End of the road, time to find a new ride.

Took my beloved PT Cruiser in for an oil change last Tuesday and to have it checked out for some vibration in the frond end. Then everything changed. I've had the PT, a Chrysler product maintained at a Ford dealership for a number of years now, added to an "advantage" plan that my former pickup truck a 1995 Ford F-150 to get savings future vehicle maintenance. That worked out well then after a point I replaced the truck with a Toyota Tundra, the better to put the larger camper the we later purchased. The maintenance for that I kept at the dealership where I purchased it and kept the PT at the Ford place. Well the early diagnosis on the PT didn't sound good. Due to some screw up I wasn't notified as to the status plus needed ride back to the garage. I jump on a bus headed in their direction. The main garage had closed but the lube garage was still open. The front desk guy looked up the PT in the system noticed that the tech that worked on it was on duty in their garage, checked with him about the work that would be needed to get the car on the road plus other work needed to keep it there - several times more than what I perceived it was worth. The final write up wouldn't be ready until morning but I was pretty sure of the score. Now the problem was getting home. The desk guy offered a loaner at his disposal a 2017 Ford Focus. Great, drive it home, pop back in the morning... I didn't get very far before I started thinking "hey this is a nice ride". Had some get up and go, nice dashboard arrangement, good tech. When I got home I took a good look at the styling, looked pretty slick. Carol look it over and we took a ride around the area, got home and looked it up on line, liked what we saw. Base price was nice, add in an AARP credit and the price was right so we put things in motion and on Thursday night I drove one just like the loaner home. Tomorrow the PT will be picked up for a donation to the American Lung Association. I bid adieu to my old friend and drive off in style.

Another busy weekend

Another busy yardwork weekend here on Ledge Hill. Saturday started off damp and pretty much stayed that way all day, Things still to do, beginning with dealing with another flat tire, this time on the truck. Started working on changing to the spare and managed to aggravate my ailing back to point that I called Triple A. Guy shows up 45 minutes later - wham, bam, done and gone in less that 10 minutes. Sweet. Then Carol and I drove into Windham, had lunch and headed to Lowes to pickup deck railing to add to what we already has. Once home we tore down some old fencing clearing the way for the new addition to the deck. For movie night we Nedflixed Blazing Saddles, been awhile watching that one, uncut the way it was meant to be seen. Today was centered around installing the new railings and lawn mowing. Warm and a bit humid with occasional bright sunshine, work up a good sweat. Bonus, took a 45 minute nap. Couple of cups of coffee and brownies and I was fueled up for mowing. Afterwards fired up the grill for ribs and roasted potatoes. Ian called to wish me a happy father's day and to catch up on what each of us were up to. Another weekend flies by.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Warming up

Warm and toasty weekend, other then a painful hitch in my lower back the weekend went very well. We had my mother-in-law over for the day though I left for the memorial service for an uncle while Carol left to fetch Margaret to bring to our house. Nice graveside service for my uncle to be followed with a get together at my cousin's house. I had picked up my mother and my sister Kathy for the service then managed to stop at a couple of yard sales on the way to Ike and Judy's house. Returned home for a late lunch with Carol and Margaret then got started on the weekend to do-list. We had setup the screen room the weekend before but hadn't set out the amenities, gas in the grill, seat cushions, plants, utilities cupboard. Setup the new lawnmower then mowed the backyard. Liking the mower. Lois and Jim arrived for a cookout on the deck then take Margaret home. I grilled up marinated steak, chicken, beef kabobs. Sides from Carol and Lois including a couple of potato salads, coleslaw. A few adult beverages for three of us. After our guests left and cleanup we settled in to watch "Passengers" DVD, that was pretty good.

Sunday it was back to the to-do list, more yard work, fixed a couple of things or tried in a couple of cases, that all kept me busy through the day. Sunny and warm all weekend. Except for my back pain and a couple of nuiances it was fine weekend.

Passing through

A couple of sad notes. I'll be attending a memorial service Saturday for my uncle Gerald who passed away last December at his winter home in Florida. He was 86, my mother's brother-in-law. Seems like all my uncles and aunts were wonderful warm and generous people who always had kind words for their nieces and nephews as did Gerald. Monday there will be another service for the mother of one of my brother-in-laws, Marc. Nancy passed away this morning after a brief illness. She was 79 years old.

I think that one of the most important things about ones death is that they are remembered thereby the memory travels with those that are living.

Until we meet again,
may God Hold you
in the palm of his hand.

Stopping would be nice

Took some time off this morning to have the truck and camper looked at. The break controller for the camper wasn't working leaving the truck to handle the stopping load - not good for 9,000 lbs plus of trailer momentum. Made things a little hairy for the trip to Greenville and back home. Turns out there was corroded wiring in the truck that kept the voltage down and shorted out the controller itself. Wiring fixed and controller replaced. Glad to have that taken care of.

Yes, there was a month of May

I certainly didn't want to skip any blog writing in May but there you have it. It was a terrific month though. The weather continued being erratic, work at the office was plentiful and hectic and I went on vacation. That began on Friday May 19th when I flew to Florida to visit my older sister Judi whom I hadn't seen in forever, maybe 10 years plus or minus. I was there for 4 full days only one of which she had a day off. So on one of those days off, Saturday, she went to the Kennedy Space Center with me. I picked her up Saturday morning and off to the Space Center. What terrific place, we both enjoyed it immensely.

Then I picked her up after she came home from work Sunday and Monday and we had supper together at my hotel room that included a kitchen space, we had done some shopping earlier so we could eat in my room. During all that time we just talked - whatever came to mind from what was happening in her home life and whatever I came up with including some family photos/videos on my laptop. To me the trip was priceless.

I found something to do on Sunday and Monday, Sunday I drove up to Fort Pierce to visit the National Navy SEAL Museum. Took more pictures there than I did at the Space Center. Lot of detailed stuff that I photographed for later review.

Monday it was the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center in Stuart. It's mostly research stuff going on there but keep injured sea turtles, rays, sting rays, etc. Also a couple of hiking trails with small wildlife if you kept an eye pealed. Stopped by one of the beaches with crashing waves. Nice to sit on the dune listening and feeling the breeze.

The weather was great the entire time. After returning home I had a day to prepare for Carol and I to take camping trip to Greenville, Maine, almost a polar opposite from earlier in the week. Did have some problems beforehand with a damaged tire on the camper then the camper's brake assistance system wasn't working but we managed to deal with both.