure it's the best solution." "It's ok; junk it." "I called and I can get the part, but it'll take a couple of days." "No, we need to get moving. Junk it." "It still isn't cooled down; there might be other problems we haen't found yet." This went on for awhile. I finally convinced Randall that I was okay with junking the car, calling the rental car company in the next town over (that's another story), and getting back on the road.
Which we did the next day at about 5:30 pm. After breakfast in the very comfortable, clean and cheap motel called Legends; and after checking on the rental company and being assured they'd get us that morning; and after checking on the rental company and being assured they'd get us by 1:00; and after having lunch in Isaac's; and after checking on the rental company and being told it would be awhile bef... well you get the idea. Like I said - another story.
Later - Wilda Jeanne
"Is there a car rental place close?
Thursday, May 17, 2012
May 15, 2012
So, I've been thinking of writing for a long time now - probably since I was 6. That's almost 50 years. Of course, I've written over the years: I'm good at academic/bureaucratic styles and topics. I've written so much, in fact, that I don't
Now I, like a lot of other people my age, am looking at retiring from the work I've done for the last 30 years, and am taking a new path:
wilda jeanne
(generally) take it personally when suggests edits to what I've written. But I never actually took the time to write for myself about what I was interested in.
Now I, like a lot of other people my age, am looking at retiring from the work I've done for the last 30 years, and am taking a new path:
- We're preparing an old (1970) and very loved but used 42' Grand Banks Trawler, which we've named 'Further,' to be our traveling residence.
- We're giving the gift of independence to our three children.
- We're selling our home and making decisions about 'stuff.'
- We're saying, "See you around," to our friends and relations.
- We're preparing to go further.
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