The baby daughter is here having arrived with much fanfare on the 9th by having to be rescued on the side of the road over an hour away. She was driving a 1999 Audi wagon and it lit up like a Christmas tree on a remote section of the highway so....off I go. I finally locate her and we transfer the baskets and baskets of laundry to be washed "Mom do you know how much it costs to do this in the laundromat?" groceries as she's converted to not eating wheat (I advised that if this fad Dr who's written Wheat Belly suggests she drink the purple koolaid that she not do so) and had her own food, and various bits of luggage. In the middle of this excitement in the dark a large shape growled at me and I realized that she had brought Diesel the large AmStaff (American Staffordshire terrier) with her which is now a part of her life as he came with the boyfriend. He was warned and transferred to the back seat and we were off.
Monday consisted of finding a VW place that would work on the car and a towing company. We took ourselves up to yoga class and both enjoyed - we needed the relaxation. A really windy, rainy day so we did some crafts and baking until....the power was off for over five hours. We coped with the crank radio and lantern, flashlights and candles but the shore captain chased generators at the tank house, had me call NS Power and finally crawled into bed at 4 a.m.
Tuesday missy had to take the car keys to the mechanic so he could try to start it and find out what was going on. He confirmed that the alternator was toast, that a new one could be as much as $1100 and thus he would have this one rebuilt as soon as he could. Along the way the baby daughter stopped at the nursing home to see when her shifts would start only to find out that her name wasn't on the time sheet and all the management was away for the next four days. Apparently the manager had 'forgotten'. Since she had left her job in NB early as she had confirmed the date to start, she was NOT impressed.
Wednesday the car didn't move (remember this part) as we crafted, walked the dog, baked and were otherwise engaged. The call came from the mechanic to say the alternator was rebuilt and reinstalled after five hours of fighting with it and the total bill was $314. So certainly not as bad as it could've been.
Thursday was the day I had planned to visit my birthday twin and deliver her wedding gift as I was up north on the big day and then head in to the city for an info session. It was a frosty morning so I popped out to warm up the car and.....the key had been left turned on since the Tuesday, delivering the Audi key outing and it was completely dead. I called the shore captain to ask about jumper cables but his secretary told me that he was wading around in the tank and had left the cell on his desk (so he is learning somewhat as several of them have gone for a swim). The boy captain (who didn't have jumper cables) advised that there was a tickle charger in the barn. I called my friend and she was just leaving for a physio appointment so I advised we'd manage with the charger. However, she shortly arrived to rescue damsels in distress with the jumper cables - as if any of us had ever jumpstarted a vehicle. We assembled a crack team as the baby daughter limped down from the barn and had telephone advice from the mechanic boyfriend, my buddy with arthritic hands couldn't squeeze the handles and me without my glasses trying to read which post was positive or negative. My friend says calmly "if we blow up either or both of these cars I'm going to be very annoyed". A few snaps and sparks but we managed very quickly to start the car and she heads off for her appointment as I phone to advise she'll be late as she was being a rescuer. With my chauffeur driving we were off to retrieve her car but as we disembark to pay the bill she discovers she's forgotten her wallet. Le sigh. I run my errands at Walmart as I need to set up a PIN on my visa. Done. A beautiful sunny day to visit and deliver the gift, enjoy the wedding photos (she photographed our wedding 35 years ago) and then a stop at the nearby Frenchy's following, then head in to the city to meet up with my friend for supper at Curry Village and on to the Medicin sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders) recruiting session where I met up with my northern roommate. Would I do MSF? Not for a bit as they pay $1850 per month so I can't really afford to volunteer for them just yet. It was a clear late night drive home with a beautiful meteor shower to accompany me and I saw some amazing flameouts.
Friday morning the baby daughter headed in to physio again and would you believe it? Left the lights on and had to jumpstart my car again!!! It was a fairly new battery but...
Saturday I got the decorations up around the house as I entertained the ladies who do lunch (from my workplace) as they came for lobster sandwiches and eggnog cheesecake and lots of catching up. It was a great sunny afternoon which I'll think about when I'm in the total darkness in a couple of weeks. Sunday, the tree made it into the stand in the living room making the house smell beautiful.
Monday was an orientation shift for the nursing student daughter at the nursing home and so I puttered about wrapping gifts and ticking holiday chores off the list. As I headed up the driveway I noticed the window in the front of the barn was smashed out. As I went all CSI on it I discovered that a partridge had flown through the window, flopped around as it bled out and finally died on the table saw - gruesome crime scene, not sure of the timing of this debacle. Arriving home late the shore captain had to put plywood over the hole (three uncharged cordless drills later - you would never know he was a Boy Scout but I guess it was Girl Guides with the Be Prepared motto) as wet weather was on its way. After all the kerfuffle he managed to leave lobsters for the plant supper (which I have been drafted to host tomorrow night) in the back seat of his truck. So at 10 pm I had to retrieve the crustaceans and steam them.
Today was the run for groceries and beverages for the supper as well as school supplies for the project in Belize which the chef (who is coming to whip my buddy and me into shape tomorrow) volunteers for. So, enough chatting it's time to haul this carcass into bed so I'll be ready to be the chef's helper.
