For my little pal...

While I was putting the elves in their clubhouse I thought...I'll make a little story for my neighbor's son, Aiden who is nearly 2 yrs old. 

What if Santa decided to try a truck to make deliveries in our area?
Gosh, what would happen.

Santa Gets Stuck...

A Good Samaritan Arrives

 That didn't work...so

they called on the Elf

with a magic sled...

Oh my, guess who

showed up to give a push!
And the Reindeer pulls!

Santa is on his way

thanks to all

the help!

I sent this series to my little pal's mom and she said he loved it! What child wouldn't?

Moving right along

Oh happy Day!

Mike, the Tow Truck Man showed up in the late afternoon. No apologies needed as he tows for all over our county. He'd told me on the phone he'd try and get to me first thing ... but all it would take would be a phone call and that would change things.

I watched Mike back up our driveway as the places we use to turn around would have been too soft for his heavy truck and our truck on the flat bed.

Chris or Mr. DeLap will call sometime in the next day or so to let me know what the 'damages' are and what needs fixin'. I'm okay with fixing the truck and running it for a few more years. As Mike the Tow Man said, "Hard to run even a tiny farm without a good truck!"

I can't believe how considerate and decent these guys have been to me. [Of course I haven't heard what the costs are yet either.] I've been treated with respect so far. And that goes a long way.
Not like my experience last year where I was treated like 'a Dumb Woman' and ignored until I walked into the shop and stood toe to toe with the manager of the shop.

While waiting on the tow yesterday, I set up what I call the 'winter' fence. It keeps the mules closer to the house, yet they can get into the woods. This serves two purposes. I can usually spot them easily and keep an eye on them...AND during Deer Gun season they are near enough to the house so as not to be mistaken for a Mule Deer. [Insert a crossed eyed emoji here]

Snow!
I woke up to the lovely beautiful white stuff coming down in gobs! Mica and Sunshine were surprised when I led them out of the shed.

Charlie didn't want to venture out at first.
Chores are done.

The snow is coming down hard and it is calling me into the woods!

I am not a mechanic

So with the stall safely done and the mule gals figured out, I moved on to the next project.
Well, actually, today I am not doing much in that department.

I learned how to hook up the 'Trickle Charger' to the skid steer and the 4 wheeler to keep their batteries alive all winter.
My neighbor came down to borrow the fence pounder and he gave me a quick lesson.

He also looked under the Truck. He pointed out to me that the horrors of rust and degradation I was so worried over...were just the dust shields.
WHAT?
I had no idea what that thingy was that I was looking at that looked busted up.
[not my photo...that is a dust shield and it looks funky to me even when it is in good shape. I thought it should have been whole. The ones under our trucks are rusted of course and nasty looking. But pretty much in the shape that this one sort of looks like. But hey, I am NO mechanic.]

I told my neighbor I thought those things would fly off the truck while I was driving it and the whole wheel would fall off. He smiled and said ..."No it won't. They just function to be there and ward off dust...as if that can be done on a gravel road."

He also said that vintage trucks [tongue in cheek with the word vintage] will indeed be rusty underneath. The truck is a 2002. He felt it was worth having it repaired by some experts and perhaps it wasn't as bad as the rust looked. He then showed me some brake things that he had that were nasty rusty looking.

So I'll be talking to a couple of owners of local repair shops hopefully today. I want to do it face to face. And perhaps we can get it arranged to have the truck towed in to their shop.

I've had one person tell me to just put in brake fluid and drive it in. Um. Not an option. I mean what do I do on the highway if the brakes are gone?

I am slowly learning the 'jobs' I always deferred to the husband.

Sigh.
If I can get it fixed, then good. I have a truck to haul feed and bedding for the indoor stall. Also a truck to haul 'stuff' to the dump or to the scrapping place.

Mule solution

Well, we worked out a solution! Sunshine and Mica do very well together.

I put the gals in together and put in some sweet feed for them to have. They did not fight but ate out of their own pans and commenced to eating hay.
In the morning, they both politely let me put on their halters and lead ropes and I was able to take them both at once to the gate and let them go with no fuss.

This is a winner for me since Mica needs company and Fred pushed her around in the stall and is always creating 'old man mule' havoc.
So this is how it will go this winter.
Two mule gal pals sharing the stall in the poor weather.

Next up on my problem list is the old pickup. Seems the brake lines have a leak and there are some serious issues in the back brakes. Only 12 months ago AND 24 months ago I took the truck in to have it inspected and the Dealer I took it to said it was fine.
Well, they must never have gotten under the truck but each visit found at least $1,200 worth of work.

Never again with them. The UPS dude gave me a phone number of a guy who does this kind of work. So now I have to figure out if I want to tow it there and how much exactly would it cost and would it be worth it?

Decisions, decisions.

At least I am set with the mules for now!

Wild and Wicked Sunday

Really. 

It was not Wild nor was it really Wicked.

First order of the day was to go get a truckload of hay. Rich said he wasn't going with because his knee is swelled up again and it hurts.

It has been drained twice now and both times the aspiration has revealed blood.

The VA orthopedic department did make an appointment for him on December 4th. 

The lady who made the appointment said that we should visit the ED if it was too painful or bothersome before that date.

When a joint fills up with blood it will severely damage that joint. Rich says leave it until his appointment, but I'll drag him over to the ED [ER] tomorrow after seeing Oncology for a follow up. He is in a LOT of pain. I'd like to also find out why the joint keeps filling up with blood.

So, off I went with the pickup and got our monthly supply of small bales of hay. I paid Eddie for the pig we purchased from him. His wife made coffee and I sat down in their kitchen and visited for a bit.

As you can tell from this photo, I'm not really great at just backing into a crowded shed to get close to the spot where we stack our small bales.
I got the truck into the doorway and left it there.
This way I get to move it at least twice by hand!
Once to toss it off the truck and once to stack it.

I will consider it a CrossFit workout...WOD: Move bales and toss them!

I did get it all taken care of and it went slightly better than I expected. Maybe it is that CrossFit training I've been doing. Maybe it was the cold temperatures that made it more comfortable.

Rich and I have been playing Backgammon for Speech Therapy work. He has to use strategy and counting.
I saw how much he enjoyed playing cribbage with our friends from Kenosha.
So I asked him if he'd teach me.

Cribbage is as clear as mud.

But since Rich loves the game so much, I decided I need to try and learn it. There is a method to my madness. As he tries to teach it to me, he works on his communication skills, words, thought process, and counting. IF I play, he promises to do a bit of writing therapy also.

Even when Rich's words don't come out correctly, they are generally close enough that I understand what he is trying to say. Sometimes it is an exact opposite and sometimes it is just a strange new word combination.

So he started by trying to teach me to count.

"15 two, ..." he said holding cards out, "15 four, see?"
I did NOT see I saw a Jack a Queen and a 5 of spades.
He moved his hands again putting them down and repeating them.
"Then there is the crib, but since I am just showing it to you..."

It made absolutely NO sense to me so I suggested we bring out the board and he help me play the game until it clicked.

Patience has never been a strong suit of my husband's. So we played and I could see he was getting frustrated that I 'wasn't' catching on right away. However we played until it was nearly dark outside...moving the pegs in a manner that almost made sense and counting in strange and odd ways.

I suggested we take a break while I did chores and made supper.

After supper Rich went back to watching Netflix and I pulled out some paints and chunks of leftover wood. I wanted to see if I could make crackled paint with Elmer's Glue. I wanted to experiment with glue on glass.

I always like to experiment on small things before trying something else. I saw a video on Modge Podge and paint crackling that may be fun to try...with napkins? I don't know.
I also did a dirty acrylic paint pour, which is drying in the basement.

I'm trying to figure out how I will decorate this year for the Christmas-Winter season. Time to gather new sticks and grasses to make bouquets.

I see light fluffy flakes coming down outside. This monday morning is very grey. The Juncos -- Grandma called them Snow Buntings, are busy in my flower bed.

Time to get my new week going.

Maybe I'll have a wild Monday?

Customer Service where has it gone?

Since Rich has had his stroke, I've had to take his 2003 Diesel Pickup in twice for work.
Last year it was new brakes which were badly needed along with fixing a radiator hose.
The cost was pretty steep and the dealer that did the work delayed and delayed and gave excuses for nearly 12 days.
Begrudgingly I called the same place back to have Rich's truck get an inspection and they said it ran fine [good!] however the ABS sensors were not working.

Um. Okay. Quoted price for replacement. $350. Okay get 'er done!
My appointment was on the 21st. They said they'd have the parts on the 22nd.
They did.

On the 30th I stopped in to ask the status of the vehicle. The helpful/not helpful customer service guy sort of tried to avoid my question by saying that he had multiple tasks to do before he could check on my truck.

I leaned against his desk and said. "Fine. I will wait."

"He will get working on it today..." Customer Service Guy said finally.
I blinked.

On the 4th of September I walked in again. Customer Service Guy tried to avoid my eye. I crossed my arms and didn't say a word.
"He'll look at it today and ..."

I interrupted. "I need the truck you've had it since August 21st. I need to go get hay with it."

"Um. Um. Let me go check." He checks. He comes back and promises it will be done Thursday afternoon.
I don't hold my breath, but Thursday afternoon, the phone rings.

Customer Service Dude. "Um, we went to remove the ABS sensors and they are frozen to the hubs and so the hubs have to be replaced and they are ... $938."
So now the truck is finally getting worked on and they are finally finding another problem...

He continues to go on, "...and this sort of thing happens to older vehicles...."
I squint and start adding the figures in my head. And of course I am caught. The truck is now in pieces and they can put it back to gether for a mere...what???
$1,500?

He goes on again.."I promise it will be done by 10 am on Friday."

10 am Friday morning I am dropped off and walk into the service area.
Customer Service Dude looks harried and worried. I stand and stare at him. I am no longer the patient lady. I can see that my truck keys are not on the board.

"It isn't done," he says.
"We can deliver it to you." He offers.

I stare at him and reply, "Nice but the truck is my ride home. I got a ride here to pick up the truck." I must be a sight. An older lady with purple and teal streaks in her hair wearing a bright orange sweatshirt and jeans with work boots. Arms crossed.

Customer Service Dude seems to get a bit flustered.

"You know Chad..." that is the guy's name..."this is the second time in two years that your service people have made up excuses not to work on my truck. From now on I'll take it somewhere where they would like my business.

I could call my friend that dropped me off but I won't. Dude hands me the keys to a loaner which I know they don't like to do. It is a Cruze and not a truck.
I walk away stiff legged and furious.

When I get home I tell Rich we are going to the Carriage Show in Prairie du Chein for the day.
As we leave my cell phone rings.

"Your truck is ready."
I reply that I'll be there this evening or in the morning.
At least this morning I can drive the loaner in and not have to bother someone for a ride.

But this will be the last time these folks work on my truck.

I walked in this morning and looked at Customer Service Dude. He smiles broadly and tells me the paperwork and keys are 'up front'.
I can see him sigh deeply as I walk away to the service payment desk.

I ask the lady behind the counter to explain to me what the 'inspection' is I paid for. I'd asked for it and that is how they discovered the ABS sensors were not working properly. However they had missed many notable things.
Obvious things that I'd wanted taken care of. Back up light, tail light...wipers, I smiled and said these things I would have gladly paid for because my husband was in the hospital.
But now I will find a friend to help me take care of it.

She blinked.
"We are a bit short staffed," she offered.

"I won't come back here. I became spoiled by my Subaru dealer who makes an unpleasant job of getting your vehicle fixed rather pleasant by taking care of it and letting you know what is going on, how long it will take. When you write out the check for new tires you feel good about it." I smile at her. "And then they call you the next day to see how everything is going."

I begin to write out the check...and say...
"Here I feel like my truck was not worth anyone's time and no one really cared. Customer Service is going to make or break this place. And as far as I am concerned, it is not someplace I will return to. I'll drive 45 miles one way next time to take it to a place that may cost me more, but the service will be much better."

She took my name and phone number and said she'd have someone call me. I smiled.
No, no one would call.

The truck isn't noticeably any better, the brakes don't really feel different.
I'm pretty sure I got 'taken'.

However I won't be back, I will keep my promise on that.

Where has customer service gone to?

If Subaru made heavy duty trucks......
well...
sigh.

Make My Day!

All things were calm and quiet. I was in my PJ bottoms sipping coffee and thinking about how cold it was outside for chores.
The phone rang.

My neighbor's car wouldn't start even though she had put it on the charger. "Could I give the beasties a ride to school?"
Why sure. I grabbed the remote to the Subaru and piled into my heavy coveralls and boots. I wrapped up and headed out to scrape off the windshield.

The kids were really quite good and we got them to school only about 4 minutes late. Since I needed a couple of things we ran into Walmart and grabbed them. Then my nice neighbor took me out to breakfast!

We enjoyed chit chatting and having some friend time.

I laughed when she took off her 3 year old's jacket  and he had a PJ top on.
"What can be better than going out to eat in your PJ's!" I laughed.

Rich had plugged in both his truck and skid steer, he was going to go and get some large bales of hay. While he took a short nap, I decided to go fetch the trail camera from the woods and make a small cross country ski trip out of it.

The sky was bright blue with trails from airplanes overhead. The snow glistened and I had to get a shot of the 'snow diamonds'. Every time I see them I think of my dad.
We called them snow diamonds when we would ski together. And it makes for a fond memory.

I like my skis that I now have. The boots are well insulated and the skis are slightly wider to break trail easier. It only took me about 20 minutes to ski around the meadow and break trail at the same time.

It was much more effortless than snow shoeing. However I can't ski in the woods and snow shoes shine there!

Now another Winter Storm is headed our way. No one is sure what the amount of snow will be.
However since I work the third shift, I decided to pack an overnight bag in case the roads were too wicked to travel on.

Oh, when Rich went to start the truck, it ran just fine. But it won't go anywhere. No hay hauling. It was a very bad time for the truck to break down.
But there we go. Bad things happen, but going out to a PJ breakfast and skiing sure made my day!