6

So did you hear the one about the dad who gave the boys directions to their buddy's house that took them in the opposite direction and made them loop de loop around about 10 miles? Well, that's another story but suffice it to say that if they hadn't done all that driving around the car would have made it all the way home and not died on the way back.

The boys decided to stop and pick up their dinner on the way home which worked out well for the parents who were ordering Chinese. As they sat around chatting and finishing their Honey Chicken the phone rings. If you are a parent of a driving age child you understand that means stop what you are doing until you know the call is meaningless. When you hear 'Where are you?' and 'I'll be right there.' you want to scream at the parent on the phone WTF HAPPENED WHY ARE YOU TELEPATHICALLY TELLING ME AND INSTANTANEOUSLY RESOLVING IT AT THE SAME TIME but you remain calm (read: stuck to your chair) and wait for the end of the call to quickly ask what happened. You are calmly told that the car died on the way home not too far away and that it won't start. Of course, you have more questions and want to jump in the car to their rescue your lack of mechanical knowledge notwithstanding and yet you let the men go with jumper cables in hand to fetch the car and boys because honestly how many people does it take to jump a car. This should be relatively simple and straightforward.

While they are gone the moms exchange their questions and thoughts on what may or may not have happened and may happen and decide to pick up the dinner things silently (because to say it out loud would be inviting disaster) agreeing that they need to be ready for whatever may come. So they pick up, they clean up and they sit and they chat about the day sprinkling the conversation with do you think the started the car and neither one answering or suggesting they call to check on things.

We hear car doors and men's voices and they all 4 walk through the front door the children still eating the remnants of their dinner. They need to call the car service (you know the one, first letter of the alphabet 3 times) because they left the car in the parking lot of a nearby strip shopping center. The women don't grasp all of the details because they are being told out of order but we garner that the car was moved to this new location and now it can't stay there overnight (obviously). The women need to get up and go resolve this now and the men need to relax and watch more football for a bit. More questions get asked and a new plan is hatched to save time and $. Instead of getting it towed home to then tow it again to a shop tomorrow lets get it here tonight ourselves and then tow it tomorrow. Honestly, at that point I was still unclear as to why the car didn't make it all the way when they went out but I didn't push the issue. It is what it is and now we need to deal with it.

(Picture light bulb now) Hubby remembers that he has a rope that can be used to pull the car and as he goes to find it I come to understand that hubby had to push the car with the truck to get it to where it was. I'm still confused but whatever. Now to get it out of the parking lot and to my house the women are clear that a left turn needs to be made on a busy street and are concerned that oncoming traffic may not realize that the car is being pulled and well it wouldn't' be a happy ending. So, it is decided that we will go with them to help. Hubby starts joking, "How many Cubans does it take to push a car?" As I am getting my purse, I am yelling back we are pulling not pushing. I'm thinking maybe that's why the car isn't here they don't know if they are pushing or pulling. (See title for answer)

Here's the plan: Hubby in the truck will be in front pulling the car being driven by other dad. I will drive our car behind the car with my flashers on because the car's flashers probably don't work as the battery is dead. Other mom will have flashlights and stand in the road waving them a la landing an airplane so that oncoming traffic will see the left turning caravan and stop. The children will be in the car with me and are going merely for the educational value of the experience.

Once we get to the parking lot it takes a while to get the car hooked up but it is done. As we begin to execute our plan another flashlight is added so other mom now has two and the boys are concerned about how she's going to get into my car and change their seating so she can get in the back seat without having to walk around the car. They also suggest everyone roll down their windows so we can hear each other yelling. You see how much they are learning.

We wait for the light to change, other mom is flashing the lights in the road, hubby slowly pulls the car up, out and left as I go slowly behind explaining to the boys that enough room needs to be between us so that if the rope snaps there are no injuries. Other mom hops in the back seat and we get through the intersection and home with no more surprises. As we are undoing all the ropes and parking cars and trucks, they can't get the keys out of the cars ignition because its not in park. It's in neutral and since it has no battery they can't change gears. So, after the men had washed up they are told they have to move the truck and jump the car again to get the keys out. Oh for the love of ^&%^*$. Whatever, it's done and we all sit and have some soda and let the men watch the end of their game. The teens joke that something stronger is needed that a soda and I tell them to sit an d put their feet up for a few years and wait for that one.

We chalk it up to a learning experience and give the boys some tips for future reference because these things will happen and the next day the car is towed to the shop for a new alternator and battery. It could have been worse but nevertheless gimme patience. :)

Kiss the ground

Saturday we went to hubby's aunt's house to see the MIL and give her the bday present we forgot to take to the Keys. 15 drove. He drove with all 4 of us in the car. for the first time. all 4 of us.

18 and I were sitting in the back. I try to just sit there and breath and tend to close my eyes. Hubby was instructing (read: quietly watching) shot gun. 18 says he doesn't want to do that again! He says now he understands how I was in the car with him. Mind you 15 is doing fine. But when you are in the car with a new driver you feel very out of control and you don't have the sense that they will stop when and how you want them too or that they know when and how to use the gas and brake pedal like you do. It can be very unnerving to say the least. When we got out of the car at aunt's house. 18 made a production of getting out of the car and throwing himself to the ground and kissing it. 15 just rolled his eyes and laughed saying "you're not home yet!". 18 got up put his arm around 15 and told him he did fine, he just doesn't want to test his heart that way again. They laughed there way into the house. It was nice to watch. Then 18 put his arm around me and said "I don't know how you did it for me and now you are doing it again. It must be hard." I told him it's the hardest thing you do as a parent; handing you kid the keys to the car and letting them go out into that crazy world. Yes, I am doing it again. What choice do we have? It must be done. Gimme patience.

On the Road...

We are driving to Sebastian, FL on Saturday. I have never been there. We are going for a track meet. It's a 2 1/2 hour drive. 18's first race is at 9:30am. Lovely, I know. You realize the race lasts less than 10 minutes. You do the math. Anyway, moving on.

I have been thinking of what to do in the car on the drive up and back and during the incredible amount of down time that there will be all day. I mean yes, I will watch and root for the other racers form our school but let's face it I am going to be there ALL day.

I'm taking a book to read and I was thinking of taking a new project (since I haven't finished any others why not start a new one?) I think I'm going to make some baby things for a couple of friends who's daughter's are pregnant. I could embroider a bib or crochet a border on a 'pañal' Cuban-style baby blanket. Either of those projects are portable and can actually get done in a day if you work on it. Hmmm... I may actually already own most of these supplies. I'll have to check tonight. Because if I don't I can hit the craft store on my lunch hour tomorrow. Exciting a new project! I'll let you know if it happens and how far I get. I need to start taking pictures of this stuff and learning how to post them. But that would be another project. ;)

Still no light...

I'm ready to trade in the car. Fine. I won't. Really, it's only a light but it has caused a lot of unrest.

Originally, I went and bought the light bulb to change it. Then bulbs because we thought it might be all three that are in the unit. Then I was told it wasn't the bulbs but the unit that we are plugging it into. (Enter dad, with $50 part) 17 and I took it all apart and undid and redid and undid again and swapped out bulbs and redid, still no turn signal! We had break lights but no turn signal. Apparently, the break light part was the bulb!

Now, we (son & I) aren't geniuses but we are relatively intelligent people so we take it all apart again and start fiddling here and there. Studying this and that. Compare our to the junk yard one. AHA! The actual connector piece that plugs this thing into the car looks faulty. It has a number of little plugs in it and two of them look -dirty/rusty/blown out- (insert what you think may be appropriate there according to your level of expertise). Clearly, this is beyond us and this connector is actually wired into the car. We have resigned ourselves to the fact that we are going to have to take it to a dealer.

So, today's mission, find a dealer with hours that we can handle and get an appt. to fix the car turn signal.

Evidently, there is proof that 17 is my child, I can't deny him. As we closed the trunk of the car he said, "Of course, it would always be easier to buy a new car!" LOL! Gimme Patience.

Car light

It seems that I have an electrical field around me that does something to car lights. I've had a number of cars over the years and they have all had light issues of some sort.

One car the light that lit up all the stuff on the dashboard kept going out. I fixed it once then learned to live without it at $95 a pop. Later a van lost it's inside overhead light and I promise you that I kept going back my local auto parts to buy the bulb and they were always 'just out'. This lasted forever, to the point that there was a flashlight in the car to read maps and things at night.

My current car, a Pontiac Grand Am, which we bought to give to 17 eventually, I have already changed the bulb on the 2 front lights and now the back light went out. So, I'm a pro at this by now, I'll just change the bulb. HA! that would have been easy. It wasn't the bulb. So, when I took it for the oil change a few weeks ago at my local Goodyear, I have them check it. He said it was the entire electrical panel for the rear light. The part has to ordered from the dealer directly. He's said it would cost a pretty penny, so he actually showed me (I can use a screwdriver!) how to change it to save some $$. Nice! Have you ever met a mechanic who did that! I love those guys!

So, did YOU order the part? Hubby said he'd take care of it since he's out and about driving most of the day. Well, 17 got a ticket over the weekend for , you guessed it, no rear light. I haven't asked how much the ticket was because I don't want to know. So, I call a dealer, they will charge me $330 to change it! When I tell him no, I only want the part, it's $180! - for a light! So, I call my dad, who finagles things. I give him the VIN # and yesterday he shows up with an entire light, electrical panel and outer parts for $50. He found it at a junk yard. Way to go DAD! So, tonight's adventure, to change the light on the car because 17 has a formal dance tomorrow and it would be uncool to get pulled over again with a date all dressed up for the dance.
Wish me luck!