It's a icky rainy day here in SW Ohio, but I was looking forward to being w/ some sunny dispositions and laughing over stupid little things that girlfriends can find to laugh about. I did get a little of that in, but not enough! Met up w/ a group of ladies for lunch at Applebee's, which was a nice mix of personalities. There were 5 of us, and 4 of us had gone to high school together (yes, 4/14/2012 must be high school not quite reunion day); I hadn't seen one of the ladies since we'd had a Spanish class together way back when. Another of the ladies was the high school friend I was going with on our road trip . . .
But, fate intervened. On my way to Applebee's, I was just buzzing along, singing w/ the radio, when the dreaded "Check Engine" light came on. Since the last time I'd had that experience, the alternator went out, I started assuming the worst. Fortunately, I was almost at Applebee's and the dealership that now services my Saturn Ion was just about 1/4 mile further down the road. So, I had lunch w/ the lovely ladies, and then drove the car on over to the service department.
And just what wonderful news awaits me at the door to service? They are only open until 3 p.m., and that's when we were supposed to be meeting our friend about 45 minutes away. It was almost 1 p.m., so chances of making that happen were slim. Crappity crap crap CRAP.
So, I called my friend in Indiana and explained to her what had happened, and we agreed to meet up again after she got moved and a few other things out of the way. By that time, the other friend arrived to meet me, and I told her we'd have to reschedule. The good news is that neither of us really wanted to be driving in the crappy weather, especially since the weather in Indiana was worse than what we were experiencing.
Instead of hanging out with friends and talking and laughing, I sat at the dealership with a few other people I didn't know who maintained their own little bubble of privacy (I'm a people watcher, especially if I don't have a book to read!). I sat, and sat, and sat. I drank a Diet Mt. Dew (I may regret that later tonight). I tried to connect to the wi-fi via my phone, but couldn't get the connection to stay connected. I had not planned the visit, so I didn't have my boredom busters with me! Two hours later, I was finally out the door.
The best news? I just needed a new gas cap. It was leaking. Whew. At least it wasn't the alternator or something major going on. Can't say it was exactly a cheap fix. But at least it was easy, and not as expensive as some of the other possible issues.
Well, now what to do with the rest of my day? Need to bake some cookies, but forgot to take the butter out of the freezer, so that's gonna be a while. I can play around w/ some pictures of it raining. Nothing catches the mood of an icky rainy day like pictures of an icky rainy day.
Yup. Pulled out the camera and turned the kitchen chair around to look out the back door at a couple of puddles. Tried a few things. Like some better than others. But I know a couple of things I don't want to do next time, and have some ideas of a couple of different things to try. First off would be using the mono-pod or tripod . . . experiencing weather induced sinus headache issues is not typically a time of clear thinking.
I was SO looking forward to the day I had planned this morning. But, looking back at it all now, it's turned out pretty good after all. I did get to spend some time with friends and completely enjoyed it. Although the Check Engine light freaked me out, it was a reasonable problem that was easily remedied. Missing hanging out with other friends wasn't so great, but I got to catch up on a couple of things around the house, try a recipe for cookies using cake mix, and still have a batch of sugar cookies waiting to be made. And, I can't forget the opportunity to try to catch some pictures of the rain.
I guess today was the forget the plan and go with the flow day. Not too hateful after all.
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