Day 904

I got the repair estimates on my car today. Ouch! The problem with having an old British car is that certain parts can be very expensive. There are a variety of things wrong with the car, but the expensive thing is going to be getting a new power steering pump. I was hoping that there was just a leak in the lines, but unfortunately the entire pump has gone out. I could buy a reasonably decent used car for the price of this pump. In the past, an expensive repair like this would have convinced me that it was time to trade the car for something new. There comes a point in every car's life where it costs more to keep the car running than to get something new. I've reached that point, but unfortunately times have changed. The cars that I like to drive have become ungodly expensive and I'm not making as much money as I used to. With few alternatives, I just keep repairing the Defender 90.

On the bright side of things, I did manage to get rid of the horrible Chevy Cruze. The dealer took pity on me and gave me a new LR-2 to drive until my repairs are complete. Since some of the parts have to be ordered from Europe, I might be driving this loaner car for a long time. That's one thing I've always liked about Land Rover. They have great service. I may be driving the oldest Land Rover in town, but they still treat me like I'm a basketball player driving a tricked out Range Rover with 26 inch Asanti wheels. Unfortunately I can't say the same thing for Enterprise. The treat everyone like they're trying to rent their cars to harvest a marijuana crop or dispose of a dead body. I try to avoid Enterprise.

The day started out nice enough, but storm clouds started rolling in by early afternoon. I expected the dogs to panic when the thunderstorms started. What I didn't expect was for my U-verse service to go out again one day after I got everything fixed. Luckily, this just seemed to be a temporary glitch. An hour or two after the connection went down, it mysteriously returned again. So far, U-verse is turning out to be a lot like cable. It's great when it works, but not so great when there's a problem. 

I was hoping that the rain would quit so the dogs could go to training class this evening. No such luck. It's still raining as we speak, and Dot is hiding under the desk, waiting nervously for the thunder to stop. I'm just hoping that we make it through the night without a roof leak. I've learned the hard way that it's pretty stupid to try to clear the water off the roof in the dark. I've got plenty of buckets. We'll just wait until morning.

Wendy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 902

I don't know why I even bothered to get out of bed this morning. By the time I'd finished getting my car towed to the Land Rover dealer and gone through the hassle of finding a rent car, the day was half over. Usually, the dealer gives me a loaner Land Rover when I take my car in for service. They didn't have any vehicles available today though, so I had to rent a car from Enterprise. I ended up with a Chevy Cruze. Definitely not my favorite vehicle! I think the Cruze is supposed to be Detroit's answer to the Honda Civic. To me, it's just a piece of junk. Honda, Kia, Toyota and many others all make better low priced cars. Hopefully, I'll have my Defender back soon.

When I got home, I noticed that the TV wasn't working. Then I noticed that the Internet wasn't working either. When I tried to call AT&T tech support, I noticed that even the phones didn't work. My U-verse was dead. Since I couldn't remember my U-verse account number, I drove down to the AT&T store in the miserable Chevy to ask for assistance. The sales guys found my account number and told me to call an 800 service number on my cell phone. I had hoped they would tell me what was wrong, but I guess I shouldn't have expected any more from AT&T. Eventually, I ended up talking to an outsourced technical support guy in the Philippines. They ran a remote diagnostic test on my system and told me that someone had cut the fiber optic cable somewhere between the server and my house. I wasn't getting a broadband signal at all. Supposedly, technicians were already working on the problem and would have things working again in three hours. Eight hours later, things still aren't working. Luckily, I still have my little T-Mobile 4G hotspot. Without the hotspot, I would have been dead in the water today. I called AT&T again this evening to get an update on repairs and was told that a technician was scheduled to come out sometime tomorrow. I wonder what happened to the guy who was supposed to be working on the problem today?

Dash has to go to the vet to get his teeth cleaned tomorrow morning. This is a very routine procedure, and my vet is very good, but I still worry. I think any time you have to use anesthesia, it is serious business. Year ago, I had a friend who took his dog to the vet to have its teeth cleaned and the dog died. After all these years, I still haven't forgotten that. Having an older dog with gum disease can be serious too, so I always go ahead and have the dogs teeth cleaned whenever the vet recommends it. I'll be glad when it's over though. I don't even like to have my own teeth cleaned.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day