You want to talk about bank account being hurt? Read on.
On Sunday evening on the drive home from mass, the Low Tire Pressure warning notification came on. Since it was close to 7:30, it was dark and so I wasn’t about to go to Belle Tire to put some air in. On Monday morning I walked to work then home. It was the annual Employee Health Fair so first I drove to Belle Tire and was very disapointed to find an Out Of Order sign on the self serve air. I called my supervisor who had taken a work truck to get air earlier that morning and he said that he went to two Belle Tire stores and both were Out Of Order on self serve air. So, I continued on to the Employee Health Fair. I was able to speak with the gent who has been in charge of the Department’s fleet and he gave me several suggestions, one of which was to wait over 2 hrs and he would take care of it for me (but I didn’t have that kind of time) another was to drive to a gas station in the opposite direction and the third was to ask Belle Tire if they would use the in the building hose to put air in. So, I called Belle Tire to ask if that was a possibility and it was. When I got there, the service desk rep told me what door to pull around to and he came and checked the air pressure in the tires then put about 1 or 2 pounds in 3 of the tires but the fourth tire needed 16#. He looked at it and said that he thought there likely was a nail in the tire. He said they could fix it but it would be 45 minutes before it could get looked at. I was beat so said I would come back as soon as they opened today which was purportedly at 8am. As I pulled up at 8am, I saw several other vehicles in the lot and thought, oh brother. Went in and the young fellow told me it would be about a half hour before they could work on it. I had no choice but to wait. At one point young guy (who probably isn’t that young but I graduated with his uncle; you’ve heard of 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon, well in my community it’s more like 3 degrees that you have some kind of affiliation with pretty much everybody in town), came over and said that they noticed there was an issue with the steering wheel so looked and said two tie rods needed to be replaced for $447.44. Oh that also included a four wheel alightment and alignment protection plan 1 year of unlimited coverage. I said I’d think about it. Then when young guy brought my keys to me and said there had been a bolt in the tire, he also brought another estimate. This one to do the brakes; rear brakes $465.05 and front brakes $457.78. Yikes.
Well Hubs has a buddy who owns a muffler, brakes, etc shop so I called him and asked him if he could do tie rods and he said yes so I drove over there. It’s about 7 miles away on the other side of town but I know that he would take care of me and my car like it was his wife’s or daughter’s. So, his brother drove it to check that out (they own the shop together; it was initially their Dad’s), then up on the lift it went. In the meantime I went across the street to the middle eastern pastry shop and Hub’s buddy mentioned that their croissants were excellent. So, I asked for a croissant and was asked what kind. What kind of croissant??? I didn’t know there were kinds; well they have cheese, thyme and chocolate so I went with cheese. Oh my goodness, it was so darn good. I sat there eating it and reading my book a bit then figured I’d better get back to see if a diagnosis and estimate had been arrived at.
Hubs buddy took me over to the car and showed me the tie rods and a boot over the rack (rack and pinion, I’ve heard of). He said he wouldn’t know unless he took the boot off and did I want him to do that. I think he was asking because all I had mentioned was the tie rods because that’s all Belle Tire told me about. Then he showed me the brake systems. He said the front were ok and didn’t need to be replaced at this time; he said if it was his wife’s car, he wouldn’t replace them yet. But the rear brakes are 90% bad so he recommended doing them in the very near future. So, I told him to take the boot off the rack and find out what the situation was. When he did, he said the rack was shot. He showed it to me and how it was wiggly, two of the mechanics came over and were mentioning TMI about the rack, my Dad and brother, who both worked for Ford, likely would have understood what they were saying. This knowledge was at 6’ and I’m just 5’7". Anyway, they had to call to find out how much a new rack was going to cost. So, I went to the waiting area and read some more of my book. Finally, Hubs buddy came in and handed me a little slip of paper with grease or maybe oil around the edges with an estimate. The rack is $2,500, labor $350, programming $150, Uncle Sam’s share $100+ and maybe there was something else but the total to replace the bad rack was $3+k and then the replacement of the rear brakes was about $330.
So, the upshot is I just went to Belle Tire to put free air in my tires and I’m going to end up paying over $3,300 to get the car in better shape.
I haven’t been around since August 27, the day we were supposed to go to the lakehouse I’d reserved, if memory serves. A lot has been going on and I just haven’t had time to read any of the MMPs. That is, until Friday when I started reading last week’s MMP but I barely got through 1/3 of the posts.
So, I wanted to extend greetings to all, Yays, Boos, Hugs, Noogies, Congrats, Condolences to everyone who needs one of these greetings. I’ve missed you all and have enjoyed the turns of phrase and smiles I’ve had reading some of last week’s MMP and up to post 49 of this week.
Will try to give some updates later. I’ll just say that the good news is Hubs sister called while we were at the lakehouse and said the Transplant Doctor’s assistant called and said that she is close to a complete match to Hubs so she is going to be the Bone Marrow (Stem Cell) donor.
It’s a small world after all… 
It’s been pretty sore for a while. I eat a lot of popcorn, so at first I thought I’d just gotten something stuck, but I’ve brushed and flossed and it’s been at least a week and it still hurts so now I think maybe I hurt myself. There’s no blood when I brush, but I swear I wake up with a slight coppery taste in my mouth. And I’ve had some nasal congestion for a couple of days, which isn’t like me, so I wonder if maybe it’s related to the tooth/mouth issue. And, yesterday I think I scraped part of the gums above one of my back teeth (same side of the mouth). Both things are so far back that there’s no way for me to see them myself, despite repeated attempts with a lighted magnifying mirror. And, of course, I can’t seem to stop poking those areas with my tongue…which only results in “yep, still hurts!” 
I’m taking Tylenol a couple times a day. I’ll see how tomorrow goes: not only is my property manager’s brother coming in the morning, but the cleaners are also scheduled to show up sometime. Once everyone is done and out of my house, I’ll call the dentist and see what appointments they have this week.
