Our Thursday-Friday-Saturday weekend was rudely interrupted by work: on Friday James had to make up for the Anachrocon Sunday he was off. We had happier news by then, but it came the long way around.

When last we met the car was acting funny. So Monday I took it to the mechanic and Tuesday I picked it up, considerably poorer. Apparently all four spark plugs were burned out and this had short circuited one of the cylinder igniters. They also replaced the oil pan/plug, where the car has been leaking oil. I'm not sure if I shouldn't start looking for a new mechanic. These folks took care of Twilight for years, and I think Tucker before that, and they have always been very competent. But they are under new management, and I heard the new owner speak disparagingly of the head mechanic who is beloved by all the customers. I notice they are not as busy as they used to be, and am wondering if they are driving people away. They were very nice to me, but the bill was larger than they quoted on the phone.

The good news for this weekend was that we have a new lift for the truck. We got the check from Nationwide on Tuesday (the adjuster rushed it through)* and Mobility Works had an opening, so by Friday it was on. It is considerably smaller than the old one (which I hope means it's less of a target) and the four outer, smaller wheels actually hang down now where they used to be on the lift platform. Only the two big wheels are on the platform, but the groove that holds them is deeper and it actually seems more secure.

The bad news is that because the platform is smaller, we have problems loading it on our driveway. Everywhere else that is flat, like a parking lot, is fine, but our driveway not only slants, but it curves; it's like a big swoop. So when we lower the lift all the way, the outer edge of the platform isn't flat on the driveway. So we have to find the best way to put the platform down and load the chair. We had to find the sweet spot for the bigger platform, but it doesn't work on the new one.

The only halfway fun thing we did this weekend was go to IKEA (I wanted ginger cookies) and then have dinner at Fried Tomato Buffet.


*I'm really impressed with Nationwide. From hit-n-run to new lift it's been exactly two weeks.

Labels: cars

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