My Little Helper
~Wednesday, April 7, 2021~
Day 297
Today was all about “Hank”, at least most of the day. The lock mechanism for the driver’s side door was delivered to the dealership yesterday late afternoon, followed by the installation this morning. It’s been a little strange not having him around these past few days, so we’re happy to be picking him up today. While we were going over the paperwork, we were told it appeared the driver’s side door had been tampered with, which subsequently affected the door being able to lock remotely. It looked like someone had pulled the handle away, then took a pair of pliers trying to cut off the connectors behind the handle to the door. Come to think of it, a few months back, I noticed some light scratches on the plate behind the handle but thought maybe they were scratches from the keys or something. We have no idea where or exactly when this would have taken place, but our theory is that it likely happened in a store parking lot. Sometimes we bring Sadie along for errand days if the weather/temps permit. So our theory is while Sadie slept in the backseat (the back windows are more tinted than the front), someone tried to break in not knowing there was a “Kujo'' inside. As soon as Sadie came to, and realized they weren’t part of her “pack”, she sounded off her alarm scaring them away. The car alarm definitely would have gone off at some point had they actually opened the door, but forgot to ask at what point does that alarm sound? With the Ford app on our phones, it’s really come in handy for so many things…..one of them being a notification of the alarm going off. And there have been occasions where we’ve heard the alarm sound off with the car parked somewhere. Break-ins or even attempted ones, are quite unsettling aren’t they? One of our considerations now, is when we have errands to run, we both should go, where one of us stays in the car holding down the fort.
When it came time to pay for the maintenance stuff, we were trying to pay with our Ford rewards points since they do expire. Those points can be redeemed for most any repair/service at a Ford dealer. But there was some mix-up with the email address associated with the account. Anway, after an hour or so of trying to sort that out, we were ultimately able to use them to pay for today’s bill after all.
While Jeff went one way to pick up caulk for the new shower door (stay tuned on that one), and a few other things, I went the other way to fill up the truck (diesel is expensive here $3.00/gallon-we’re used to $2.50) and buy more firewood for our campout tomorrow night with Hannah, Devin and the kids. My final errand was an environmentally conscious one. We’ve been carrying around a slew of used household batteries for some time and I’ve been trying to find a place that would take them. We go through quite a bit between the headlamps and the interior candles I’ve got scattered throughout the trailer. Since hubby would not let me have the real deal, the fake candles were my only alternative, which I must say, are pretty real looking. But they do take a lot of batteries. I thought for sure, with this town’s size, I didn’t think it would be a problem trying to find a recycling center that would take them. A few phone calls later, I found a library, of all places, that would accept them. With it being just a few miles away, I accomplished my mission. An added bonus was the opportunity to drive through the college town of Urbana, home to the University of Illinois. What a beautiful campus! And I’ve always liked the energy of college towns. At least on this campus, things appear to be getting back to some normalcy, even with the pandemic still lingering. This college town was vibrant, hoppin’ and operating full-throttle.
Back at the campsite, Jeff and I noticed the truck’s key lock on the same door was loose. Since the key entry wasn’t the original issue (or so we thought), we didn’t think to look at this, but Ford should have. They’re explanation was since that part wouldn’t be covered under warranty, and it wasn’t necessary to repair to have the door operate properly, they didn’t fix it. What we are surprised about is why they didn’t inform us of that problem, and let us decide whether or not we wanted it taken care of. After we found out that the cover plate behind the handle would have to be ordered and color matched as well as a new key lock (apparently it’s all one assembly), those things wouldn’t be delivered until next Monday or Tuesday. This will extend our stay by a few days which is exactly why we left a cushion of a week, in case more issues came up with the truck. AND we get a few extra days with family. Yeh!! And we know, it won’t be a problem staying at our campsite a few extra days since they’re not even at half capacity. Cost for repairs….$500. So without hesitation, I phoned our insurance company to find out that our comprehensive deductible is $250, so we’re definitely going to file a claim.
With the craziness of the day, we didn’t get to the kid’s place until around 5:30. We had plans to go to the park, but it was just too late in the day and we didn’t want a late dinner. Tonight’s selection...homemade pizzas, and what a helper we had. Easton grabbed his little stool, which put him at the perfect height to help put all the fixings on the dough.
I think a few extra nibbles of pepperoni were being snuck in and he made sure his pizza had plenty of red sauce. After claiming an entire pizza, in the end, Easton only ate a few bites at dinner. A little picky eater that one is. And we finally had an opportunity to open Carson’s birthday gifts as well as a few little Easter goodies from grandma and grandpa.