How many times have I posted on here about car trouble? Way too many times for me! Let me tell you about our Saturday:
We left home around 8:30 for a day trip to Manhattan to visit Brandon. (Keep in mind that he had to work at 6pm!). A couple miles north of Newton, my car (yes, my recently purchased Saturn) made a popping noise, the "check engine" light flashed several times, and it DIED! I managed to pull it over to the side of the road and get it out of traffic (of which there was plenty!). What to do? What to do? Corby looked under the hood, but it would not start.
I called my best friend Melody, who got online and found a towing place in Newton. They said they could be there within 30 minutes. I will not talk about the price they quoted because it almost made me sick! Anyway, while waiting along the side of the road, a nice Highway Patrolman stopped. We told him we had already called a tow truck. Next to stop was Brady's (Brandon's roommate) family. They were headed to Manhattan too, so the twins hopped in their van and headed on their way. At that point, our goal was to tow the Saturn home and get Kaleb's car. That we did - finally! We were back on the road just before 11am, still thinking we had a good amount of time to visit with Brandon before he had to head to work. Guess what happened next? Yes, Kaleb's car started overheating just before we got to Salina. We pulled over once to check things out, and since it wasn't in the RED zone on the gauge yet, we decided to try to make it to Salina. We did, and after stopping once we found an O'Reilly's Automotive. We were reasonably sure it was the thermostat, so we bought one, along with a pair of pliers, a socket set and some antifreeze. We went next door to the McDonald's and grabbed a quick bite while the car cooled off. After changing out the thermostat, we needed to refill the antifreeze.
Yes, more trouble at that point! The radiator cab was split apart, and we couldn't get it off. I walked next door to the Buick dealership's parts department (they were just closing) and a very nice gentleman brought a long screwdriver over and helped us get it off. After putting the antifreeze in, and the cap back on, the car was still running hot. Because the lid is pressurized, we decided we needed to get a new lid, so back to the O'Reilly's we went. Thank goodness they had one. After replacing that, we hit the road AGAIN! We finally made it to Manhattan at 3pm! We would have scrapped the trip, but since the twins had already gone up with Brady's folks - who are staying for the weekend because they have other family up there, we had to pick the twins up. They both had to work today. I know I'm a terrible mother because I suggested that Brandon call in sick to work so we would have more time to visit. But, since he was scheduled to work 6-11 and then go in at 7 this morning, he thought it would look funny if he didn't go in last night but then showed up this morning. He's right, and I never should have suggested it - but after the "planes, trains and automobiles" trip we had, I wanted to at least get to visit with him! By the time we made it back home last night, Corby and I were exhausted. We actually slept in until 9:30 this morning! Oh yeah, we don't have a clue what's wrong with the Saturn. The tow truck driver said it sounded like a timing belt, which will be pretty darn expensive! Looks like I will be carpooling when I head back to work on Tuesday. UGH!
Here are a few pictures of Brandon's apartment:
THE KITCHEN (reasonably clean)
THE LIVING ROOM (where else can you find a room consisting only of seating, a TV and video games than an apartment with three 19-year-old guys?)
HIS BEDROOM (note the open closet area and perhaps he needs to do laundry?)
THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING (nice!)
Too bad we didn't get to spend much time there. Since he probably won't make it back home until Thanksgiving, we'll probably try to go up sometime in October. Maybe we'll RENT A CAR!
We left home around 8:30 for a day trip to Manhattan to visit Brandon. (Keep in mind that he had to work at 6pm!). A couple miles north of Newton, my car (yes, my recently purchased Saturn) made a popping noise, the "check engine" light flashed several times, and it DIED! I managed to pull it over to the side of the road and get it out of traffic (of which there was plenty!). What to do? What to do? Corby looked under the hood, but it would not start.
I called my best friend Melody, who got online and found a towing place in Newton. They said they could be there within 30 minutes. I will not talk about the price they quoted because it almost made me sick! Anyway, while waiting along the side of the road, a nice Highway Patrolman stopped. We told him we had already called a tow truck. Next to stop was Brady's (Brandon's roommate) family. They were headed to Manhattan too, so the twins hopped in their van and headed on their way. At that point, our goal was to tow the Saturn home and get Kaleb's car. That we did - finally! We were back on the road just before 11am, still thinking we had a good amount of time to visit with Brandon before he had to head to work. Guess what happened next? Yes, Kaleb's car started overheating just before we got to Salina. We pulled over once to check things out, and since it wasn't in the RED zone on the gauge yet, we decided to try to make it to Salina. We did, and after stopping once we found an O'Reilly's Automotive. We were reasonably sure it was the thermostat, so we bought one, along with a pair of pliers, a socket set and some antifreeze. We went next door to the McDonald's and grabbed a quick bite while the car cooled off. After changing out the thermostat, we needed to refill the antifreeze.
Yes, more trouble at that point! The radiator cab was split apart, and we couldn't get it off. I walked next door to the Buick dealership's parts department (they were just closing) and a very nice gentleman brought a long screwdriver over and helped us get it off. After putting the antifreeze in, and the cap back on, the car was still running hot. Because the lid is pressurized, we decided we needed to get a new lid, so back to the O'Reilly's we went. Thank goodness they had one. After replacing that, we hit the road AGAIN! We finally made it to Manhattan at 3pm! We would have scrapped the trip, but since the twins had already gone up with Brady's folks - who are staying for the weekend because they have other family up there, we had to pick the twins up. They both had to work today. I know I'm a terrible mother because I suggested that Brandon call in sick to work so we would have more time to visit. But, since he was scheduled to work 6-11 and then go in at 7 this morning, he thought it would look funny if he didn't go in last night but then showed up this morning. He's right, and I never should have suggested it - but after the "planes, trains and automobiles" trip we had, I wanted to at least get to visit with him! By the time we made it back home last night, Corby and I were exhausted. We actually slept in until 9:30 this morning! Oh yeah, we don't have a clue what's wrong with the Saturn. The tow truck driver said it sounded like a timing belt, which will be pretty darn expensive! Looks like I will be carpooling when I head back to work on Tuesday. UGH!Here are a few pictures of Brandon's apartment:
THE KITCHEN (reasonably clean)
THE LIVING ROOM (where else can you find a room consisting only of seating, a TV and video games than an apartment with three 19-year-old guys?)
HIS BEDROOM (note the open closet area and perhaps he needs to do laundry?)
THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING (nice!)
Too bad we didn't get to spend much time there. Since he probably won't make it back home until Thanksgiving, we'll probably try to go up sometime in October. Maybe we'll RENT A CAR!
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