So far, anyway.
On the first, I had a followup appointment for Autumn. Brian had a doctor's appointment. We have on reliable vehicle, my car. The truck has had problems for a couple of years now. He just never had the time, energy or inclination to figure out exactly what the problems are. He'd get a new part, then just leave it in the truck until he felt like doing something with it. But the truck was NOT reliable. It ran rough and it stalled out. I didn't want to drive it at all.
So, the weekend Autumn showed signs of bad health, he finally changed out the most recent part he'd gotten. (He didn't know where it went, he searched the internet and came upon a thread on a Ford forum. He came in to tell me what they were talking about and I asked about where the part went. "I dunno, I haven't come across it yet." So, I did a search, came across the very same forum, the very same thread and the answer was one of the first answers. Grrr....) I told him where it was located and he changed it within ten minutes.
Wednesday night, he started up the truck and it wouldn't. He figured it needed a new battery, so he went around town looking for the cheapest one. He found it at Home Depot, of all places. Installed it. At this point, he hadn't test driven it.He waited until Thursday morning. Yeah, you got it. It still didn't run right. Anytime he took his foot off of the gas, it stalled out. He had to take the car. He comes back inside "you'll have to change Autumn's appointment". I was able to do this, but with a different doctor. He left and I did some light housework, then took a shower. At 10:30 he got home. My original appointment was at 10:45. I could have made it.
I came unglued. I shouted. I swore. I told him I didn't care how he did it, but I wanted that effing truck fixed. I was tired of sitting here without transportation when he did his running around, when he drove up to the L.A. area to pick up cylinders, when he hauled his mother around for her doctor appointments or pharmacy runs. We have a houseful of aging cats and I was tired of worrying that something awful would happen while he was gone, something that couldn't be put off (thinking back to Captain who couldn't breathe - every breath was hard for him and I didn't want to watch a gasping cat die because I didn't have a way to get to the vet). I told him we'd put it on a credit card if we had to. But it needed to be done. He tried to defend himself, tried making excuses but I was having none of it. The lack of a second vehicle hasn't affected him in the least, I'm the one who's had to sit here, waiting, waiting, waiting.
Then I quit talking to him. Until Friday morning. And he had called a mechanic, one with a fenced yard for vehicles that had to be kept overnight. They were open Friday and Saturday. He took the truck down and called when everything was set up. I went to get him and then we waited.
The battery drain was most likely a short in the alternator. The stalling out was probably the pressure regulator. They both needed to be replaced. Friday night, the total was at just under a thousand dollars for repairs. That hurt (August and September were incredibly slow for orders, for two months now the house payment has been made from the overdraft, which is paid off as soon as money comes in), but it was cheaper than a new vehicle. Then, it needed to be smogged. Saturday morning, bad news. It didn't pass. The catalytic converters were shot. Most likely because of the bad pressure regulator (something he could have fixed by himself had he really looked into the problem instead of putting it off). So, the total price to fix was $2100.00 - that hurt more. But we need the second vehicle and this was cheaper than buying one. When he was telling me the price, he started in about having the air conditioning fixed and I just gave him the most withering look I could come up with and told him "use the wing windows". Another two or three hundred dollars to fix something that wasn't necessary just screamed "I still don't understand"....Anyway, we picked up the truck Wednesday. It was ready Tuesday, but I wasn't.
I wasn't ready because Monday morning, around 4:30, I woke up with bad stomach cramps. I spent the next couple of days with some sort of nasty stomach bug. No fever at all. I did throw up Monday night. Premium chocolate ice cream is not nearly as good the second time. I wasn't drinking enough water, all I wanted to do was sleep. I've always heard the best thing do in this situation is not take anything and let the bug get flushed out naturally but late Wednesday morning, I'd had enough. I took a couple of anti-diarrheal pills. They helped a lot. Yesterday, I felt the affects from not drinking enough and the back of my legs were cramping, badly. Brian went to the store and got some Gatorade or something similar for the electrolytes. Today, I'm feeling more human.
Except our temps are supposed to be over 100 today. I'm so over this heat.
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