Yes, indeedy.
It’s Memorial Day Weekend (capitalized because it’s an event – not just a weekend), and I’m doing what? Making lunch, doing laundry, washing dishes, and watching NFL Europa. I’m just a regular 21st-century bon vivant, huh?
I’d planned on going camping with some buddies this weekend. Was going to take yesterday off, head to the mountains, and get some much-needed nothingness for a few days. In preparation for this, I went out last Tuesday night to play video bowling with a couple of other friends. Okay, so it wasn’t actually a preparatory step, but that’s what I did. We invented a really cool wagering system for the game. Kind of a “skins game” for video bowling. I won $7. Thanks for asking.
When I left the bar, my “check engine” light came on. Not a big deal. It happens occassionally. This time, however, the engine didn’t want to run at over 2500 RPM. Started bucking and jerking and yada yada yada. So I drove the 6 miles home mainly with creative shifting: get that puppy in 5th gear as fast as possible and you never get up to 2500 RPM. Figured I’d take it to the shop on Wednesday morning and get the fuel filter changed or the plugs checked or something mundane like that.
On Wednesday morning, however, I was unable to start the car.
Crap.
So I called AAA and got a tow to my mechanic, who informed me that he’s no longer my mechanic – he only does brakes, tires, oil changes, etc. No tune-ups. No ability to read the check engine code. Nothing.
The AAA guy, who was an extrememly personable and helpful guy, towed me to a Chrysler dealership; where I was informed that, due to Memorial Day Weekend stuff, they wouldn’t be able to diagnose the problem before Thursday.
I borrowed Gramma’s old car from Herb and Andy.
On Thursday, I got a call from the dealership. Timing belt was shredded. Water pump was frozen. Possible valve damage, but they wouldn’t be able to check until after replacing the timing belt and water pump. For around $1,500. If there was valve damage (a 50/50 chance)? $3,000.
Double crap.
To make a very long story short, I got the car back last night. There was no valve damage, thankfully; but I’m out about $1,200 (the estimate was high) and camping is out for the weekend.
I did, however, reserve a campsite at Hueston Woods State Park in College Corner, Ohio, for the first week of July. It looks like a lovely and secluded area and I’m really looking forward to zoning there for a week before heading up to Lake Ahmic on July 7th. It was also quite a bit cheaper than my other two choices – Blueberry Pond in Maine (where I’ve stayed twice before) and a provincial park in the far north of Ontario (a couple hours north of North Bay), the name of which I cannot recall. Maybe I’ll try that next year, unless Hueston Woods is a great place.
For the rest of this weekend, I’m just going to putter around the house. Mow the lawns, chip up a tree that fell quite some time ago, maybe grill some dogs on the deck.
Hope everybody has a safe and happy weekend. I’ll go eat my lunch now.
TWD