Tag Archives: car battery

The Mood: Good Grief

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If it ain’t one thing, it’s something else. That’s what my Granny used to say. Now I say it because it’s true. I swear, every time I think things are looking up, we get slapped with more bad luck.

The stupid car is….well, stupid. We’ve had to call AAA 3 times in the last month. We just don’t use it enough to keep the battery charged. So, now if we aren’t going anywhere, I start the car up and waste gas letting it run for 30 minutes twice a day. It seems to be doing the trick. The a/c went out again and that cost us a pretty penny to fix! Last summer, they replaced the evaporator. This time, the compressor had to be replaced. Both times, the bill was around $1100. That came out of our new house money!!

I despise being without wheels! The last time, it was 3 weeks before Dad called AAA. I got so behind on taking the trash up to the dumpster, that my laundry room was stuffed full of trash! I couldn’t even do laundry! I have been taking trash up slowly. I don’t have the energy to drag it all to the door and then load it all in the trunk – not that it would all fit – and do it all in one day! What’s left now, aside from the 2 bags we have normally each week, are cardboard boxes that I’ve broken down. It’s amazing how much trash we (just Dad and I) accumulate each week!

Anyway…

The new house is at a stand-still, yet again. We are waiting for Contractor #3 to be available to help us with cabinetry. It’s a very busy time of the year. We are getting antsy. I am getting to where I just can’t do all this walking. I need to be able to use my wheelchair more than I can in this old house. The new house will have more room. The new house will not have any steps! This old house has just one step (6-inch, I believe) that leads to the bathroom. I have a 3-inch riser but it can still be a real bitch since we can’t use wheelchairs to get up there! I can’t wait to get to the point that we can move into the new house! Even if we don’t have a complete kitchen (cabinets cost money and we have a tight budget going into the project) it will still be livable and I can deal with that.

Dad is doing well these days, considering what he’s been through. He uses a walker most days but this past week, he’s been using his cane more and sometimes goes without anything at all! He doesn’t like the idea of taking the walker out in public, (can’t say I blame him) so he uses his cane. He keeps up with his exercises and his appetite is getting better. I wish he could eat more in one sitting but he just can’t eat that much before he’s full. Like I said though, his appetite is improving and that’s a good thing.

Signing off until next Spring…No, I’m kidding. I just don’t know when I’ll post again because life just keeps getting in the way.

Until next time,

SNAFU

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When it rains, it pours. My Granny used to say, “If it ain’t one thing, it’s something else.” That pretty much nails it.

Yesterday morning, I dropped my laptop. It was in the padded case I carry it in, but apparently, it hit just right and hard enough on the kitchen floor to whack the corner. It didn’t seem like it hit very hard, but now when I open it, the lower right corner pulls away from the screen. The laptop still works but I have to leave it open for fear of making matters worse. I can’t afford to buy a new one or have someone repair it. Geez. I just purchased it June of 2023 so it’s virtually new.

This morning, Dad went to take our trash up to the dumpster. The damn car won’t start. I had to cancel my curbside order. I may have to cancel my vet appointment for Alice’s checkup tomorrow afternoon. We have AAA but Dad’s so damn stubborn. Instead, he decided to try to charge the battery himself with his handy battery charger. I hadn’t heard anything in a little while so I went outside to check on him. He was standing by the car with the hood up and charger in his hand, just thinking. He said it wasn’t going to work because the charger won’t plug into the extension cord. I saw right away what the problem was. He had the male end of the extension cord in his hand and the charger cord was also male. I told him he needed the female end of the extension cord to plug the charger into. I switched that up for him and then it worked. Poor old guy. He thinks everything will be so simple but he just can’t think through the process so it ends up being a big hassle. Anyway, the car is charging. We’ll see what happens. 

If that’s not bad enough, Dad has put us in a potentially critical financial conundrum. I guess that would actually be worse than any of the other problems we have going on right now. Dad’s a wreck about the whole thing and I’m pretty damn stressed out, too. When the solution or end of the situation has arrived, I will write more about it. Until then, please wish us luck! 

Well, that’s all for now. I’m headed to the shower. With any luck, I’ll make it out of there alive. 

aunt-debbie