summer vacation, part 3: John's handyman work

Saturday afternoon when I woke up John and I went out to NTB and got a new tire put on my wheel. Then we went to Wal-mart and got some supplies for him to do the electrical work. I had decided that I wanted John to try and fix it, rather than go to a repair shop and spend lots of money. John was pretty confident that he could get it fixed up enough to last me for a few more months; which was good because I was going to ask my grandpa to help me car shop when he and grandma come to visit in October.

John put the tire on, which was the easy part. Then he started putting wires back together and that was a little more complicated because there were a lot of them and he wasn't sure what they went to; in fact, we still aren't sure what they run, because while the wires have been reconnected to themselves, they are no longer connected to anything at the end, yet everything in the car still seems to be in working order.

John got the repairs finished for less than $100 and by the end of the evening. I didn't get to go to the Tiger's game with Heather on Lutheran night like we had planned, but at least my car was running again.

Saturday morning I took my car out for some gas (it only had 1 gallon left) and a test drive: it stalled 4 times in less than 1 miles of driving. John looked at it again, took it back for a test drive and didn't have any troubles; he thought that it was stalling just because sediment at the bottom of the gas tank had gotten stirred up, but with filling the tank and stepping on the gas that the stalling would quit. I took it out for another run and he was right. So, after lunch I was back on the road and heading home to Ann Arbor.

Now, you are reading my blog and I have safely made it home. What will become of my car? Well, it's due for another oil change, so I'll take it to a good mechanic to have him look inside and double check everything. If he says it's good for a while longer I'll have more time to save for a new car. If he says its life span is shorter, then it's a good thing grandpa is coming and helping me car shop.

I said I was going to drive the car till it died, but I am getting close to pronouncing it dead to me. I'm tired of car troubles because of the expense and the stress! But thank the Lord for Joe who changed my tire, the highway patrol officer who drove me to Cambridge, and John and Kim who rescued me!