Gotta love old cars...

Monday, August 1, 2011

It was another hot, sultry day and driving in dress clothes to an appointment, I found it necessary to turn on the air conditioning in the Honda…only the Honda didn’t think this was such a good plan. I’d noticed that it wasn’t particularly cold air that was shooting into my face from the vent when my eyes wandered to the temperature gauge and noticed it was flirting with the red zone. I immediately pulled over the car in some shade and went about investigating the cause. The radiator was down a quart even though it was only a month old, so I filled it and called Dan. “Are the fans working when it gets hot? Maybe I forgot to plug it back in when I put in the new radiator,” he said…a little worried he’d screwed up. He hadn’t and it was working. We agreed I’d stop out that night for him to have a look.

With the air conditioning off, I made my way to my next appointment without incident. At the day’s end, I headed for Mimi’s to see what interesting work she had for me. She wanted me to take down what she’d called trees and I called big bushes…with a chainsaw. I looked at them…and at her…and said I could bite through them. “I don’t want you hurting yourself,” she kept saying but I guess she forgets what a finely tuned physical specimen I am. “I’m a finely tuned physical specimen, Mimi…this is no big deal. Get a dump truck to drop 5 yards of mulch in the driveway too and I’ll spread it after I’ve pulled out these ‘trees’,” I told her.

With that, I left for Dan’s. I wanted to get there quickly and get back to the park to do the Survival Workout before dark. He hopped in the car after checking under the hood and seeing nothing so we could put it to the test. With the air conditioning on full tilt, we went for a ride. Of course it worked perfectly and there was no sign of overheating. I was backing out of the driveway to go home when I saw Dan bending to the ground, putting his finger into something where my car had been, and waving me back into the driveway. In short order, he discovered the water pump was leaking…and the Honda was staying. “Should have brought your bike,” he said as I called Holly to come and rescue me. While we were waiting for her to arrive, I made Dan climb over his garage in the storage area and pull his bike out. It was a beautiful Univega with Dura Ace components…which are the best. I told him I’d take it home and get it road ready while he was fixing the car and then we’d ride. “Deal,” he said.

Holly and I drove to Chagrin Falls for dinner at Joey’s, but once seated and having reviewed the menu, decided that it was too pricey. I’m not cheap, but I hate paying $20 for a piece of lasagna. I do know what goes into it…and it ain’t worth THAT much. We ended up at Yours Truly instead where I ate salmon, a salad and the oriental vegetables…very Paleo.

Bottom line…no exercise though I have now set up Saturday to be a major calorie burner in Mimi’s yard. If I add a bike or Survival Workout to that day, I’ll easily make up for missing today. Sometimes…shit happens.