April 11, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: April 12, 2024, they doubled the vowels.
Five years ago today: April 11, 2020, unwittingly.
Nine years ago today: April 11, 2016, except the vocals
Random years ago today: April 11, 2017, yep, two degrees.

           A sad story with a sort of happy ending. The KIA in full operating condition is parked out in my driveway. I did not have to spend $3,666 on the transmission, but I did spent $876 on the broken axle and another $244 restocking fee for the unneeded parts. So, I could have had the van repaired in Valdosta for less than $1,000 instead of towing it here for $1,520. There were some shop supplies and taxes, but generally, I am up $2,300 that I don’t have to spend (there was a $1,000 transmission allowance that complicated matters when I did the original calculation.

           But, the old bank accounts I raided to get this all happening are replenished. By the end of May, we’ll be not only caught up, but back on track. To think it was all not worth it because had I known the facts, I would have had the $800 repair done in Valdosta and been on my way. So today, supposedly my day off, is listed below that it can be compared to other days off. Here is the van parked in my driveway in front of the Town & Country, which I could not move when I wanted to.

           I was up early to the dealership, who took longer to do the paperwork than the job, but they just saved me a bundle. I grabbed one of their excellent coffees and told them I’d be back at 2:00PM. Then up to the bank to straighten the accounts back that I had raided for cash over this repair. I dislike downtown Lakeland and had to drive through it twice. I had time before hitching a ride with my neighbor to get the van, so I was over to the dog pound with this time the 50lb bag of the good stuff. The staff knows me by now but cannot make the exception to let me visit the doggies.
           On the way back to the shop, the neighbor passed Edgewood and was reminded that he lived on a street with that name in New York. He told how he had rented nearby to an apartment shared by three stewardesses. Back before they became air flight attendants, so they were babes and one was a redhead. He invited her to a play, saying they’d stop for a bite to eat first. Well, he meant McDonalds. When he got there she was dressed for a candlelight dinner. His budget was McDonalds, where they went, then to the play, and then he never saw her again. Ha!

           For clarity, the place in Valdosta that told me last July 10 it was a broken transmission was wrong. It is the highest-rated shop in the area. Based on the strength of their statements, I have spent the past eight months in financial straits. Even the decision to tow the van for 250 miles was because they told me it needed a $4,000 transmission and I would have to wait three weeks.
           There is very little chance of an error. I had the van towed to their shop at dawn, where they made me wait until past noon just to put it up on the lift to see what was wrong. I spent twenty minutes negotiating with the owner himself. This also means the whole sequence of events thereafter were unnecessary.
           In case there are any lingering doubts, here is a better picture of the broken axle. Now, I’m no mechanic. But neither is anybody who put this up on a hoist and did not see this openly visible damage. The more so considering the broken part would have been dangling down in front of his face.

           The tow, sleeping on the sidewalk, buying the bicycle and the Hyundai, borrowing money, the eight or ten trips to get the tow bar and arrange shop time, and schedule changes, unloading the old van, even the worrisome trips to Tennessee and Miami in the older vehicle—all of it was a waste. Changing the insurance over, hauling out the old wagon, the two days to bypass the broken starter relay, the $250 battery, even installing the two new CD players in the old van, all of it rendered a monumental waste.
           Add the angry exchange at the bank, the withdrawals from established investments, the disruption of plans and budgets, even the double trips to the lumberyard because the Hyundai is too small to haul much—all of it just a massive waste of time. Here is where you ask if the top transmission shop in Valdosta made the worst possible mistake they could, or did they spot the van was full of tools and gear and figure they could put one over on this stranded tourist? Don’t be fooled by the three week wait—they offered to bump me to the top of the list for an extra $1,000.

Picture of the day.
Eagle, national bird of Russia.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           The neighbor dropped me at the dealership, where I discovered they can’t refund any money until next week from the accounting office, and the total bill including shop supplies and the restocking fee came to $1,210. Still, that saves me a bundle. I drove the van home with expired tags and no insurance knowing that one vehicle in three on the road was operating under the same conditions. Mr. Trump, change these horrible laws so that bad drivers have to pay the majority of the costs.

           The van is in the driveway, then I get a call that JZ is visiting out in Punta Gorda this weekend. I got a confusing message from Roberto that he could, after all, make rehearsal this evening. It being 2:00PM, I put in an hour updating the books and making up new song lists. The Prez & I met up at 6:00PM, but no Roberto. The wires had crossed and he meant he could make it on Saturday. That is important enough that I won’t be visiting JZ. Here’s a sort of picture of me with my big tummy, where all my extra weight is settled.

           It was a great practice but alas, mostly for nothing. We ran through a dozen songs from Roberto’s list and just aced them. What a pity that we now have two fully trained musicians ready to take on the local music scene, and the band is breaking up. He estimates leaving in early May. I had the Panasonic camera on tripod to record the entire session and none of it turned out. The camera does not have a record light visible from the front of the unit and I did not see it shut itself off. Up yours, Panasonic. How do those bastards know when I’m recording something importants?
           We finished up just before dark and loaded the gasoline spray washer in the small van. It has some kind of driveway brush attachment. Wish I had a driveway. He also donated around $120 of frozen meat, which has my small freezer compartment crammed full. He’s also got a beauty of a kitchen table if I could figure out how to move it.

           A busy day like this means nothing got done on my own place. I was driving three hours to get today accomplished, so another two disks of “A Tree Grows In Brooklyn” has brought us up to Francine’s (our protagonist) fourteenth birthday. She is assaulted by a pervert and her mother shoots him. The family goes on a fishing trip where everybody got sick. Aunt Sissy fakes having a baby by adopting from am immigrant family’s sixteen-year-old daughter. Johnny, the father, loses his union job and dies from pneumonia on a drunk. The family gets ripped off by the undertaker, but Francine spends her last $20 on a funeral plot. Telling the family, they finally own some land.
           Now if nobody minds, it is 10:00PM and night and I would like to get at least nine hours in the sack. Y’know, it is 02:51:29 GMT and I’m curious where the Sun is. I get 222°39’W by 08°57’N. The nearest land is Yap island, part of Micronesia. The maps are not clear, this appears to be a small island famous for rai stones. That’s the big stone money with a hole in the middle. The island group is east of the Philippines and around 11,000 people live there.

Last Laugh