And all in the last two weeks!
Remember in our last edition, my shoulder had imploded, my blood pressure had gone out of control, and my GP was scared enough to set up appointments with four specialists and have me given morphine to stop the pain. All we were trying to do was drive out to a state park and spend two or three days resting after a big medical scare. I figured the lake and the woods would lower the blood pressure.
We packed up the RV and headed on down the road. The RV bucked like it was haunted by rodeo riders. Dan pulled over, pulled off the inside motor cover, and declared that several of the spark plug wires he’d just put in had melted. So it was running on 5 cylinders instead of 8. We limped it home.
He ran out for wires, I made a later lunch, we ate, he charged back, and got the wires in. It ran like a dream all the way until we got to the Flying J in Sunbury for gas. Dan put $100 in the tank, made an entry in his trip book, and tried to start it. All it did was tick. He got out his tools and worked on it. He declared the starter he had just put on a month ago was dead as well. He called Triple-A, who would get back to him. I called a mobile repair place; the man came out, and the estimate was $275 an hour plus $150 to 176 in parts. Dad said he’d call AAA back. They sent out a truck quickly, but it was too small to haul our RV. The RV is 11 feet high from the A/C down, and once it’s up on the trailer, it no longer fits under bridges. So he left, and we called AAA back. They researched, sure enough, they have a truck that can do that. They’d call. They contacted us back, and no such truck existed any longer, even though he pays for RV Plus, which appears to have no roadside service. And the babies were good as gold running up and down the aisle of the RV, eating cookies, trying to convince the mechanic’s junkyard dog, the biggest darn pit bull I’ve ever seen, to come home with us-not happening.
So we called Alana to come get the babies and us, since there was no way we could move it until someone could come. We load up into her car an hour later, only to find that Dan can’t find the key to the outside lock. He sent us home and was trying to find a locksmith. We are fifteen minutes out when he finds the key, locks it, and asks us to come back.
Now Alana’s Subaru has only got 5 seats, and they are inhabited by cheering babies, the driver, and me. Alana rode in the far back, and so did Dan; yes, probably illegal. Our RV is back there at Flying J’s, waiting on us to locate someone who can haul it. We finally got the RV home two days later.
Typing appears to make my fingers go to sleep, and my arm aches. Wish the diagnosis would come through. I’d like to at least have a name for whatever is going on in my shoulder.
In the middle of this, Alana got a new puppy of unknown origins. Does anyone have some suggestions on good DNA tests that aren’t too frightfully expensive? I mean, I can get a human DNA test for fifty bucks, why not a canine one?
And it appears we are heading into another storm front: it’s getting dark outside, the sky is roiling around, and perhaps I shall just take a nap until it’s over.
I got the cover to my next book, and it’s wonderful. I shall do a cover reveal, perhaps later in this newsletter.
And since my hand is going numb from just this small amount of typing, I am going to post the special of the week and get those out. Then I ice my shoulder, again. Hope you have a good week, and hope I can visit a bit more next time! (And remember all our books are available on KU as well.)
May 25-June 1 Recipes from a Not Quite Functional Family Reunion
It is reduced for one week to 99 cents, just in time to find something new to take to your own family reunion, and read some rollicking good stories.
Each year, our Appalachian family went back home like lemmings over a cliff to visit, eat, drink too much, and make sure the family bonds were still firmly in place. The food was legendary, the gossip was juicy, and someone always fell in the pond. Get a taste of Appalachian history, served with a dash of dysfunction. Step into a family reunion where the dishes are timeless, the stories are priceless, and the love is slightly unhinged. Just in time for your own family reunion, enjoy the laughter while it’s on sale.