When I was little, I was often told how much I looked---and acted---like my mother. I was little. I was cute. I was funny. She enjoyed the comparison
As I'm getting older, more and more often I am hearing from my mom, "You are just like your father." Usually this happens when I am displaying characteristics such as determination (stubbornness), confidence (close-mindedness), and focus (obtuseness).
Evidently my genes didn't splash only in her side of the pool.
But there is one key way I am totally unlike my father, much to his everlasting regret. And that attribute was on full display yesterday.
My dad would make a Boy Scout look bad. His motto is "Be prepared----for anything and everything up to AND including world destruction." The back-up systems of his back-up systems have back-up systems.
He's tried to instill the same ethic into me, especially now that I live out in the country by myself. And to a certain extent, it's worked. I like having lots of back-up systems. That way, I have lots of things that can quit working before I ever actually have to do anything about it!
This same mentality carries over to my cars. As long as they are still running, I can deal with minor annoyances like most of my lights not working, or a door that's stuck on with duct tape. But eventually I reach that certain point where something must be done. The last headlight flickers out, or the last working door stops opening. And that is when I put my Extreme Back-up Plan into action---the CFD.
Call For Daddy!
Last spring, I bought a new-to-me car. Well, I started making payments on it, and this month I made the final one. It is all mine now, so naturally it is time for things to start breaking. When I bought it, it already had the funny little quirk that the gas tank door wouldn't open unless you used the manual release in the trunk.
No problem. I could handle that.
Then, when the cold weather hit, I started having trouble with the trunk. It wouldn't latch properly.
No problem. I could jiggle the latch around until it caught.
Everything in my system was going ever so smoothly until the day came when the trunk wouldn't open and the gas tank door was latched shut. At least I still had a full tank of gas, right? No need to worry about it yet...
But yesterday, a whole 6 months worth of chickens came home to roost when I couldn't open my trunk, couldn't open my gas tank, and was out of gas. Time to implement the Extreme Back-up Plan!
Is it just me, or is the Extreme Back-up Plan getting noisier? Seems to have a constant low-level grumbling noise emanating from the motor and something like the sound of teeth grinding in the gears. I should probably have that looked at----but no need to rush.
Why do today what I can put off til tomorrow?
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