Well... So far it's been an interesting weekend. Before the weekend, on Thursday, my allergies decided to become a real cold so I didn't get pretty much anything done then, and slept in on Friday. I got my haircut Friday afternoon with Jenni and kiddos. Another exciting time ending with her son in another headlock with me holding his arms. I don't know what the kid has against haircuts. That evening, Tigger came over and we went to Denny's to have dinner, then came back here to talk for a while. We knew we'd be up later then we normally are, but Peter ended up going to bed at around 3AM and Tigger and I watched the sun come up while talking and she left about quarter to 6AM. I got to sleep soon after. So Peter and I ended up sleeping in.
We were eating lunch and Peter remembered the office for the apartment complex closes at 2 on Saturdays for some asinine reason. The clock said it was 1:50, and we were still in our pj's. So we decided to get to the office some other day. We need to renew our lease soon and they've finally put notices on the garages that the owners need to come forward or move their stuff out or it will be tossed out on June 1st. Yay! So we want to make sure the office firmly knows that we want a garage, and one of the 2 in front of our apartment would be great. (Not that they don't know with Peter and I asking frequently over the past several months.)
Then, Peter and I ended up moving the futon/couch into the former office, now den, and then moving the miniature painting desk too. So then the den was almost complete, just a few more things need to be moved and set up. Once we finally got showered and dressed, it was nearly 4 and we still wanted to head to CDA to visit my parents and do some shopping too. So, then we had to blow off going to the comic con at Gonzaga and were out the door at 4:30. The antique store I had been to with my folks earlier in the week was already closed when we got there, but otherwise our shopping was sucessful and we visited for a while with our Border's friends. After spending some time at my parent's house, we headed out around 10 or something, maybe earlier, I can't remember.
Everything was going fine till we passed the last exit to Post Falls. Suddenly the truck started making horrible noises and losing power. Luckily, there was an exit to the state line coming up, so I started pulling off and the truck died. I still had momentum so I got it to restart and put on my hazard lights as the person behind me looked like they were going to drive up my tailpipe. I wanted to continue on to the rest stop, but the truck died again, and I could only pull off to the side of the off ramp. I tried a few times to restart the truck, but it wouldn't start, so Peter and I got out and lifted up the hood. Right then a bunch of cars drove by and someone in one of them laughed at us like Nelson from the Simpsons ("Ha Ha!"). So I swore back at them. I don't know if they heard me, but who laughs at someone with car troubles on the side of the road?
So, then I thought maybe the truck needed more oil or something, so put in the 2 bottles I had. It still wouldn't start, so we grabbed some flashlights and headed for the rest stop to call my Dad. There was a towtruck driver and another guy already there getting ready to tow a different vehicle, and after discovering no payphone at the rest stop, I asked the guys if I could borrow a cell phone, or if they would be willing to jump the truck, even though they were busy. I described the problem and that we had seen that the battery was all corroded again. The tow-truck driver suggested that it sounded like the alternator (which had just been fixed a couple months ago), and that even if he jumped it, that the headlights would drain the battery long before we got home.
So I called Dad and he came out to help us. After taking the leads off the battery, we discovered that the one leading to the starter was so corroded, that it was nearly gone. Dad tried to put it back together and jump my truck, but it still refused to start. Since Dad's truck was now facing the wrong way on the side of a busy off ramp, a cop came by and wanted to know what was going on. While Dad was on his cell with the Chevron emergency roadside assistance people, we explained what was going on. The cop still decided to run our IDs, and it seemed to take a really long time. Although, with all the crap that's happened since we moved down here, this was the 4th or 5th time I've had to talk to a cop in the almost 3 years since we've been down here, so all that probably came up when he ran my license. But once he gave our IDs back (never asking for Dad's) he told us to turn Dad's truck around and get my truck out of there ASAP. (As though we weren't trying to!) So then we stood around waiting for the towtruck and Dad turned his truck around (and called Mom to tell her what was going on).
The towtruck was one of those flatbed ones, and I had never seen exactly how those work, so watching that was interesting. Dad told the guy we wanted it dropped off at Parker Toyota in CDA who work on all the family cars, and the guy told us we could just go then, he knew where that was and didn't need our help unloading the truck. So, Dad drove us back to his house, where we ended up borrowing Mom's car and leaving my parent's house (again) at Midnight. Also, since it's Memorial Day weekend, there's no way the truck will even be worked on till Tuesday at the earliest. But at least it's not on the side of the road!
We had been planning on stopping to get something to eat on the way home right before the truck died, so we were pretty hungry. But I just wanted to get home. Which we did make it home safe and sound.
Now, we had bought some soda in CDA since Tigger had drank the last of our Mt. Dew, and before we went to bed Peter put in away in the 'fridge. So, this morning, well... Noon, I was in the 'fridge trying to find some food when I noticed some liquid on the glass shelf above the bottom drawer. Yep, you guessed it. One of the Pepsi's (the one at the very back on the bottom) had decided to leak. I, er..., had to spend some extended time in the bathroom at that moment, so Peter ended up cleaning it up by himself. Apparently, since it was the soda in the back, everytime he moved a soda out of the box, a small wave of soda would accompany it, spilling onto the floor. So, there was a lot of sticky everywhere. And to top it all off, both Peter and I have splitting headaches.
Some good things though, we have our wedding invitations and they look beautiful. And, we picked up at Borders one of the Kaiser Chiefs' CDs. We hear them on Triple J all the time, so we knew we would like the rest of their album. While Tigger was here I got some good pictures of her because she was complaining that she didn't have any new (and good) pictures of herself, and I happened to have my digital camera handy. AND! And, now we are much more motivated to get our own car insurance and to get that new vehicle that Mom said she's going to help us get. So that's good.
So, now I'm going to interrupt Peter from rearranging the living room (now studio!) so he can look over what I've written and see if there's anything he'd like to add... -Jenny
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