Perpetual Ruminations

And, So It Began!

I haven't been around much since last week. Saturday, we had a birthday party for our niece in a small town hall. Since it was on my wife's side of the family, we have learned that if something starts at four, they are usually starting by three or three-thirty. So, we got a few things done around the house and set out for our hour drive to the party, arriving right at three.

Saturday proved to be the exception to the previously stated fact, and hardly anyone was there. In fact, so many guests were late, they didn't start until five, instead of four. Since we had plans for that day, we had originally planned on leaving by six. Still possible, but instead of them starting the Sweet-Sixteen party, all the adults spent about an hour socializing and visiting. Please note, they all live within a half-hour drive and visit quite frequently.

To make things worse for us, my brother-in-law decided he wanted to park his SUV on the grass away from everyone else. We all parked on the paved parking area, but he drove past it and parked in the grass. With the snow melting, the ground was soft and he buried the front end, up to the bumper, in mud. Being stuck, he needed someone to help push him out. No one had a tow strap, so I and another tried our best to push him back out. We gained a foot and almost had him clear of the muck, but needed him to pull forward a bit and gain some momentum going back while we pushed. He did come forward, but before we could start pushing, stuck it in reverse and floored it, driving the tires even deeper and splattering us with mud.

He got pissed and started bellowing and cussing, which we are all used to, but decided it was stuck too bad now, he would need to get a tow truck to pull him out. He stormed off and his wife came over and asked if we thought we could push it out. I said we could try, so she got in, started it, and asked if it would push out easier if she put it in four-wheel drive! Once she engaged the four-wheel drive, she backed right out without any assistance!

Pushing the heavy vehicle had my back aching. The fact that the guy didn't even try four-wheel drive had me in a not-so-good mood, and being splattered with mud didn't improve it any. but, I took a few minutes and then rejoined the party, now just getting going. It was for a sweet girl, so why spoil her day?

We finally made it out of there about seven and tried to get our plans adjusted. We had thought they would serve something to eat other than cake and junk food, but that was not the case. Since I'm doing Keto and my wife is also on a diet, we had nothing we could eat for sustenance. I did try a small piece of cake that another niece had made, but it was unedible. It was tough, dry, and tasted like plaster! The frosting was even more disgusting, I think it was just shortening and food coloring.

Since we had not eaten much all day, we decided to go out for Chinese, the highlight of the day. But, there were limited foods I could eat and stay in Keto, so I ended up going off my regiment. It was good, and I figured I could fast on Sunday and get back into Keto, no problem.

That was when it all began!

It was late Saturday when we finally got back home. My wife took the clothes from the dryer and was hanging them in our closet when the shelf broke loose and hit her pretty hard on the head. Luckily, she wasn't badly injured. Even so, it made for a very late night for us to get to bed. Sunday I was up early, I don't know why, but I woke at four-fifteen and could not get back to sleep. I worked on the closet mess for a while, and then was going to go to a local hardware store to get parts. But when I started driving, the rear of the car started thumping and would not trail straight.

I returned home and ended up jacking it up to see what was wrong. The rear stabilizer was shifting on the rubber grommets that hold it to the frame. I left it parked and jumped in the pickup to get the parts I needed. I pulled onto the highway and noticed it wasn't shifting right! Now, it's an older pickup, and it doesn't shift properly until it gets warmed up but it had now gotten worse. I checked the transmission fluid; full. Now it was looking like we needed a vehicle to use until we could get the car fixed. I was undecided if I would take the truck in or not.

My wife talked to her mom, to see if we could borrow her car for a few days. Her mom is getting up there in years and doesn't drive anymore, so it wouldn't put her out. She said she would let us use it, but when we went to pick it up, she wanted to sell it. Well, we had been thinking of getting another vehicle, something we could pull the camper with, and something newer than the pickup. Instead, we are now the happy owners of a 2001 Buick.

She bought it in 2003 and has always taken real good care of it. It's in good shape and the price was great. It also gave me time to look more at what it would take to fix our other ca. The repairs are a bit beyond my ability, so I talked to a couple of places and they both gave the same price. Five hundred bucks to change out two twenty-dollar parts. They are pressed in, and it's going to be an all-day job.

After getting prices, I picked up the parts I needed to fix the closet, but once I started on that yesterday, I discovered that there was no fixing it, it needed all new hardware, shelf, and brackets. So, I spent the day rebuilding the closet. I have one side, the busted side finished. But, since I could not find anything to match what was originally in there, I now have to do the other side.

I was going to work on it today, but instead spent some time with my pickup. After I decided I wanted to write this blog out and if nothing else, just get things off my mind.