5/25/07

I hate having to come back after a day off. Tuesday will be much worse though. Ok, so here’s what happened yesterday. I slept in a bit and finally rolled out of bed around 0730 h. I got ready for my doctor’s appointment and went to that. I totally forgot to mention my gall bladder. Looks like it will have to wait for either an emergency or next year’s physical. I told him about the foot thing from a week or two ago and he ‘splained it away and some kind of cartilage thing and said I need arch support. We discussed my weight and blood pressure and stuff and he’s putting me on something for cholesterol. He fondled my balls and said I don’t have a hernia then checked my prostate. That usually isn’t as bad as it was this time. I wonder if I pissed him off somehow. Anyhoo, the prostate checked out for another year so my butt will be “exit only” for at least that long. When he was all done, he told me to lose some weight and keep taking my prescriptions then sent me on my way. I went back home and took a little nap. Around 1100 h I decided to go to the courthouse and register Mr. Wiggly since his form came in the mail last week. I opened the form and found it was for Matilda instead. I knew Mr. Wiggly was up for renewal so I decided to ask when I got to the front of the line. I wasn’t sure if the courthouse took plastic so I stopped at the credit onion for some cash. I got $200.00 because the form said it was going to be $70.00 or so and I figured $200.00 would cover $140.00 or so and leave me with some walkin’ round money for the weekend. I got to the courthouse and took a number. The one “looker” in the place came up to me and asked if I had number 44 or something. I said I had number 46 so she handed me number 43 and took 46 back to the dispenser. I thanked her and waited. They called 41, 42, and then me. I went to the counter and handed the lady my envelope and insurance card. As she was pulling the stuff from the envelope, I asked if we could check to see if Mr. Wiggly was eligible for renewal. Well, I asked if the ’76 van was eligible since she wouldn’t have known who Mr. Wiggly was. She had the form in her hand! They apparently send multiples in one envelope now if they go to the same address and are for the same month. She did all the stuff they do and asked for $114.36. I don’t really remember the exact number but I paid whatever it was. Oh, they do NOT take plastic at the courthouse. From there I decided it was time to have that receiver hitch installed on Mr. Wiggly so I went to the shop. I parked Matilda and went in to get Mr. Wiggly's keys. I fired him up and pulled around to the door where I had stuck the hitch parts. I loaded them up and headed out. I stopped for some gas and got about 11 ¼ gallons in. I headed for Hitches Etc. I walked in and spoke to the dude at the counter. He remembered me from the hitch they had installed on the Pimpmobile. I said they had also done the Subaru but that was some time ago. Wow, that was probably close to ten years ago now that I think about it. Anyhoo, he says I'm third in line and he’ll know better how long it will take once I get to the front. I say I'm going to Wendy’s for some lunch and warn him about the three-on-the-tree transmission. A customer volunteers to move it in if they don’t have anyone who can or if I'm not back yet. I shrug and head out for a hamburger. I sit in Wendy’s and eat then head back. I'm surprised to see Mr. Wiggly isn’t where I had parked him. “Well, either it’s in the bay,” I say to myself, “or it’s been stolen.” I find it in the bay. They have the ass-end way up in the air and are looking at the parts of the hitch. They decide it isn’t the right part and are about to try and talk me out of doing anything. “Well, you’re missing some of the brackets,” I tell them. They lower the back of the van and I reach in the back door. “Here,” I say. “You’ll need these.” I had also grabbed the box with all the bolts and the instructions and handed them to the guy as well. Once we looked at all of that, we figured it out. He removed the bumper and then attached the four mounting brackets to the bumper mounts. He attached the crossbar to those and then the hitch itself. He attached the front crossbar and the brackets for it. He marked where the holes in the frame needed to be and got a really long drill bit out. He removed the brackets and drilled the holes. We dropped the ass-end again and slid the bolts in from the inside of the van. Back in the air, he tightened them down. Once all of the mounting was done he went back and made sure all of the bolts were tight. We set the bumper back in place and he bolted it back on. He then got to work on the wiring, which was the real reason I wanted them to do this job. Once that was done I went in and paid. I shook the tech’s hand and tipped him a saw-buck for putting up with me watching and “helping.” As I pulled out of the bay, the bottom fell out of the sky. I turned on the wipers and headlights and hoped the alternator was up to the task. I remembered to shut off the radio about a mile or two down the road. I decided to forego the highway and went down 377 to the Dam Road instead. That was probably a mistake. There was deep water once I turned off 377 and it splashed up to cover the whole windshield a few times. I noticed the bottom of the Plexiglas on the doghouse was pretty wet as well just about the time I noticed the engine running like crap. I limped it on to the shop and decided if it is still bad after drying out, I'll worry about it. I went in to call John and see what his plans were. He was still on Harry Hines in Not-Texas and wasn’t sure when he’d be back to civilization. I said we should probably give shop night a miss and went home. So, I think it was a fairly productive day, all things considered. I guess that’s about it then. I'll talk to y'all again on Tuesday since Monday is a holiday. Buh bye.