Friday
After I got home from work, Marcia, Nigel, and I headed down to see our friends Andy and Yvonne. It has been a while since we have seen them, especially Yvonne who has been traveling for her “second job.” (She’s a writer.) Nigel had been in a cranky mood for much of the day, and it sort of continued while we were visiting. The biggest issue now is that anything he can reach is something that he must have, therefore if you take it away from him the tantrums start. They don’t necessarily last long, especially since we brought his blocks along, which he loves.
We ordered out from a local steakhouse, though I think it may be a chain. It was a great choice since both Marcia and I had been craving burgers. I know I wasn’t disappointed either.
I also got a book of Yvonne’s signed by her. The book is actually an omnibus of a series of short stories she had written regarding the same group of characters. I had READ the first one a while back, but it was only an eBook. However, the book has been published in the typical format that we are used to. I had it on my wish list at Amazon, but hadn’t gotten around to getting it yet. Though with this copy signed I will still be getting the others in eBook format so not to mess up the book. It’s not a genre I have ever read, nor typically will. But it’s got fantasy elements that makes it fun to read.
Thank you Yvonne … err, I mean Eve Vaughn! ; )
Saturday
I spent the first hour and a half of my Saturday at a service center for cars/trucks. I needed new tires for the Jeep. It is due for inspection this week, and the tires were not going to pass. I had let them go too long. I did pretty well, with extra warranty coverage added, and still kept the total cost at $500. But it still needs to get through inspection, and I know a couple of things may need to be fixed.
The biggest issue is the oil pressure. I had it looked at over a year and a half ago because it was idling around 15 to 20 psi. The garage found nothing wrong, and even called Jeep and found out that they said all is well if you are at 13 psi or more when idling. But in the last few weeks, I have had it idle below 10 psi. Sometimes even getting the “Check Gauges” light flashing at me. For the next couple of days I really paid attention to what it was doing, and left it at a repair shop while we went to Detroit for my grandma’s funeral. The guys at the garage couldn’t find anything wrong with it. They don’t do any major engine work and called a place that did, and they said it could be one of many things. One of them is that the engine is just fatigued, having over 127,000 miles on it. They suggested I call a Jeep dealer, and of course they want me to bring it in. They said they will start with the sending unit, and then go from there. I take it in tomorrow and will be telling them to ONLY change the sending unit. If that doesn’t help it, then I am going to put a higher weight oil in it. If that helps, then I will leave it at that, and just drive the Jeep back and forth to work.
Nigel spent a good portion of time napping, so between my visit for new tires and his nap I got a lot of reading done. Then Marcia and I had dinner with him, sitting down as a family for dinner for the first time at home since … well, I think it was the first time that wasn’t a holiday or special occasion ever. He has become a picky eater at times, but it seems when he is really hungry he will eat anything. After dinner, Marcia and I lounged around making Nigel watch some of our favorite sketches of Monty Python. Alright, so Nigel played with his toys, but his Mommy and Daddy had a good time watching.
Sunday
My nephew Colin, David and Catherine’s son, was baptized on Sunday. The ceremony was to start at 1:30, but the mass before took a little longer, or started later then expected. Nigel was BAPTIZED at the same church back in January of 2006. I ended up spending the whole ceremony in the room next to the sanctuary with Nigel, David’s sister Nancy, and her daughter Bethany. At that time Nigel had not had a nap, and it was starting to show. Plus as I mentioned before, he is in exploring stage, meaning he can’t sit still for more then a minute, unless he is at home playing with his toys of course. I was told that Colin cried a lot, but didn’t hear much of it at all. The sound system in the room worked great for the first two minutes of the ceremony. However, by the end of the shindig, Colin was fast asleep.
After the ceremony we went back to David and Catherine’s place (a whopping one mile drive!) for something to eat. Catherine had made some great meatballs with spinach, and there were other treats, especially the soft pretzel sticks with a multitude of dips (I think they had four different mustards on top of other choices). And they also had some Stoudt’s Pils, which was hoppier then I expected, but still refreshing with the hot humid weather. It went great with my meatball sub.
Recent Comments