Sunday, July 08, 2007

Upson Downs

It's been a rather hectic weekend, and it's still Sunday Morning.

I stopped by the hardware store and picked up a few plumbing pieces for the Airstream on Friday night, and a spare set of keys. Having only one set worried me, because we intend to go out in the middle of nowhere, and it would be relatively easy for me to lock it up with the keys inside.

When I got home, Mrs A was on the phone. It was my grand daughter A., and her car broke down. She wanted to know if I would co-sign on a car rental because her piecce-of-shit Ford has broken down, and she needed to go to work on Sunday. I told her that co-signing for anyone for any reason was not in the immediate future, but that the Blazer was sitting in the driveway doing nothing and she could have the loan of the vehicle until her car got out of the shop.

She came over Saturday morning and got the car.

I went out and made the repairs to the plumbing on the RV. Then I got up on top to see if I could figure out what was wrong with the air connditioner. Yellow jackets kept buzzing me so I had Mrs A fetch me a flyswatter. As soon as I got the cover off, I looked inside.

They had started building themselves a nest in the air conditioner. I got the nest loose and tossed it over the edge. Needless to say, they were not pleased, but I would not be intimidated by a bunch of godless insect hoodlems. I did battlle with them.. Mrs A retreated inside with an ascerbic "It'll be a miracle if you don't get stung!"

Weilding my flyswatter with lightning reflexes and extraordinary three dimensional perception, I swatted them in midair, I crushed them when they landed and escaped unscathed. And not once do I remember squeeling like a girl.

After the Great Airstream blitz I retired from the battlefield, after reinstalling the air conditioning cover. I had overcome the enemy, outnumbered and armed with only a flyswatter. I was exhausted.

We met friends and went to Jazz Alley for an evening's entertainment. Acoustic Alchemy was performing, and after a dinner that was outstanding, the show was fabulous. The energy and excitement they put into their show is incredible.

When we got home, someone had broken the drver's side window out of my spare 280Z. While it is of no great consequencce, still it is very irritating.

Sunday morning at 6:00 the phone rings. It is my grand daughter, and the Blazer has broken down, she is in a panic. So I get up and guzzle a couple of Cokes and hit the road.

With no warning whatsoever, the clutch went out. Usually it gives you warning by starting slipping before it goes out, but this time nada. She is driving down the freeway, downshifts and all of the sudden, it won't engage.

I got in it and it still shifts and everything, but the clutch doesn't engage, so it's either the clutch or pressure plate. I had to get it towed. $140 later it is parked in the driveway and I have another repair bill to contemplate. Clutch, pressure plate and throwout bearing and a whole bunch of labor. I anticipate several hundred dollars.

Sometimes it feels like God lets no good deed go unpunished.

Here it is almost noon, and I am on my second beer. I am going to pull in my head, batten the hatches and hunker down.

If bad things happen in threes, the first was having a $1200.00 brake replacemment. The second is the clutch going out in the Blazer.

I'm waiting for the trifecta to come in.

8 comments:

Rick said...

Makes ya yearn for a horse, don't it? They don't break down, yellow jackets don't build nests in their asses, and the granddaughter is unlikely to borrow one.

Al said...

Rick: And their fuel doesn't cost as much. Plus their byproducts make good fertilizer.

An Extraordinary woman in a mediocre life said...

yep.. shit luck does indeed come in 3's....not very karmic though when you think that good luck only comes in 1's

xxxxxxx

Stacy The Peanut Queen said...

Well crap...if that just doesn't suck, I don't know what does.

So, did you make it thru till Monday with nothing else happening?

Anonymous said...

I was bitching about my weekend... now I just feel like a whiny baby :)

Al said...

EW: So when the good shit happens, you got to mark it on the mental calendar, and come back to it often.

PQ: After I got home from dropping off the grand daughter, everything was ok except my attitude.

No Celery: Go ahead and whine, you will feel better for it

rennratt said...

I think that someone breaking your stuff should count as "1".

In our neck of the woods, someone drained 6 qts of oil out of our truck (it takes 7). My husband took it to the mechanic because it was 'driving weird'. THAT is how we found out.

In the same time frame, MY vehicle was egged. (they had bad aim; only the rear tire was hit...)

Al said...

Renn: Thanks for your optimistic outlook, but the third horse came in. The busted window in my parts car was incidental, but some day I'll have to replacce it when I turn it into a rat rod.

Lucky you didn't burn up the engine in the truck.