by Nasoosie » Fri Dec 03, 2010 9:57 am
GOOD LATE MORNING!
Molly and I slept in late this morning, as it was windy and very cold (by FL standards) outside my nice warm sleeping bag! I actually had the furnace running last night, and it really felt good.
Yesterday Molly and I walked on the lakefront park, and got a call from my son who had taken the afternoon off to have a shop pull his rear wheels for him so he could fix his brakes. I met him at the place, not far down the road, in case he might need a ride somewhere to get parts, or whatever. By the time I got there, they had put his car up on a lift and sledge-hammered both tires free! They didn't charge him a thing to do that, which amazed me. Goog tipped the guy who did it 20 bucks, as it sure was worth it.
He spent the rest of the sunny afternoon back here in his driveway, trying to install new brakes. When he got one side off he discovered the calipers on that side were shot----would not retract all the way,, which was the cause of his wearing his pads and discs to a frazzle in the first place. He called Hyundai to see if any shop had a pair of calipers, and none did. To order a set of new ones (rare, for some reason) for his Tiburon would cost 400 bucks! He then called other car shops, and found he could order a refurbished set for 150 bucks, but that, too would take a week to get here. So, he took it upon himself at that point to totally take apart the calipers and refurbish them himself! After another couple of hours of work, and me helping him bleed the brake lines by stepping on the pedal, he had the entire left brake assembly together and working! By then it was dark, so the other wheel will be done this weekend. Hopefully, the wheel will stay loose enough to be able to be removed when the time comes.
My son amazes me with his ability to solve problems in all areas of life. He is an ace carpenter, plumber, electrician, and mechanic. I guess my doing all my repair jobs myself when he was little paid off! I never touched electrical jobs, however-----he learned that from a company he worked with for a few years while he was going to college. Although he tends to have a short fuse when it comes to people behaving like idiots on the roads, and anger-management problems he is aware of and is working on, he remained calm and determined and serene all yesterday afternoon while working on those brakes. His father, on the other hand, would have smashed the car with his tools, tossed all his tools about the yard, screamed and sworn like nothing on earth anybody would care to hear, and frothed at the mouth with anger! I was so happy to see no 'like father like son' yesterday!
Today I will get out my Christmas decorations I brought with me for the trailer, and try to get those installed to look festive, and Christmas-like. I have some LED colored mini lights, some cute towels, a teeny tiny fake tree, and a fake, but pretty, wreath I bought the other day at WalMart. Later in the week, I will decorate the Orlando house a bit, too.
Tonight after they get home from work, the kids and I will load my dining table and chairs into my truck and head over to the other house for a night out. I will volunteer to be the DD, as I overdid it last night with a wine I bought to sample. I am not a wine drinker at all, but this sounded good and fruity. WRONG! It was acidy, strong, and put me down like I'd been drugged heavily! ACK! No booze for this body tonight! I will concentrate on my pool playing!
Those in Buffalo sure got socked with snow yesterday----many had to spend the night in their cars on the NY State Thruway due to heavy snow and a tractor-trailer accident. Bet they were glad to see those plows when they could finally get through. I hope most travelers had prepared their winter emergency car supplies-----heavy sleeping bags, extra clothing, snacks, water, flashlights, and whatever. It's also essential to keep one's gas tank as full as possible when traveling in snow country, in case of situations like that yesterday, so you can use your heater on and off to stay warmer. Also essential to have your exhaust system leak-proof to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
Off I go to pay some more bills and decorate for a bit. I think I'll make me a grilled cheese sandwich for brunch, too!I hope you all have a good day wherever you are.
Life is about learning to dance in the rainHappy travels!