Monday, Monday...

It was a beautiful fall morning here in Redford Monday morning. I had left the bedroom window cracked open again so the house was a little chilly for an old nude guy, so, for the first time in a long time I used a throw blanket on my legs (I had put my bathrobe on by that time) to fill in the Blog.

I went to work and everything went okay until lunchtime, when I went to the Credit Union to get out the money for the car repairs. I was really glad I had it (the last time with the turbo problems, I had to charge it and pay interest until I finally got it paid off). But, it still hurt!

I went to deposit it in my bank near the Credit Union and found that branch had been closed! I stopped at Jimmy John’s and got, yes, another turkey sandwich (#4 with cheese) then I debated on driving to my bank on Plymouth Road. But I only had 20 minutes left, so I went back to work instead.

After I ate lunch, I called the dealership to see how the repairs were coming and they transferred me to the service manager. Unfortunately, he said he had just left a message on my home phone (I told them to call my cell, dammit). It seems as they were tearing it apart, they noticed the water pump was bad (now, I can believe that as, if you remember, it was pumping coolant and engine oil a few years ago when the turbo charger went). But they also found the tensioner for the serpentine belt was sticking.

Good God!

So, in addition to the $3K I’m already on the hook for, I’ll need another $290 for the water pump and $269 for the serpentine belt tensioner. They said I was lucky (oh, yeah, I felt freakin’ lucky) because since they have to tear it all apart anyway, I will only have to pay for the parts, not any extra labor.

I thought about it for a long, LONG minute and told them to go ahead. But, based on B___’s rant yesterday (about it not being worth fixing) I did check the Kelly Blue Book Value. And, if I sold it myself, in “good condition” (which I believe is a fair assessment) it’s worth about $4K. So, while I am not happy, I don’t think I’m p*ssing the money away. And, I really do need it to last two more years.

I stopped on my way home to deposit the money in my checking account and found the ATM was broke (this is just not my day!). I noticed there were still people in the bank so I swung around into a teller lane and pushed the “Call” button. The lady firmly told me, “We are closed, sir.” I replied, “I know that, I just wanted somebody to know the ATM isn’t working.” Then she smiled and said, “Thanks! We know that and the repairman has been called.” I drove home.

It was still cool out, so I treated the cats and just changed my shoes. I rolled the garbage can out to the road. Then I took the watering can with the sprinkler head and watered all the areas that I put grass seed down out front (it’s already sprouted next to the arborvitae). I used it to water the mailbox garden as well. I works great!

I went out back with the other watering can and did the window box. Then I used the hose to water all the new grass alongside the garden edging I put in. Finally, I took off the nozzle and stuck the hose in the reflecting pool (both to clean it and water the Japanese maple). I turned the water on 1/4 turn and went in the house. I set the timer for an hour and watched the rest of the evening news.

When the timer went off, I shut off the water and reeled in the hose.

Back inside, I warmed up a dish of that spaghetti and meatballs for my dinner. It was still tasty! I watched TV until I started to doze, and then I went to bed.