Space Cadet Sparky

(Thank goodness this doesn't happen every day! explains E.) Well, here's how it went...Sparky had to go to South Bend for a recall on the Honda CR-V. She got all the essentials ready--plenty of knitting projects in her knitting bag, something to read, the camera to document the day, and off she went. It's not a bad drive, about 30 minutes from Elkhart to South Bend....She arrives at the dealership, looks down on the floor to grab her purse, and it's not there...no driver's license, no checkbook, no money, NADA. Call Eldo---"Is my  purse on the living room floor by my desk?" "Yep!" And of course, there's no way for Eldy to get it to me.

Back in the car, back on the county roads, back to Elkhart, another half hour. Pull up in front of the rig, Eldy is waiting with my purse, hands it to me through the window, and off I go again...ANOTHER half hour drive to South Bend. This time I have everything, and they go to work on the car...replace the problematic software for the transmission and oh! By the way.....my car talks to me, at least the electronics do. When I'm at a stoplight or starting to accelerate, there are "whiney" "sort of humming kinds of noises that the electronics make, as if to whine, "do we really have to go?" or "I don't wanna...." It's hard to explain. But I can duplicate the noises perfectly so I'm gonna try and explain THAT to the service tech guy. I tell him what's going on, that the electronics talk to me (and me, too! says E.) I demonstrate by making the sounds and he looks at me kinda funny. O-o-o-o-k-a-a-a-y...Let's take the car around the block he says...We turn off all accessories and tour around the block--NOTHING. We tour around the parking lot with various accessories on or off--NOTHING. We sit in the parking lot waiting for the electronics to whine at me...NOTHING!  The tech guy looks at me, and I shrug and throw up my hands---NOTHING! OK.....It's probably NOTHING! There are no warning lights, every thing is running fine...They get the software module installed or repaired, they change the differential fluid....NOTE: if you have a Honda CR-V, and you are towing it, the differential fluid needs to be changed EVERY 15,000 miles....and I go out of the parking lot, down the street to meet my best friend, Jeannie,  for dinner. Pull into the restaurant parking lot and WAHHNNN-UH! The electronics are talking to me again! Geesh! I could have pull back in the dealership, but it had closed for the day, so for now...not going to worry about it. And besides, I found out that the CR-V has gone through ANOTHER set of tires--56,000 miles and I'm on 3/32 tread on the backs. We just bought tires last year for the darn car! Our second set since 2009. I guess towing with a fully loaded car makes the tread wear faster, I don't know....sigh! Guess we are buying tires this month instead of chairs...Rats!

Hey, if you ever need work done on your Honda, and you are in the South Bend area, go to Basney Honda on Grape Road and Edison. Excellent service work, excellent staff.....beautiful, roomy waiting room.....and it only took them two and a half hours to do the recall work and change the differential fluid. Good job, guys!

I ended the day in South Bend by having dinner with my friend of 35 years, Jeannie..Yep, she's a Jeannie, too! (One's enough for me! says E.) He's sure right about that...I can be a real pain in the patooty!  Jeannie and I had a really nice dinner at Carraba's, a great Italian restaurant. The food was excellent, and Jeannie shared teaching stories with me as she is still working. It's wonderful to have such a long time friend who's wonderful, wise, and keeps in touch. We met years ago when my youngest daughter was in her preschool class. We bonded through relationship struggles, divorce struggles, children worries and just anything and everything. I really miss her when we travel, but she's always there through emails and phone calls. She knows the best of me and the worst of me, but loves me anyway, just like my Eldy. She's never judgmental  and always has been a terrific listener. Women still need a gal pal even if they have a "better half" by their side. She's been a true friend all these years and hopefully will be for many more......Thank you, Jeannie, for being such a good friend.....