Things I've Been Doing, Part II

The second part of what was originally going to be one post, comprised of an experience I recently had with my beloved car Lorna.

So, first off, I recently had the opportunity to spend a whole day under the hood of my car. On Friday, two weeks ago, I was driving home from work. I was happy as a clam (pre-chowder, of course) cruising with the radio on, and the A/C full bore. Suddenly the refreshing cool air blowing from my dashboard vents was considerably less refreshing and considerably more warm. So immediately my eyes darted to the temperature gauge on my dash to find it had begun to climb. Quickly. I mean really, really quickly. So I immediately got off the freeway (coasting, down to about 25 mph by the time I got off) and called some friends of mine from the area to see if they could offer any suggestions/help. Eventually, I was able to get my car over to my friend Aleese's house, where I left it overnight.


Now, for those of you who may know me, this would not be the first time I have had car trouble. In fact, when I got home, I told my roommate that my car had broken down, and he looked at me surprised. My brother Jeff, who had given me a ride home, asked him if he had ever met me. I guess to know me is to know that cars hate me.

So, I admit that most of the interesting part of the story (and I'm not entirely convinced that this IS an interesting story) has been told. I spent the day Saturday first changing the thermostat, and then, when that didn't solve the problem, the water pump. Aleese's dad, who I don't really even know that well, spent almost his whole Saturday helping me change the water pump. At one point it poured rain for about an hour, and he showed no sign whatsoever of wanting to walk away. Between his help, Aleese and Clint's, and my brother Jeff, I was reminded again that I am really, really blessed to have such good friends and family in my life. I'll never understand why I'm so lucky, when others so often seem not to be.

p.s. Haley, if you read this, please know that Lorna (Mabel) has basically been quite good to me. This was an aberration in an otherwise healthy relationship.