The week the bug breaks down (see Nuts &Bolts post), I have to get the house all packed up to move. We did move quite a bit of stuff out of the house when we were getting it ready to sell, to de-personalize it and make it look more put together, and Hubby took most of his stuff to Des Moines, but there was still a lot to do. We borrowed a trailer from a friend/the church & getting it loaded & pulled to Des Moines & unloaded all went smoothly. It was on the way back from DM that we had problems.
My sister-in-law ran the DM half marathon in DM on sunday morning, so my brother pulled the trailer for me to & from DM. On the way home, about 30 miles from DM, brother-B exits to get fuel, and notices that the fender on the passenger side of the trailer is missing. We get out & look and one tire had lost most of it's rubber, and the other tire (on the same side) looked like it was about to start.
It was about 6:30 on a sunday night so all the tire shops are closed, and the town we stopped to get fuel at is tiny. Brother-b starts making phone calls to try & figure out how to get the tires fixed. I'm in the truck with my niece & nephew (5&3) who woke up when we stopped. They've had a busy weekend and are bored & cranky, not a good combination. And their mom ran a half marathon earlier, so she was tired too.
BrotherB's dad saves the day this time. He pulled trailer tires off of a trailer sitting at his house & brings them out to us, and Brother-B gets the tires switched out. The amazing this is brother-b's dad found the fender from the trailer on the side of the interstate & was able to stop & get it. It's not in the best of shape, but since brother-b likes to weld & all that fun stuff, he might be able to straighten it out. It's now about 8:30 & we're on the road again. Yay! This is why it's no fun to borrow things.
I feel very fortunate that brother-b & family were all very gracious about what happened. It's not like it was my fault the trailer tires went out, but all things considered, they were very patient with fixing it.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Nuts & Bolts
Background
Just had the timing belt replaced on car last Friday. I learned to drive a stick shift in the last month or so. I haven't actually been practicing for the last month though, because hubby was driving the Bug, so I'm still nervous/not comfortable yet driving the Bug.
So I'm driving to work on Monday, and I'm the first person stopped at the stop light. The light turns green & I attempt to go (I still have issues with first gear)- I mess up the clutch/gas timing, and the car jerks, sputters, and dies. I start it again & start to let off the clutch. The car makes this awful grinding clunky noise, and I am completely freaked out- I am now in the middle of the darn intersection, people behind me are impatient, the car won't move (I tried all the gears-nothing) & now the light for cross traffic is green.
After sitting in the middle of the intersection for a few minutes, a lady approaches & offers to help me push the car into a nearby parking lot. That goes smoothly as other drivers are gracious & let us switch lanes without hassle- and truly, people were pretty nice throughout the whole incident; I don't even think I got honked at.
I call hubby, who's in dm, to ask him to call brother-N while I find the number for work to let them know I'll be late. I'm supposed to be taking three tests at 8:30am, and it's 8:00 & I have no clue when I'll be there. I then talk to brother-N & he thinks he knows what the problem. We either have to get the car on a trailer or have it towed. I decide on the trailer option as it is less expensive. Only issue is the trailer is further away & brother-N needs to get his pickup to pull it, so it will take a while for him to get things together. I then enlist dad to help get the bug on the trailer. He shows up soon, then brother-N, & we commence loading.
It seems like it should be fairly simple. The bug is little & not too heavy for a couple people to push. It looks like it will go on without a hitch. Oh no, that's just not how this day was going. We checked clearance to ensure we wouldn't break anything (rolled car slowly up to trailer), then backed up & got a running start. Turns out it didn't clear- we were looking at the driver's side when we checked; the plastic piece that holds the running lights broke on the passenger side. It's always something.
So we get everything loaded & it's now ten o'clock, ten thirty before I get to work, and I still have three tests to take! What an exciting morning :)
Just had the timing belt replaced on car last Friday. I learned to drive a stick shift in the last month or so. I haven't actually been practicing for the last month though, because hubby was driving the Bug, so I'm still nervous/not comfortable yet driving the Bug.
So I'm driving to work on Monday, and I'm the first person stopped at the stop light. The light turns green & I attempt to go (I still have issues with first gear)- I mess up the clutch/gas timing, and the car jerks, sputters, and dies. I start it again & start to let off the clutch. The car makes this awful grinding clunky noise, and I am completely freaked out- I am now in the middle of the darn intersection, people behind me are impatient, the car won't move (I tried all the gears-nothing) & now the light for cross traffic is green.
After sitting in the middle of the intersection for a few minutes, a lady approaches & offers to help me push the car into a nearby parking lot. That goes smoothly as other drivers are gracious & let us switch lanes without hassle- and truly, people were pretty nice throughout the whole incident; I don't even think I got honked at.
I call hubby, who's in dm, to ask him to call brother-N while I find the number for work to let them know I'll be late. I'm supposed to be taking three tests at 8:30am, and it's 8:00 & I have no clue when I'll be there. I then talk to brother-N & he thinks he knows what the problem. We either have to get the car on a trailer or have it towed. I decide on the trailer option as it is less expensive. Only issue is the trailer is further away & brother-N needs to get his pickup to pull it, so it will take a while for him to get things together. I then enlist dad to help get the bug on the trailer. He shows up soon, then brother-N, & we commence loading.
It seems like it should be fairly simple. The bug is little & not too heavy for a couple people to push. It looks like it will go on without a hitch. Oh no, that's just not how this day was going. We checked clearance to ensure we wouldn't break anything (rolled car slowly up to trailer), then backed up & got a running start. Turns out it didn't clear- we were looking at the driver's side when we checked; the plastic piece that holds the running lights broke on the passenger side. It's always something.
So we get everything loaded & it's now ten o'clock, ten thirty before I get to work, and I still have three tests to take! What an exciting morning :)
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Administrative
It may seem strange that the events being posted about happened a couple weeks before the post goes up, but I want to catch up on the adventures that inspired the beginning of this blog!
~Melissa~
~Melissa~
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Oops. Blond moment
This incident happened on a Friday (October 7th, to be exact). The Bug (2001 VW Beetle) needed a new timing belt, which is an ordinary maintenence item every 100,00 miles.
So I'm taking the car to the maintenance shop, owner Keith says he's usually there between 7:30 & 8:00 am. I arrive at 7:50, see an open garage bay with a man working on a car, walk up to him, and say hi. He asks me why I'm there, then says the boss man isn't in yet, so I give him my keys, name & number, & then dad takes me home to borrow a truck for work. All appears to be well- car's at the shop, I'm at work on time.
Fast forward to 8:20. I get a call from the shop & Keith asks me where I left the keys- I tell him I left them with the man at the shop. Keith then says, "I think your car's been stolen, I'll call you right back", and hangs up on me! He calls back saying that I gave my keys to the wrong person; apparently, there are two repair shops right next to each other, and the guy I gave my keys to works at the other one & won't give my keys to Keith.
This was supposed to be simple. Ugghh. So I tell Keith to have the other guy call me. Other guy calls, and after a pain in the butt conversation, finally agrees to put the keys back in the car (will NOT hand them to Keith). I just wanted the darn car fixed!
And that was Friday's adventure. Stay tuned for the next in the series!
So I'm taking the car to the maintenance shop, owner Keith says he's usually there between 7:30 & 8:00 am. I arrive at 7:50, see an open garage bay with a man working on a car, walk up to him, and say hi. He asks me why I'm there, then says the boss man isn't in yet, so I give him my keys, name & number, & then dad takes me home to borrow a truck for work. All appears to be well- car's at the shop, I'm at work on time.
Fast forward to 8:20. I get a call from the shop & Keith asks me where I left the keys- I tell him I left them with the man at the shop. Keith then says, "I think your car's been stolen, I'll call you right back", and hangs up on me! He calls back saying that I gave my keys to the wrong person; apparently, there are two repair shops right next to each other, and the guy I gave my keys to works at the other one & won't give my keys to Keith.
This was supposed to be simple. Ugghh. So I tell Keith to have the other guy call me. Other guy calls, and after a pain in the butt conversation, finally agrees to put the keys back in the car (will NOT hand them to Keith). I just wanted the darn car fixed!
And that was Friday's adventure. Stay tuned for the next in the series!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Welcome
Hi!
I'm starting this blog to chronicle my adventures. Being 25, married, with a steady job, life was fairly predictable. Busy, but I had a schedule & things hummed along pretty smoothly.
Then, hubby was accepted into physical therapy school in another state & the chaos started. Had to hurry to get the house ready to sell, line up new housing, and get hubby moved. Hubby moved to new state in August, right before school started. Due to my job & retirement vesting timeframe, I stayed here. I stayed in our house until it was under contract (if everything goes well, it will close on October 27th, yay!). So this blog will chronicle some of the adventures I've had since hubby moved.
~Melissa~
I'm starting this blog to chronicle my adventures. Being 25, married, with a steady job, life was fairly predictable. Busy, but I had a schedule & things hummed along pretty smoothly.
Then, hubby was accepted into physical therapy school in another state & the chaos started. Had to hurry to get the house ready to sell, line up new housing, and get hubby moved. Hubby moved to new state in August, right before school started. Due to my job & retirement vesting timeframe, I stayed here. I stayed in our house until it was under contract (if everything goes well, it will close on October 27th, yay!). So this blog will chronicle some of the adventures I've had since hubby moved.
~Melissa~
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