Odyssey - Yesterday was a planned day to work from home. Tuesday night I'd met Michelle at the Honder Dealah in Nashua to do a night drop off of the van. Imagine my surprise when I saw her, the three boys, and Claire too. Looking a little sheepish she explained, "Claire asked to go at the last minute and neither of us really thought about it until we were almost here." So we crammed four children into the back of my Jetta, ordered some Taco Bell, and head home.
This morning I dropped Claire off at school and then returned home to start work. Michelle got the rest of the kids out to the bus and later used my car to get Timothy to school. It was the first time ever that Michelle drove my car by herself. She said she wasn't feeling that well and would lay down a while. This is Michelle... she doesn't nap before noon. Before lunchtime I picked up Timothy from school and took him with me to the YMCA so that Michelle could rest a little longer.
Shortly after returning with Timothy, Honda called to say that the van was ready. Two things annoyed me about the maintenance. First, one of the items was a problem we were having where the first two clicks of the blower fan switch didn't work. For the price of having a resistor diagnosed and replaced, I could have had a timing belt changed! Second, when they called earlier in the morning, they had said that the brake fluid was looking pretty dark and could stand to be replaced. How do I say no to brake work on the vehicle that hauls my wife and kids! So in the end the thing had its 75K service, a new blower motor resistor, brake fluid flush, oh... and new wiper blades. $850. That van has to last at least another 2 1/2 years, so I just smiled and wrote the check. Michelle is starting to think seriously about going to the local private mechanic I use for most of my Jetta maintenance. The van is well out of warrantee anyway.
Oh and that resistor? $90. For a resistor. Even when I look it up online, it's ~$50. Again, for a resistor. Not a processor with dozens of man years of engineering. A resistor. Can you tell I was a bit upset?
As I continued working through the afternoon, it dawned on me. Our year 2000 van has 77K miles. My year and a half old Jetta is almost at 40K. I'm half way there mileage-wise. Thank goodness it's a diesel — engines known to typically last long. I'm also grateful that recently my boss encouraged me to work two days a week from home. Today I'll configure a laptop requisitioned to facilitate that shift. That'll drop the 500 miles per week average down to 300.
Michelle, while feeling better than yesterday, still has stomach pangs this morning. I pray that whatever is working its way through her, finishes up soon...