Going with the flow... in traffic
Aug. 13th, 2007 11:48 pmThere are a couple of reasons why I want to drive up to New York to take care of the situation with my dad. First of all, I'll be able to take some semblance of an office with me (second monitor, keyboard, etc.). Second, I'll be able to take along other items (CDs, books) that will give me the feeling that I'm more than just living out of a suitcase and "visiting," especially given that - despite the fact that there are people all around - I'll be living in the house alone. Third, I'll be able to take along Shiloh for company, and perchance continue her education/socialization.
The distance between Here and There (almost 1700 miles, actually) makes it a three-day trip, if we assume I cover 600 miles per day. To maximize the chances of getting there, I took the Focus to Natalie's car repair place, an outfit called Hare Repair, run my a guy named Jim who, as the saying goes, has my vote as far as dealing fairly with the customer. (When the dealership wanted $600 to replace a hose assembly on the Winstar, Jim had one of his mechanics look at it and got it fixed for $35.)
My principal questions were these: Was the a/c leaking? (Answer: no.) How are the brakes? (Answer: Fine.) What can you do about the broken rear left window that keeps falling down unless you wedge it with something like a sponge? (Answer: We can fix it for $250 or secure the window in place for $70.)
The only bad part about the whole situation was having to spend pretty much the whole day out of the house, though I did get some work done in their waiting room. In short, after all that was done, the car runs better and my confidence that it will make it to NYC has increased significantly.
Cheers...
The distance between Here and There (almost 1700 miles, actually) makes it a three-day trip, if we assume I cover 600 miles per day. To maximize the chances of getting there, I took the Focus to Natalie's car repair place, an outfit called Hare Repair, run my a guy named Jim who, as the saying goes, has my vote as far as dealing fairly with the customer. (When the dealership wanted $600 to replace a hose assembly on the Winstar, Jim had one of his mechanics look at it and got it fixed for $35.)
My principal questions were these: Was the a/c leaking? (Answer: no.) How are the brakes? (Answer: Fine.) What can you do about the broken rear left window that keeps falling down unless you wedge it with something like a sponge? (Answer: We can fix it for $250 or secure the window in place for $70.)
The only bad part about the whole situation was having to spend pretty much the whole day out of the house, though I did get some work done in their waiting room. In short, after all that was done, the car runs better and my confidence that it will make it to NYC has increased significantly.
Cheers...