Today was definitely not more of the same except it sort of
was.
There was a dentist appointment scheduled for 9:00, which is
exactly the number one most popular choice for a vacation day activity, am I
right? Being there for 9:00 meant leaving the house at 8:00, which meant preparing
to depart about 7:40. The pre-flight check includes wrangling the dogs into male
diaper wraps. Moose also gets an infant diaper inside the wrap to capture his abundant urine production. So, two dogs, two wraps, one actual diaper, multiple good boy cookies
for compliance.
The ride to Fitchburg was light on traffic, making it the
ideal trek, and landing me in the parking lot 20 minutes before showtime. That’s
when I noticed the red, battery shaped light flashing on the control panel. Of course
there would be a car issue, it’s been maybe two weeks since the last visit
to an auto shop. The manual resides in the glove box for moments like this.
According to pages 63 and 213, the battery was not charging, and all extra electrical
things should be shut off. The A/C and radio were turned off and the phone
charger unplugged. The manual also said there was a risk the car wouldn’t start
again after it was turned off. I backed out of the parking spot and turned the
car around in case service was needed when I got out of my appointment, and added the phone number for AAA into my phone contacts.
Next was texting my sister to alert her that I might be late
getting to her house, calling my Mom with the same news and checking if Stepdad
had any suggestions. It’s a good thing I arrived early.
The appointment started with the joyous news there was no need for Novacaine (I hate that needle), it was a one person procedure and a simple matter of taking off the temporary crown and
putting on the permanent crown. Boom. Done. The temporary popped off like a dream,
but the permanent did not pop right on. There was adjusting. There was fidgeting.
There was the calling in of other dental professionals until there three people hovering over me. And then, we were suddenly back
at the initial step of several weeks ago with Novacaine, poking and prodding, impressions, more
impressions, and an appointment scheduled in another week to deliver the new
crown that will replace the original new crown which will be returned to the
lab as “unsatisfactory” due to the absence of fit.
Back in the parking lot, the car started, but the battery
light was flashing like a strobe light. I called Mom and texted my sister
and learned that my brother-in-law would be coming out to me to check the
battery. His little machine indicated it was the
alternator. We headed to my sister’s. Oddly, the light went out when the car was moving, but flashed when stopped
at a red light.
 |
| Men at work. |
We made it to the house without incident, where Stepdad waited
with his portable tool chest. Brother-in-law and Stepdad got busy under the
hood. The suspect part is buried deep in the contents of the front end,
requiring a lot of dismantling from both top and bottom. Brother-in-law dashed
out to the auto parts store for a new alternator. Meanwhile, my sister, Mom, three nieces and
I enjoyed a nice and much needed socially distanced visit in the driveway.
Three hours later, pizza had been consumed by all, the alternator
had been replaced, the car reassembled, the clouds were rolling in, and the raindrops
were beginning to fall. The battery was now charging, but the light was still
illuminated. A wire may now be the problem, and there is a plan.
On the way home, it was feeling like an ice cream reward day. I
stopped at Market Basket, where the parking lot was nearly full. I pulled into a
spot, surveyed the crowded landscape, backed out of the spot and left. I
wasn’t in the mood for this particular brand of aggravation. The much smaller Family
Dollar seemed more appealing for a quick ice cream stop, and walking distance to the
house just in case the car didn’t start again. The parking lot
at Family Dollar was also full. The mask was donned and the store was
entered. The place was crawling with a crew of folks in red jerseys in the
midst of a major layout change. Aisles were running different directions than
before and some shelves were bare. Worst of all, the ice cream coolers were closed
off with yellow tape as workers relocated them. I left and went home, where I was greeted by two yapping dogs and an unpleasant aroma emanating from a large pile of poop on a rug near the bathroom door. These things always happen on rugs.
The visiting part was awesome, but the crown was not the only unsatisfactory thing about
this day. It's hard to even choose the worst part of the day with so many contenders.
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