Monday, August 16, 2010

Monday Morning Chit Chat - Mechanical Failure Edition

Hello all! Hope you had a better weekend that we did here. I won't say it was horrible -- it actually started off well -- but there were definitely some less than stellar moments.

Saturday Shane was able to work some overtime. I handed Kat off to her mom (my daughter Jean) for the weekend and ran a couple of errands, including going to Sam's Club and to a grocery store that had locally-grown peaches for just 68¢ a pound.  After my errands, I came back home, did a few thing around the house and made supper.  Later in the evening, Shane and I tried to watch a movie, but he was too tired and fell asleep within minutes of starting it, so I turned it off and went to bed early, too.

On Sunday our heat wave had ended, so I opened up the house and let the fresh air in!  It was great and the windows are still open and will be for as long as the weather cooperates.

Unfortunately, yesterday morning Shane and I had a "talk", as in a heated discussion, which is the closest thing we ever have to an argument or fight.  I won't disclose what it was about, but I needed to get some things off my chest and felt better for having done so.  I guess only time will tell if it did any good, though.  So, it put a bit of a damper on the morning, but that storm blew over quickly and it was back to normal for a while.

I spent some of my morning peeling and slicing peaches.  They are so good and so sweet that we later went back and bought another half-bushel of them (25 more pounds!) to freeze for use throughout the year.  I'll probably slice and flash freeze most of them, which is what I did yesterday, saving the peels for making jam, but I also learned that you can freeze them whole, either in a single layer on a big tray, or by wrapping each in plastic wrap first so they don't stick together.  Then when you thaw them later, the peel slips right off.  I already do this with tomatoes with great results, so I'm sure I'll end up handling some of the peaches this way, too.

Just after lunch, the weed-eater quit while Shane was using it.  It seized up and he doesn't know why, but it's a complete goner.  He found a used one on craigslist to get us through the season at least, but all the while he grumbled about how he hated that things keep breaking down on us, referring, I think, to the mower breaking down about a month ago.  So, when we jumped in the van to go pick up the used weed eater, imagine his frustration when the van wouldn't start! 

We don't know why.  The battery is good, the fuses for the ignition are good, we tried all the little tricks we know, like making sure it was fully in Park, rocking the steering wheel back and forth, etc. but nothing worked.  So, we suspect it's a starter/solenoid issue, an alternator issue (though probably not if the battery is still good), or a "neutral safety switch issue" (the switch that keeps you from starting the car unless it's in park or neutral).

All we do know for sure is that we can't -- or at least, we shouldn't -- tow our van with our truck, so I'll have to call a tow service to take it in to our mechanic as soon as his shop opens.  We ♥ our mechanic, who always does quality work at a fair price, so I'm sure he'll have it fixed up in no time. 

Meanwhile, we have back-to-school night tonight and the first day of school for Kat is tomorrow.  We live just a few blocks from her school, so walking is no problem.  Other than the 70% chance of rain in tomorrow's forecast.  Oh well, we really should be walking to school more often, even in the rain.  I usually drive her because I routinely consolidate my errands for the day into the same trip, but walking more often would be better for our health, our billfolds and our environment.

At least supper should go off without a hitch tonight.  Just good ol' burgers on the grill with some lettuce salad and some potato salad on the side, and naturally, some peaches.  The burger patties are already made.  I just have to thaw them (or not) and slap on the grill.

How was your weekend and what do all of you have planned for the week?  Do your kids go back to class this week, or are they some of the few who don't start until next week?



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10 comments:

Sheila said...

Good price on the peaches--I haven't even been checking prices of things around here lately.
Our heat wave has been coming and going--lots--we have been getting rain in the evenings that drops the temps about 20 degrees--sure feels good!!
I'm sorry about your and Shane's "talk". Some times you just have to have those talks!! We had one of those here too this past Friday. I keep thinking our issues are because of all that has happened here lately.
I hope you van is an easy fix. We have been looking at new used cars this weekend. K thinks his car is on it's last leg. I hope not because I really like having no car payments!
We have doctors appointments this week--one in Winston Salem tomorrow and one in Kernersville on Thursday--and the library one day this week. I need to get some grocery shopping in some time but who knows when.
I hope you week only gets better from here!!

Sonya Ann said...

I'm sorry that you had some problems this weekend. Our focus has been an ass for an entire month and it has cost us $1200 so far and it isn't fixed. Being a grown up isn't fun!
And honestly, I wish that I could say Den and I have only had one "fight". You are so blessed to be able to say that. Den and I have a "fight" every day even when he isn't here. We often talk of divorce and the only thing that is keeping us together most days is the fact that DJ is 14. I'm sure that your disagreement will pass quickly and as far as your mechanical problems unfortunately that is just life. But you still have your friends! :)

McVal said...

I hate it when we have disagreements too!
Those peaches sound yummy!
I'm so sorry about your mower and truck problems! Hopefully you'll get it fixed soon.

Annie Jones said...

Sheila: The tow service has a guy on his way now, and the mechanic says he can probably get to it tomorrow. Our van is a 2006 and this is the first time we've had it in the shop for anything truly mechanical. The only other thing was when one of the power doors wouldn't open.

SonyaAnn: Well, this wasn't our first "talk". Maybe our fourth or fifth in 11 years. The first was before we were married and I thought he was tailgating the car in front of us while driving my truck. It both scared me and made me angry. I can't even remember what the second one was about, other than I left and took a drive to cool off. The other two were for the same reason as yesterday. But like I said, we got over it quickly, so no harm done.

I'm sorry you and Den are having trouble. Have you considered counseling?

Annie Jones said...

McVal: I walked out into the garage and noticed one whole fixture of our fluorescent lights isn't working. Hopefully that's the third of the "bad things always come in threes". ;)

slugmama said...

Our weather here on Sat. was wonderful...Sunday it cooler b/c itrained all day, which we really NEED!
Today it is so muggy I wish it was Sunday again.lol

I hope the van problem is an isolated one and not the 1st of many to come. 2006 is still pretty new to have the problems start.
I hate cars and having to be dependent on them...ugh

Annie Jones said...

Sluggy: I'm hoping it's just "a thing" with the van. Like you say, it's fairly new still, and only has 45K miles on it, so I'm hoping we have many more trouble-free miles left to go.

Lisa B. said...

Annie sorry to hear you had such a weekend. Hope the van is a small repair. I know my hubby gets so frustrated when he feels like everything is breaking down all at once also. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, things seem to be going pretty good this summer so far.

I also know my hubby is grumpy cause of all the hours he works and then he has to work in this heat.

I hope your "talk" did some good. Hugs

The Cookbook Junkie said...

We had our first rainy/dreary weekend here in a long time. I missed the sunshine but it didn't interfere with much. Got much of Nick's fall wardrobe at a yard sale on Saturday morning - lots of Children's Place and Gap clothing for $14. Watched some of Nick's first scrimmage football game. We went to the local animal park Saturday afternoon. Sunday I hit Goodwill and got two nice sweaters, one top that turned out to be too snug and a real Bundt pan. I have a Bundt pan but it doesn't seem as heavy as this one and my bundt cakes always stick.

Frances said...

Sorry to hear about the van and your "conversation" with Shane. Hope both of them work out okay.

I envy you your nice weather. It was 100 degrees on our balcony yesterday and usually the temp on the balcony is lower than the actually temp due to a tree right by it. So it was HOTTTTT yesterday.

Your peaches sound yummy!