Us, December 25, 2021: Leo, Roy, Ondine, John, Shadow
Us, December 25, 2021: Leo, Roy, Ondine, John, Shadow
The saga of Leo's car continues! So, to recap: a couple months ago, the 2012 Chevy Volt he was using died, permanently. But, we lucked into a great 2012 Toyota Prius C from John's Automotive, as a mechanic's lien sale. Well, last week, as Leo was driving home from school, the Prius died! But, it turned out it had just run out of gas, because the gas gauge wasn't actually working! Ironically, Leo had filled it and was running it until one bar so he'd have an idea how many miles he typically got per tank, which is why he didn't fill it earlier (the gauge was stuck on, like, three bars).
Anyways, the parts came in last week to fix the fuel gauge, so Leo dropped the Prius off at John's Automotive. Unfortunately, Toyota had sent the wrong parts! So, his car wasn't available for a while, and he couldn't get a Lyft, which meant we had to shuttle him to and from school and work for a couple days.
Then, when the correct part arrived, they found it was broken! (Bear in mind, these parts are coming brand-new directly from Toyota, not from some scrap yard.) So, they put Leo's car back together and he picked it up, still without a functioning fuel gauge, for repair when correct, unbroken parts arrive.
As a coda, it was taking a while for John's Automotive to dispose of the Chevy Volt and finalize the paperwork, during which time the Volt's registration came due, with increasingly red-letter notices from the DMV. So, after receiving a Notice of Suspension, and fearing that it could become an issue with our upcoming international travel plans, we just gave in and registered the Chevy Volt as non-operative, which it is. So now we're all legal and correct. Unfortunately, now it turns out that being legal and correct might present a problem when it finally does get donated and transported. Wow!
It's a good thing that Ondine's Toyota Prius (2016) and John's Honda Fit (2018) are cruising along fine. And Roy says that according to The Internet, his car, a 2007 Toyota Corolla we got from John's Mom, is about a quarter done with its lifespan. So he figures he's got another 50-60 years to go on it!
That's not the only saga going on right now. We're low-key trying to disentangle our finances from the financial management company after receiving notice of increased management fees. That's a complex task that will take a while.
Work, thankfully, also is cruising along fine. John had a low-key week working right down the hill, although several days were quite busy. And Ondine had a week filled with patient visits, which she much prefers to staying home and making phone calls.
The last two books in John's recent binge of ghost story anthologies arrived this week. The first was The Giant Book of Ghost Stories, edited by Richard Dalby (not to be confused with The World's Greatest Ghost Stories, edited by Richard Dalby, which he also recently acquired, and which has a completely different selection of stories). The second was Not Exactly Ghosts and Fires Burn Blue, two collections combined in one book under the former title, but both by Sir Andrew Caldecott. He's looking for a collection of Amelia B. Edwards next, because he's liked everything he's read of hers.
Roy came by to pick up the hat Ondine crocheted for him. He's mugging for the camera, but check it out, it looks
really cool!
Leo came by Sunday morning, and we spent a happy half-day together working on our summer trip itinerary, booking excursions and admissions to attractions. Although we're going to Germany and England, all our planning was focused on the England leg because in Germany we're visiting family and friends. In England, we'll be in London and Bristol, so we have day trips planned from each of those bases. In London so far, we've booked the Cabinet War Rooms, the British Museum, and the London Eye. Out of Bristol, we booked a day trip to Stonehenge, Avebury, and the Cotswolds. Still to book: day trips to Cambridge (from London) and Bath (from Bristol), and possibly a day trip to Wales (also from Bristol). We figure we'll book a boat tour down the Thames, a guided punt on the River Cam, and night-time ghost tours in London and Bristol when we get there.
Neighborhood gas prices range between $5.79 and $6.49 per gallon, the disparity due to a lingering price war.
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