The saga of my car.


On Saturday 13th October 2012 the water pump on my Hyundai Santa Fe failed.  This led to a chain reaction of very costly failures.

I was sans-car for twelve days until, the repairs completed; my car and I were reunited on Thursday 25th October 2012.

I was also sans-funds!  On that Thursday I drove first to the bank at which I have a savings account, and then, laden with $100 bills I drove to the bank which hosts my checking (current) account, there to deposit them to meet the check (cheque) which I had uttered to “Sam’s Auto Repair”.

I also took my dog Penne for a ride – she regards this as a great treat.

On Friday 26th October 2012 I used my car to do a bit of shopping, I noticed a pronounced squeaky sound and guessed that one of the new belts needed some tightening.

So at 8:30 a.m. today I was back at Sam’s.  Gerry, their very excellent manager at first agreed with my guess.

But soon after my car was on the lift it became clear that something else was amiss.

It transpired that the car’s “Harmonic Balancer” was out of alignment.  “Heavens to Betsy” I had never heard of a Harmonic Balancer in a car.

“Wikipedia” has -  see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_balancer  (cut and paste if necessary)

Gerry told me that Sam’s would not be able to fix the problem until next Monday 29th October 2012, and that I could use the car “with caution”.

My own sense of caution led me to decide to leave the car at Sam’s until the repairs are made.

Sam’s Auto (God bless them) gave me a ride back to my home.

Later in the morning my good pal Ben Morse (God bless him) drove me to my Opticians Office to pick up my new spectacles, and to a store where we  could buy some supplies for the weekend.

(It was by sheer coincidence that our route took us right by “Total Wine” – Ben’s favourite store!)

So once again I am without a car.  It’s a minor nuisance.

But there are blessings.

1. Sam’s Auto will not charge me for the new repairs. Gerry told me that they should have checked the “Harmonic Balancer” when they effected the previous repairs.

2. Ben is a good pal who is always ready to be kind, helpful and gracious to all of his friends.

Location: 1717 N Lockwood Ridge Rd, Sarasota, FL 34234, USA

Comments

  1. Phil Craig23 January 2013 at 09:33

    That was certainly a chain of unfortunate events! But, it’s good that the repair shop was responsible enough to repair the new problem without the extra charge. Anyway, how’s your car now? I think it was a smart move to just let the car sit in the shop to get repaired. That way, you made sure you didn’t fool around with it and just cause more bad than good.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoe insults

Last year I consulted with a local podiatrist: Dr. Robert F Herbold Jr. D.P.M. 4717 Swift Rd., Sarasota , FL – 34231  because I was being bothered with a couple of bunions  (yes I am at that age). I was very impressed with this Doctor.  He agreed that I had bunions, but he ventured that it was much too soon for surgery. (Now there’s a first). Instead he recommended some “arch supports” to relieve the tension for my feet, a tension which was exacerbating the bunions. What’s more -  he told me that he sells these arch supports at the miserly sum of $2.50 each (about 1/5 of the price in the local pharmacies). He is an honest man, and I recommend him to anyone with foot problems. So, a couple of weeks ago, having purchased some new walking shoes, I knew that I needed to buy a couple of new arch supports I took myself to his office. Once there, my mind went blank. I wanted to ask his front desk Clerk if I could buy some “shoe inserts” , as I could not remember the words “ar
Read more

The background, the couple, my friends, the wedding ceremony, the Shaykh, the Priest,

Image
The background   I have known the Keller/Bonsey family since 2000 when I became the Rector at St. James's, Cambridge, MA. They (Elisabeth Keller and the Revd. Steven Bonsey with their four children Noah, Sam, Josiah and Annie) had come back to Cambridge from Hawaii where Steve had been the Rector of an Episcopal parish. Steve had just been appointed as a Chaplain at Tufts University (no Sunday morning duties) so the entire family was able to enrich our common life at St. James's - which they did with great love and joy. I count them as friends and have stayed in touch with them since my retirement.  Noah, the oldest son is eloquent in Arabic (he spent a year in Damascus when Syria was a safe place).  He has developed a super career as an analyst of social media in the near East.    Noah worked in Tampa for a while a few years ago, so he and I were able to get together a few
Read more

It began in Bristol U.K. "A man dies" and "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Image
I well remember the swirling controversy in Bristol, U.K. when a (Presbyterian) Minister the Revd, Earnest Marviin created a ":Rock Opera", called "A Man Dies"  in and for his congregation in the Lockleaze area of Bristol, U.K. Earnest Mrvin I was a sixteen years old member of the Plymouth Brethren Church back in those days, so I most likely disapproved of "A Man Dies" .  We, (the Plymouth Brethren),  disapproved of everything! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had forgotten all about "A Man Dies" until earlier today when saw these pictures on the "Bristol, Then and Now"  Facebook page.   St. James Presbyterian Church, Lockleaze, Bristol  The Bristol Then and Now page includes the following commentary: Lockleaze, Bristol  -  'Jesus Christ Superstar' began at St.James (Presbyterian) Chur
Read more