Soap Opera Life

Well! as in well (exclamation), rather than well (a hole in the ground which hopefully finds water).

I have lived another season long soap opera in the last 36 hours. The previous post of this a.m. gives the first 24 hours. There's more!

This morning (is that really just 12 hours ago), after having a couple loud and ugly conversations with myself last night, I headed over to La Mesa when the car was delivered. Told my guy, Dave, that I had changed my mind. I wasn't going to pull the REMCO from the PT Cruiser (mostly because an alternate method simply isn't available for this model car), I was going to sell it. I had reached the point that I couldn't trust the REMCO even if they fixed it, which I'm sure was possible because the system has been around for decades. And if I couldn't trust it, there was no reason to keep it. Unfortunately I feel the same about the PT Cruiser. It's a cute little car, and it's been fun to drive because almost every time I stop someplace, someone comes over to talk about the cute car. But it has given me more problems than the last Cadillac did, in 12,000 miles...new tires all around, new engine (because the crank shaft broke!!), tranny just isn't right since the first REMCO experience although the computer says there's nothing wrong. I don't trust the cute Cruiser anymore either.

SO! After getting the Cruiser checked out to make sure the transmission hadn't fried this time, I gave it a bath and traded it in on a 2006 Mustang convertible. V6. Red with a tan top. Less money and more bells and whistles than the Cruiser. "employee's rate" I'm not going to talk about how much various cars have cost me in the last few years. That's just wasted emotion.

But by now I was running out of time. The La Mesa lot closes at 5 p.m. If I didn't get there before the bewitching hour, I wouldn't be able to get to my coach, or the doggies, to have a place to sleep for the night. So the guys gave me the Mustang to drive home, trusting that I'll return at 8 a.m. to sign the final documents. and pay them. I made it just in time to get the coach out of the lot. And Dave even offered to follow me across the street in the Mustang to the RV park if I would drive him back to La Mesa to get his own car. Easy. He said 'go ahead - I'm just going to clock out and I'll see you there'. OK. I took off, to the doggies delight, having been caged up for hours without me around.

The phone started ringing, but I don't answer it while I'm driving the coach. And it rang again and again and again. Randy, sweet Randy, saw me coming and ran into the registration office and back out again, waving for me to follow him to my assigned spot. Bless his heart. Told me to just check in tomorrow.

No Mustang. Checked the phone. Dave gave me the great news that the yard guy at the Ford place had neglected to deactivate the security system, so that once the car was turned off, it would not start.

About 27 phone calls later, after Dave gave up and went home way past his normal time (on a Friday night yet), after locking the car up for the night, a security guy from Ford arrived at La Mesa just as they were locking the employees gate, and begged them to let him get my car. After offering them $20, they let him in. I didn't ask if they took it. He called me to ask if he could deliver the car to me across the street (about a half mile walk in 115 degrees), and if I would give him a ride back to his own car. Of course.

So I have my shiny new Mustang here with me as we speak. Actually it needs a bath, which it will get tomorrow while final paper signing goes on, together with a full tank of gas. Plus at least one more tank of gas which I believe I talked them into for all the hassle.

And I'm drinking Jack and eating cookies. So much for dinner. It was still 100 degrees here when I started this long story at 8:40 p.m. The doggies have crashed after a very stressful day, and I'm going to too.

Ain't life a kick.

Am I having fun yet?

"They" say this is going to be a fun life. I'm ready for it to start being fun.

First, I've been missing for several days because one of our glorious storms knocked down the wi-fi tower I was using, right after I posted that last entry in fact, so I've been without contact with the world!

So yesterday, I drove into Tucson town to have my own private wi-fi hot spot installed on my coach - it's Internet in Motion - and supposedly will provide me with interent access anywhere, anytime. So far, so good! It's a little pricey, but not as much as getting a satellite dish just for internet, like I had at my house, and it sure beats the reliability, or lack thereof, of 'wi-fi available' sites.

To make the day a little more challenging, I towed the car in with me, so that I could take the doggies to the vet to get their "good health certificates". Did I say 'doggies'? with an 's'? I did, indeed. And that's one of the pieces of really neat news that I was not able to relay to you because I didn't have internet access!

She's my little copper Penny - she's about 8 and just happened to be at my groomer's when I took Bailey to the beauty shop on Tuesday. Her last mommy had a massive stroke, so she needed someone new to love her. I certainly can fit that bill. And it's so much fun to see her with Bailey! His best pal for the first many years of his life was Cognac, an apricot miniature poodle. They were together almost every day. Penny is a chocolate/apricot mix miniature poodle, as you will see as soon as I can get her to sit still for a picture. She is extremely camera shy for some reason - cowers and shakes, poor thing. She plays like Cognac did, and is making my sad old guy a younger version of himself again!!!!

Where was I? of yes, towing the car to town. Other than the extreme heat, everything was going quite well. Ran some errands, picked up the doggies and went back to get the coach. Hooked up the car and headed home. And the REMCO unit failed. Again.

Not to give REMCO a bad name, but this one certainly has been a pain in the ass. It's a little gizmo that allows a front wheel drive car be towed, by using a pump to circulate the tranny fluid. And this is vital, because if the transmission fluid is not circulating while the car is towed, the tranny will fry, which is obviously not a good thing. The system has been around a long time and works really well for many people. But not for me.

So after sitting on the side of the road in 215 degree weather (probably not really that hot) for an hour and a half waiting for a tow, I headed back to Tucson to spend the night so I would be close at hand for the confrontation in the morning! Thankfully, gorgeous Randy was on duty at the Beaudry RV Resort, which made it all a little better. and I received calls from a few friends to help lighten my spirits!

So now I sit, with my sweet doggies who suffered thru the whole event with me yesterday and slept like babies last night, awaiting news on whether the transmission in the Cruiser was damaged by driving, again, when the pump had failed.

And "they" say this is fun? I haven't even made it out of town yet. What happens when I actually hit the road? Oh well, there's always tomorrow!

I'll keep you informed!