How Was Your Summer, Part 2

In my new-to-me Jeep Compass, I drove away from my old Jeep, full of excitement and happiness. I could afford this car. This was going to be okay. I was stressed; it had been a horrible day; but people had been kind and helpful and it was all going to work out in the end.

There was a 3:30 inspection to perform in the same area as the morning inspections. The road on which these inspections occurred was being rebuilt. Beyond this last house, it was impassible unless you were on an ATV, because they were widening it and that involved some blasting of the rock face of the hill. It was quite the mess. Before this area, the road was being resurfaced, with new guard rails and signage. It was, in places, single lane.

Since I'd driven this the day before, I knew where they were, in terms of resurfacing. I knew where the two-lanes went down to one. I fell in behind a tree service pulling a trailer. From the dealership, it would be a 5 mile twisty-turny drive to my 3:30 appointment. I would be getting there a bit early, but we are trained to be early to a job, never late, if we can help it. The homeowner had said to just park in the drive if I got there before 3. I had a book. I was good.

We came to a "y" intersection. One road went to the left, up a hill. The road I needed to travel went straight. Up ahead, there was a small bridge and the resurfacing had reached just beyond the bridge. There was a small incline down toward the bridge and there was a flagger. To my right, a guy was on a roller, compressing the asphalt. The truck in front of me stopped. I stopped a car's length behind him. I knew we might have as much as a 5 minute wait, but I was good. I had a book.

Suddenly, the truck in front of me started backing up. I laid on the horn. The gal flagging the road to the left, threw down her sign and started screaming. The guy operating the roller, stopped and started yelling. There was impact.

The trailer was just the right height to go into the headlight and crunch up the hood.

The motor died immediately. The hood folded like a piece of paper. I thought, for sure, the guy was going to keep backing into me, but he stopped after 10 seconds. The guy on the roller yelled at the gal to call someone's name and tell them to close the road and get the sheriff out here. She came running down the incline to ask if I was okay. I was so shocked. I got out of the car, as she radioed back to whomever was the job site superintendent. The driver of the truck got out and walked back towards me. I opened the door and slowly got out.

"I am so, so sorry. I didn't see you back there."

The guy from the roller looked at him. "What the fuck were you thinking? How the hell can you drive down a road under construction, pulling a goddamn trailer and not know who the fuck is behind you? You are either the biggest asshole on this planet or the stupidest. I don't know which." (I can hear his voice in my head as I type this. I'll probably never, ever forget how loudly he screamed.)

The driver was a mid 20-something who had a friend or maybe co-worker with him. He looked remorseful. "I take full responsibility for this. This is completely my fault." I just stood there and looked at him. "Where can I call the sheriff? My phone isn't picking up a signal." The gal pointed up the left road. "You'll have to walk up that way to get a signal." He and his buddy headed that way.

"Are you sure you're okay? You look shocked."

"I am in shock. I just bought this car. I have to take paperwork to my bank to get the loan fully signed. How could this happen to me?"

"Oh my god. I am so sorry," she said and gave me a hug. The guy from the roller said, "Look, we saw the whole thing. It is clearly his fault and I'll tell the sheriff that."

Given where the accident occurred, it took the sheriff 20 minutes to get there. I sat in the car and read. The crew chief showed up and went over what happened, asked if I was okay and radioed for a tow truck. I heard him say the tow truck takes priority over any other vehicle so the road could be reopened since you couldn't drive on the right, on the new asphalt.

The sheriff who responded was very nice. He explained, after talking with everyone, but not me, which I thought was strange, the driver would be cited for failure to securely back-up and one other road infraction which escapes me, at this time. He hung around until the tow truck came. We took the car back to Wehr's. He said I was the calmest person he has ever met in an accident. I told him there was no point in screaming at the guy. It's clear what he did. Screaming won't make the car any better. I said I knew he was going to get cited and it might cost him dearly. My focus was on getting the car taken car of and being upset wasn't going to help that. He looked at me and said I was the smartest person he'd ever met under these circumstances. I had a hard time processing that because, to me, it seemed clear what I needed to do.

The driver of the tow truck was very nice; a good ol' boy from these parts. He knew the Wehr's "real well. Good people, them." Wehr's was aghast when we pulled in, but we agreed they would take responsibility for the car since it, technically, wasn't mine until the bank had signed off on it. They drove me to the LaCrosse airport where I rented a car and drove home. It wasn't until I got home that I burst into tears.

Renting a car was going to be an expense I had not counted on in the budget, but then, I hadn't counted on needing to buy a new car. I had already made reservations for a rental car to take me to Virginia in mid-July. It was a lot to process. The good thing now was I was home. My boss had said to come in when I got the car handled in the morning. I would make a follow-up appointment with the 3:30 pm homeowner for the following week, since July 4th was looming and this would get straightened out. It was this guy's fault and I was positive the dealership was going to go to bat for fixing the car. I still wanted it, even with the accident, because it was a good car for me. I just had to trust things would be okay.

Yeah...about that.

Beverage:  LaCroix Berry Seltzer

Deb

How Was Your Summer, Part 1

2016 was eventful on a couple of fronts. I had already planned to take a serious look at replacing the Jeep. Built in 1997, it was entering the end of its life. I said, back in 2002, when I bought it, I would probably drive it until it died. I'd saved and I had my budget ready. September is when cars are, historically, priced lowest because the new year's models are coming and dealers have inventory they want to move. I would start the process then.

I didn't spend much time looking at cars when I bought the Jeep. There wasn't much, in 2002, to find on the Internet. I had done some research, but all I knew is that I wouldn't be buying new. That new car smell makes me physically ill. I picked a street where I knew there were a huge number of car dealers and just drove along. The Jeep was parked by the street in a Volkswagon dealer's lot. My mechanic gave it a green light and it was right in my price range. The whole thing took 3 hours from start to finish.

Buying a car is just not fun. In spite of all the "helps" from various sites, like Carmax, it's still not a fun experience. But I knew I would have to do it. It was in the back of my mind every time I took the Jeep on an excursion. I headed west, to Bangor, Wisconsin, at the end of June. Things were going fine, until they weren't. The Jeep died as I was getting off Interstate 90 at the Bangor exit.

Now, you have to know this area of Wisconsin is a cell phone nightmare. There are so many hills that dead spots for cell phone service are everywhere. I couldn't raise my towing service but I remembered, from the day previous when I'd come this way, there was a car dealer, Wehr's Truck and Auto, a walk down the road. I headed that way.

I explained my problem. They arranged for the Jeep to be towed to a mechanic with whom they worked because they had no room in their repair shop to even look at it. I could hang out in their show room until he'd had a chance to look at the car. They overheard me talking to the homeowner whose house I was to inspect. They knew him and loaned me a car so I could get his inspection and an adjacent one done. I had an inspection for later in the day and they were fine with me just hanging out.

So, I got the inspections done and came back to the show room. There was still no word on the Jeep and it was now 11:15. The dealer called the mechanic and was told there were "issues" but they would have an answer in an hour. They called an hour later and said the best they could diagnose was the fuel pump. I should come talk to them about the problem.

The dealer said a fuel pump is an $800-$1,000 repair. "In a Jeep of your age, they have to pull off the gas tank to get to the pump. In later models, the pump is off to the side to make it easier to repair. Then, they would need to test it to make sure it's the pump. He's tested your electrical system and the battery, but they cannot get the Jeep to start." I was crestfallen. "I don't know what to do," I said. "If it were me, I'd say put that money toward a new car. Of course, that's going to sound like I'm itching for a sale, but I'm being honest. You don't have to buy from me. You can go back to Chicago, but, really, get a new car. We'll take the Jeep, as is, for $150 toward a car off the lot. Go talk to Jason and have him walk you through the process."

I took their rental and went to the shop. Jason was nice and he showed me what they had done and what they had and had not been able to determine. "It's an $800 job, assuming the fuel pump is what's wrong. Also, I can't get to it for a week." He gestured around his shop which was full with three cars sitting outside. I thanked him and went to get lunch, to think.

On a napkin, I wrote out my budget. I had leeway, but I was secretly hoping to get the Jeep through to September, so I'd have more money for a down payment, to cut the amount I'd need to borrow. I could afford car payments of a certain amount. My credit is still not very good, thank you Fifth Third Bank, but I would be able to get a loan through my bank. I called them and waited. I was approved for a loan. I just needed to tell them how much and give them the VIN of the car I would buy.

I went back to the dealer. "I've done the budget and let's see what you have." There were several used cars from which to choose. He suggested a 2011 Jeep Compass. I took it out for a test drive and loved it. Room. The SUV part would be great for the few times I am on construction jobs or have to go into a quarry. I didn't drive anything else. "Sold."

There was an issue with paperwork. My bank does not have a branch close to Bangor, Wisconsin. The dealer handed me the keys and my copies of the paperwork. "Take this to your bank tomorrow. Get your loan and have them send everything back to us. Include the title of the Jeep. I don't think you're going to welch out on us. I'm sorry you're in this predicament in the first place, but this will be a very good car for you. We'll probably wind up scrapping the Jeep and you'll not have to worry about it anymore."

So, I drove back to the mechanic to clean it out.

So many things were wrong with it. I was on borrowed time. There was body rust. The windshield had cracked due to rusting of the frame around it. In order to fix the windshield, I'd have to replace that frame. The U joints holding the chassis to the frame were rusting. Sometimes, there was a small shudder if I had to stop suddenly. I'd had the U joints replaced once before. If they rust through. The chassis will stop but the frame won't. It will be a Flinstones car.

The heater fan didn't work except on medium and then only about 65% of the time. When I got heat, it was a lot but this fan issue meant the defrosters took a long time to clear the window. The front seats were all cracked and I'd covered them with duct tape for the third time. The rubber cap around the stick shift was so old, it froze when the temps got below 15 so I had simply popped it out. You could look down the shift well and see the ground.

The back bumper was loose on the right side although my mechanic had bolted that to the frame. The top was still good, although the windows were getting cloudy as plastic windows do. I only took off the windows now because it was just too hard for me to remove the top only to have to put it back on in 24 hours. You can see the seal below the driver's door had come loose. You can put it back into the track using a spoon. I knew there were better things to do with my time. I would need new tires if I kept the Jeep beyond September, if I couldn't find a new car.

I cleaned everything out. 14 years. It's been my friend. I've gone everywhere with it. I remembered driving through a corn field in September, mowing down the stalks. Driving out of my drive when there was 6 inches of snow? Pffft. Engaging 4-wheel drive and making it through icy roads and running topless in the summer. I ran my hand over the side. I knew I was doing the right thing.

This is the last photo I have of the Jeep.

We tried to get the license plates off it. The back one was rusted to the bumper. The front one, which would come off, was longer than the bumper so it had been bent backwards from all the years of driving over and through things. "I'll just get brand new plates," I said.

I felt sad as I was emptying everything from the Jeep. It wasn't until I was on my way home that I realized I'd forgotten the Hawkeye car mats. But they had seen better days, too, so I put them on my birthday/Christmas list. The sadness didn't stay long. 14 years is a long time, but I think I had made my peace with getting rid of the Jeep. I drove away in a Jeep Compass with a huge amount of space. I could afford this. It was a good car. Things were going to be okay.

Except, they weren't.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

No Way

In the post below this, I mentioned having to go to JoAnn Fabrics and coming away with more than I expected. That "discretionary", "spontaneous" spending will get your budget in the $$. And yet, some things are very hard to resist.

I had to walk past the Halloween decorations to get to the cutting table. I passed by this aisle and these decorations caught my eye.

There was a whole section of skeletons of you name it. These are mice with an owl at the far right and small human skeletons at the upper right corner.

This one is hard to see because it was black against a dark purplish black background.

It's a cat skeleton in the arched back position. This got to me and I had to leave the area. I guess because I adore my cats and have been owned by a number of cats, it struck me as creepy to see this. Someone else, even a fellow cat lover, might not have such a visceral reaction. The object is black, Deb, it's not real. It's anatomically correct, to be sure, but it needs to be, to be effective as an object. It's okay.

One of the things which bothered me, in hindsight, is there were no dog skeletons. There was a small triceratops skeleton, at $49.99, but no dogs. I guess it's a cats solitary nature which evokes the strange. Plus, they hiss and spit when agitated and that's clearly perfect for Halloween. Here's a great article on how the solitary nature of cats adapted to humans. We didn't domesticate them. They agreed to live with us.

This is not something I would ever have in my possessions, but a cat lover friend does have one. She puts a hat and a bow on it. Halloween is closing in on Christmas for most decorated holiday. I just need to remember not to go down this aisle next year.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Can't Go Alone

I had to go to JoAnn Fabrics in early October for some craft thing. I don't remember why I had them on my errand list. It's dangerous for me to walk in there. It ranks with bookstores as places I shouldn't go unaccompanied because the allure of things other than what I came for is so strong.

Of course I came out with more than I went in.

It was Halloween and so much was on sale. I bought the superhero pattern because I have this great idea, assuming I have the time to pull it off. At least I have the pattern. As I walked through the store, the cat print caught my eye. I had to have it. Yes, yes, I know. I have 6 boxes in the office closet which contain fabric. Couldn't I use those if I wanted to sew? But...but...black cats!

It took awhile to find just the right pattern to utilize the fabric. I've settled on a kimono-style jacket. It will be trimmed with black satin. It should go together fairly quickly.

Step one was to clear off the kitchen table and get the cutting board out of the closet. When I pulled out the board, which is little more than heavy cardboard, I noticed a stinkbug. It was a nice day, so I took the board outside to flick the bug into the yard. I opened up the board and, oh lordy.

There are 6 bugs plus a spider egg nest. Ultimately, I flicked a dozen bugs into the back yard. Since fixing the humidifier and fan on the furnace, I've had stink bugs all over the living room. I've sort of come to accept they are in the walls and crevices of the house. I'm always going to find them. The best I can do is flush 'em when I see them. The cats play with them on occasion, but they have learned, very quickly, these things are not for snacks.

I haven't sewn much around these cats, but I remember the previous ones.

Tissue paper patterns were "the cat's meow". You could almost see them salivating about jumping onto the pattern and playing. These kids aren't that interested in the pattern paper. I'm very okay with that.

Usually, I wash a fabric hunk before cutting, to remove any sizing and make the fabric shrink, if it's going to. But I wanted to cut this out right away so I skipped that step. This is so awesome. I just love the pattern of the cats.

I opened the back door to let in the sunshine and the warm October breeze and started cutting. I've said before, if I could get someone to do this step; pin and cut out; I'd probably go through all my fabric in those boxes. It would all be used. I really dislike this stage.

And this is as far as I've gotten. October got really busy and I wound up tabling this project. It sits on top of the sewing box on the kitchen table. It's been surrounded by boxes for recycling and mailing. I'm working on my current cross-stitch project, which I need to post here so you can see that progress. This is typical Sagittarius. Our lives are filled with started projects. When we actually get something done, we are as amazed as our friends and family are. Must clean off kitchen table.

Beverage:  Water

Deb