Happy Thursday! I hope that everyone had a good week! This week went kinda fast! I don’t have anything planned for this weekend! I hope hoping to have coffee with some friends, read a book, finish sister wives and maybe take a couple naps! haha So if anyone nearby wants to do something hit me up! haha
Have you seen the movie cars? If you haven’t there is a little race car that ends up in a little town off of route 66 and the little town is dying because the freeway took traffic away from the town. The little town is called radiator springs. The movie is about what the cars in the little town can teach the race car but that isn’t what my story is about. We will come back to this.
When I was younger I drove a 2 door Honda Civic. I had not been driving very long and this car was still pretty new when I was driving home one day and I made a left turn and the strangest noise happened. It was coming from the passanger side of the car. I made some extra left turns and yup, still making that noise! So I get home and I tell my dad “dad my car is making a very strange noise when I turn left. but just left, I tried turning right and it isn’t doing it!” He said “what kinda noise? ” I tried my best to explain it and finally he suggested I drive him around the block to see if he could figure it out! We drive around the block, he has me turn left and left and left and then right and left again. I am sure the neighbors where super confused! So we finally get back home and he said there is nothing wrong with your car. That noise is coming from inside the car!” he put the seat forward and sure enough there was a Snapple bottle (you know in the early 2000 they were glass!) and every time I turned left it was running along the spring that was under the seat that made the seat come forward so people could get into the back seat. I was grateful that there was nothing wrong with my car but that lead to, still to this day, when I mention my car making a noise my dad asks there is anything under my seat. Sometimes the solution is pretty simple!
So most of you know I spent the month of July in New Mexico with my parents. I was also fortunate enough to be able to help my brother and sister in law move in to their new house in Phoenix. They already lived there, they just moved to a new house! The new house is gorgeous and I am so proud of my little brother! But that is a very different story! haha The way the timing of their close worked out I found myself there the last weekend of my trip. Normally the trip to and from my parents is about 12 hours closer to 13 with my puppers. Well coming from Phoenix it was only going to be about 15 hours so I knew I had to make it work! traveling this way I was going to be traveling through southern New Mexico and this would take me back to Fort Worth in a way that I have never traveled before but with a couple audio books queued up and my copilot Gabbana we set off. Things were going pretty good, I stopped in Las Cruces to grab some NMSU merch, I drove through El Paso, and I set my sights on Odessa. That was the goal for the night. God had other plans! I started to hear a grinding noise. Not all the time but just when I hit a bump or something. So I exit the freeway and I find a parking lot and I start to look around I moved some straws that I had in the pocket of the door to make sure that they weren’t the cause for some reason. You know the Snapple conversation is gonna come up with I call dad! I don’t see anything, I pop the hood, like if I am going to notice if anything is wrong under the hood! But I look in and listen to see if the noise happens.
So I get back on the freeway and I call dad and he is like is your car smoking or working differently? I am like well no, and he suggests I just keep going it is probably nothing too critical. The noise is really starting to worry me so I pull of the freeway again and I look under my car. There it is. There is a piece of metal that seems to be scraping the ground. I send my dad a picture and he said oh that is the oil pan guard thing, I think he had a name for it this is just what it actually was! haha He said it would be fine.
The more I drive the worse it gets. I pass this little town and it is finally so bad that it is dragging all the time. I get to this gas station that has this garage for a traveling diesel mechanic on the premises. I called the number and the guy said that he is about 2 hours out. I said ok, he said if you wait there for me I won’t even charge you. I said done! So, I park in the shade and I get out my book. Well 2 hours goes by and I call him and nothing! another half hour, nothing! I am starting to get frustrated and a little nervous because now I am approaching dark . I call again and still nothing. I ask a man that is putting gas if he could help me jack the car up and I was going to try to take it off myself and he said “no thank you”. I asked another man if he had a jack I could borrow for a couple minutes because he had a car on a trailer he was pulling. He said “I have one but I don’t have time to help you”. I was a little disappointed in these guys. I had specifically asked guys that were about my dads age because I thought they would be more willing to help!
So I put on my big girl panties and had to figure something out. I didn’t know if I had AAA, but didn’t need a tow, I just needed to take that thing off! Back in the little town I had just passed they had a Luv’s truck stop so I went back using the frontage road and my hazards. When I got there they had a mechanic on duty. I told him the situation and he said he would take a look at it. He got under the car and took it right off in like 2 seconds. Ok maybe like 3 minutes. He asked if I wanted him to dispose of it and I said no thank you I want Honda to see this shit! The mechanic told me that it looks like it just wasn’t put on right after they changed my oil so taking it to Honda was a good idea!
Well, while I was dealing with that my mom found me a hotel in the area. I needed a place that would allow Gabbana to stay with me. She directed me to a Hilton and I got checked in and realized I was starving! So Gabbana and I venture out to this little town that reminded me of radiator springs. Where I was staying was right off the freeway and had the big chains, a jack in the box, a McDonalds, a couple big name hotels. but there was another road off to the side that had a little mom and pop restaurant, motels. It was kinda sad that this was a real l ife radiator springs. It was cute little town and if I wasn’t eager to get back home or if I had known I was going to stay there a little longer I might have explored a little!
I never did get a hold of that guy. I was so angry that he told me to just wait he would send someone. I would still be sitting there waiting! I mean yes it all worked out but what a bad business man. What sucks about it though is that he can treat people that way because he is in the middle of nowhere and he is skilled. If he had called and said like hey the thing I was doing is taking longer sorry I could have figured something out earlier! So if you are ever in Plataeu Texas and you need a mechanic don’t use the one at the Valero!
When I got back to Texas Honda got a piece of my mind! They replaced the metal piece, whatever it was called. they had to order one and then I came in a week later and they put it on. I was frustrated because it was not like I had taken it to some speedy oil change place! I really should look in oto my AAA benefits that I get with my insurance before my next adventure!
A final note, I am taking a small break from Facebook, I have removed the APP from my phone because I am tired of all the hate people have for basically everything! I haven’t deleted it just taking a step back so I might not post all of the blog updates on facebook like I usually do. You can get notifications in your email when I update. I hope you consider! I am going to finish my lunch and try to get some work done! I hope everyone has a good weekend!
The Chronicles Of Nay 
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