Today, here in Texas, the temperature is at 67 degrees and it is raining. Last week, it was a hundred degrees and hotter than hell. Well maybe not hotter than hell as by all accounts, that place is a lot warmer than 100 degrees. I hope that I have led a decent enough life that I don’t end up there to find out. Maybe, I can claim that I am from Texas and have had all of the heat that anybody needs just by living in this State.
Seriously though, it is like someone, probably Mother Nature, has pulled a switch and we are now in the Fall temperature range. In many respects, this is the most beautiful time of the year with many late blooming flowers and plants and yes, even the leaves changing color. Not like the Maple trees do in some of the States noted for their Fall foliage and color but enough to make it interesting and still colorful enough. For me, the Fall has to be the most beautiful and satisfying time of the year especially after all of those bloody hot Summer days.
I got up especially early today at 5:30 am. I didn’t know that time still existed as I haven’t had to get up that early in decades. I did not want to miss the alarm which is not very loud and woke up at 5:00 am and then was afraid to go back to sleep in case I woke up late. The reason for the early rising was that I had to be at the truck dealership, which is an hour away when they opened at 7:00 am so as not to be too far down the queue waiting for it to be fixed. I brought it in because the front end was juddering everytime I turned the steering wheel in both directions and I was afraid that something was about to fail and I would be left rudderless going down the highway at 60 mph which could have been very traumatic for both me and the the truck. I needed a 6000 mile service and also my inspection sticker was due for renewal and I figured I would get them done all at the same time. Considering the shock to my system getting up at that ungodly hour, I felt it best to take advantage of that opportunity.
The Dealer Rep that was assigned to me, John, was a different Rep from the one I had dealt with before who had apparently moved on to greener pastures. I chatted to the Rep and told him what the problem was and he immediately jumped in the truck and drove it around the block. He returned 5 minutes later and informed me that it was all fixed and the problem was caused by the trailer backup assist still being on. He showed me the switch so that I could make sure that it didn’t happen in the future. I was so excited for the simple cure that I completely forgot about the oil change and Inspection remembering them when I was halfway home. At that point it had come on to rain so I decided that I would take care of those problems on another day not wishing to be late in line and have to spend at least a half a day sitting in the dealership, drinking bad coffee as I waited for the job to be done. Interestingly enough, when I was describing the problem to John over the phone, I asked about a loaner if the job was going to be an overnight repair and he told me that due to Covid-19, the Dealership was not allowed to loan out vehicles because of the fear of contamination. Makes sense as it would be hard to decontaminate a vehicle before sending it back out on the road. On the other hand, sitting in one of their vehicles with a bunch of strangers getting taken back to their respective abodes also was a bit worrying especially if yours is the furthermost one away. Hard to practice social distancing in a nine seat SUV even if everyone is wearing a mask.
We are two thirds of the way through September and hopefully getting closer to the delivery of my new RV. They said that it might be ready by the end of the month. Funny how time drags when you want it to pass a little quicker and the opposite when you are doing something you really enjoy. Like the man said, “It’s all in the mind”. Time is the one constant thing. It may be moving but never any slower or faster than it should and there is no way to speed it up or slow it down except in your mind.
If this rain keeps up, there will be one disappointed little dog later this evening as we will not be walking.
Written 9/21/2020
