Musical Cars

Today I played musical cars. I'm leaving for Reno tomorrow morning. It is expected to rain and God only knows what it will do in the Sierra Nevada mountains near Donner Pass.

I will miss this Saturday's Team in Training hike at Saratoga Gap. I've been planning to go to EmComm West, a gathering of amateur radio operators who are involved in emergency communications, for over a year now and had this weekend reserved long before I ever signed up for Team in Training. This year, EmComm West will be joined with Pacificon, the convention of the American Radio Relay League's Pacific Division, which includes us.


But before I can even think about driving my car to Reno, possibly in snow, I needed to make sure that it's safe to drive. I dropped off my Subaru Outback wagon at the dealership first thing this morning. Then I drove our son to school and then my husband to the Google bus in his car. Then back home where I did some housework while waiting for the dealership to call and tell me that my car was ready.


They did call at about noon, but they informed me that they wanted to flush the power steering fluid and that I needed new tires. They were getting bald. Hmmm... When would the car be ready? I was informed that it would be less than an hour. So I called Wheel Works to ask them a) did they have the same kind of tires we used last time in stock and b) if I brought the car in an hour from now, would they be able to change the tires today. It was yes on both counts. Awesome!


The problem, however, was how to get both cars to Wheel Works from the dealership? I can only drive one car at a time and Duane was at work. I drove Duane's car to the dealership, picked up my car and drove it to Wheel Works. Unfortunately, I didn't have a ride back to the dealership, so I wound up sitting in their waiting room for almost two hours with nothing to read. Ugh! I suppose I could have gone window shopping, but that's not really my thing.


While at Wheel Works, the mechanic tried to tell me that there was a problem and that I needed a new axle. A NEW AXLE?! I asked incredulously. I just came from the dealer and having the car serviced and they never said a word! I declined to replace the axle and, after the new tires were installed, I drove my car back to the dealership so their mechanics - whom I trust - could look at the car and confirm if there was really a problem. The bottom line was that the Wheel Works guy really needed to stick to tires - everything was fine. There was a minor repair item that needed to be done at the next service, but nothing that couldn't wait. My Subaru was fine to drive to Reno!


After dropping off my Subaru at the dealer a second time and switching back to Duane's car, it was time to pick up our son from school, so off I went again. And then to pick up Duane from the Google bus, after which I was finally able to hand over his car and collect mine once again.


The evening was spent doing the rest of the laundry, packing for the weekend trip, and making sure that Duane had all of the information he needed to be in the places that he needed to be on time.