Happy Thanksgiving! And More. (EDITED)

Hopefully everyone is having a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

Just because Maggie Moo wants to say hi:

This picture is from a few days ago.  I came across this bandana in my craft stuff and Maggie looked kind of happy when she saw it.  So I tied it around her neck and she was very happy.  I left it on her for a long time and she seemed quite content.  She was eager to go out in the back yard when I took this picture, that's what the look on her furry face is about.  "Hurry UP!  I gots stuff to do!"

She attempted to get a squirrel this morning.  I let her out in the back yard and she was about half-way across the deck when she spotted a squirrel all the way across the yard, in the shady corner behind the shelf.  She went from slooooow mid-step to full warp speed the second she spotted it, and evidently she thought she could actually catch it.  But it was already too late, the squirrel saw her before she saw it and it was up on the fence and running down the top to safety before she was even off the deck!  Silly doggie. :)  By the time I was able to call her name, she was already half-way across the yard.  She is fast when she wants to be.  She was not happy that I wouldn't let her go after the squirrel, but he was long gone by that point.  Not that I would have let her get it, but she is a beagle and that is the instinct.

Otter's internet was not transferred after all yesterday.  The company had both her cell phone and J's, they also (obviously!) knew which apartment they were transferring from and which apartment they were transferring to.  The guy called her (she was at work) about 20 minutes after 5:00 and she told him that someone was at the apartment they were transferring from.  Then that was the last she heard of him.  At about 8:20, she called me so I could look up the office number for her and I gave it to her but I also told her to call him back at the number he called her from.  He said that he'd gone to the apartment but nobody was there so he left.  IF he even went at all, he went to the one that they are transferring TO and never to the one that they are transferring service FROM.  He never called either one of the phone numbers to say he was there or to ask where anybody was who might be waiting on him - both things he was supposed to do if he got there before J was at the old apartment.  I told her she should call him back again and remind him of all that, and demand that he get back and do what he was supposed to but she didn't have enough time on her break and is going to call the office Friday.  She's going to give them an earful, and it's going to be her version of *RHTW.  She is going to tell them that they need to get out there tomorrow afternoon, but who knows if they'll do that or not.  They will get it switched, it's just a question of when and if they will do what they are supposed to.

Because we originally thought we would still be moving furniture today, at least that was the probable plan if it had rained like it was supposed to do, we didn't really have anything in the way of Thanksgiving planned.  So J and Otter have gone with J's dad to visit his family outside of Tulsa.  Otter texted me earlier, they were giving her a tour of haunted sites in the county that they are visiting.  I think she was really enjoying it.  I have a frozen lasagne in the freezer and some garlic toast, Bill and I are going to have that tonight as our Thanksgiving feast.  I did get to Braums and managed to snag one of the two strawberry cheesecake ice cream pies they had left, so we even have dessert.  We have already gotten into the pie, we had a very light lunch and decided we needed dessert. :)

When she moved out of our house, she left her stackable shoe shelves and I used them with my craft stuff.  Bill bought a tall plastic shelf unit, like the ones we have already.  He put it in the office/pachinko/junk room.  He claims he's going to get a little more organized in there, but I'll believe it when I see it!  Anyway, I decided to get one for my craft stuff.  I put it together and put it in the room, but I haven't had time to really get it organized yet.  My stuff WILL be organized!  I'm also going to be able to get the sewing machines out of the closet and sit them on it and possibly some (or maybe all) of the fabric/sewing stuff - although quite a bit of the sewing and fabric related stuff is Otters and it may be going to her apartment at some point.  She said she wanted the shoe shelves since I'm not using them anymore, so I took them over to her new apartment this morning.  Nobody was up yet, so I left them in her living room.  Along with a hammer that Bill is loaning her and some wood.

When we were moving her furniture yesterday, Bill was moving her bookshelf and it kind of had an accident.  It's wooden and very heavy, about 6' tall and we bought it out of surplus and a local school district when we first moved into our old house when Otter was 2.  It has always been in her room to hold things and she's been using it lately as an actual book shelf.  It's huge and she also has more books than it can hold, which actually is a Good Thing.  Anyway, Bill got it (with the dolly) out of her old apartment, down the stairs and across the sidewalk to the door to the other side of the building without a problem.  But then he stopped to rest a minute and check his cellphone to see what time it was.  It was windy and cool, and as soon as he stopped and took his hand off of the bookshelf there was a very strong gust of wind and the bookshelf went right over.  It landed flat on the front and it landed hard.  It wasn't broken, probably due to the sturdy construction and solid wood, but there are a couple of places where it looks like part of it tried to separate at the top corner and bottom where the feet are.  It can be hammered back into place, but she only has a small hammer so Bill loaned her one of his (many, too many) hammers and also a few pieces of wood to use as hammering blocks.  She may also wind up using them as shims to secure it because when she and Bill put it in place, it looked like it was leaning to the front.  They moved it to another corner and it wasn't leaning.  She asked the apartment office about that, and they said what we thought - it's an old building and it's quite possible that there may be some settling.  Not enough to even be worried and the building is structurally sound.  But the bookcase may need a little support under the front if she decides to put it where she originally wanted it.

The plan at this point is that I'm going to the grocery store in the morning and Bill is going to take the El Camino to get the oil changed and also to get something checked on it.  If his car is going to be there for a while, I'll bring him back home.  If it's a quick thing, he'll either wait at the mechanic or walk around the grocery store with me - they are in the same shopping center and so is Otter's store.  She has to work the Black Friday opening and when she gets off work, I'm going to meet her at the old apartment so we can see about getting what is left moved.  I could tell that she and J did manage to get quite a bit moved after we left yesterday, but there is still more there.  When I talked to her about 8:30, I woke her up when I called her and she said she wasn't awake enough to think, much less converse with any sense!  I told her to go back to sleep, she worked her behind off yesterday with moving and then she had to work until midnight last night, getting the store ready for Black Friday so I think she deserved to sleep in a little bit today.  She couldn't remember how much was still at the old place but she thinks we may be able to get the rest of it moved in one afternoon, it's boxes and probably trash bags with stuff but all the furniture is moved already.  We hopefully will be able to get the cleaning done tomorrow afternoon as well, but she doesn't have to work on Sunday so that is our second plan of attack if tomorrow doesn't work out.  A lot of it depends on the weather, the rain that was supposed to start yesterday finally arrived this morning.  It may be strong rain but it might not be steady.  It could be off and on, and it could be heavy at times.  Sunday is supposed to be dry I think, but we want to get it done as quick as we can.  The apartment office said that they won't change the lock until Monday so she can have all weekend, but we don't want to wait until the last minute if we don't have to.  Also, we want to go to a local museum that has a really fun Christmas tree exhibit.  We haven't missed too many years of the museum exhibit and it's only there for a very short time, so Sunday is probably our only chance this year.  J has to work, otherwise he would go with us.

Hopefully, the El Camino is a minor issue.  The engine temperature light came on yesterday when Bill was on the way to Otter's.  He checked and there was plenty of antifreeze, the radiator was not leaking and the system seemed to be working.  The car had plenty of time to cool down but he said it came on again when he was on the way home (we took separate cars since I went earlier than he did) so he's going to ask them to check it when he gets the oil changed tomorrow.  It is very probably the sensor itself going bad, the car is a 1976 model after all and it is probably the original part.  But it is still odd/funny that out of three cars "we" have, two of them have similar issues!  My car had better not decide to join the party the other two are having!

**EDIT:  I turned the oven on about 4:30 for the lasagna, and I turned it off about 5 minutes later when the electricity went out!  We looked out the front door and it looked like it was at least our neighborhood, so I called the electric company.  I was the first person calling, so they couldn't tell me what/why/how long.  I opened the freezer long enough to toss the lasagna back in.  We waited a little while, then we decided to go in search of a restaurant that was actually open and had power.  The police department already had an officer out to direct traffic at the intersection closest to us, but there were lights on a little farther than that so we knew it wasn't very widespread.  We wound up at a Taco Bell, because they were open and had power.  Most of the actual restaurants and fast food places that were in the area with power were closed.  But it was still good and kind of fun, even if it wasn't what we expected to be doing on a rainy Thanksgiving night.  We were gone about an hour and when we got back the power was back on.  I looked on the news station website and I think it was a squirrel that caused the outage.  Maybe Maggie Moo had the right idea this morning?!!!!

Really Beginning to Wonder...

If we are ever going to have a so-called traditional Thanksgiving meal again.  Last year, we were dealing with Otter's dental issues and the fact that she couldn't eat just about anything!  We made pizza, which worked because it was crispy enough without being too chewy.  This year, we were originally planning on the traditional thing, but then Otter's roommate moved out and the apartment manager is letting her transfer to a one-bedroom unit.  The day before Thanksgiving!

We want to get it done in one day, but that may not be possible.  Otter has to work tonight and will get home fairly late so she will be very tired tomorrow.  Then she has to work the late afternoon shift, since she's the Assistant Pricing Coordinator she has to be there to ensure that they are ready for Black Friday.  So she'll be moving, then stopping for a shower and then heading to work while the rest of us keep working.  Bill still thinks we can do it in one day, but she may not be able to get into the new apartment until noon instead of the 10:00 they originally told her.  The carpet has been replaced and they weren't sure that it would be done by 10:00.  Also, the dishwasher has a leak and the part has been ordered but might not be delivered in time for it to be repaired before she moves in.

And, at the last minute (Monday afternoon) it was discovered that the manager told her the wrong apartment would be hers so she had to scramble to get the electric company and the internet provider situated.  The manager apparently has bad handwriting and some of her letters look alike, I think that this sort of thing has happened to the manager before.  Otter discovered it when she went in to sign the new lease, it's on the same hallway as the one she thought but it is at the front of the building and not around the back.  She's actually happy about that, it means that she will be able to make sun tea next summer after all!  The cable was originally to be switched in the morning but they are now coming in the late afternoon since she probably can't get into the new apartment as early as she thought she would be able to originally.  Because of that and the fact that the holiday is causing them scheduling issues, they are waiving the transfer fee which is a nice thing.

And, as if that's not enough:

It is probably going to rain tomorrow.  Possibly all day.  The plan at this point is to get her mattress and box spring moved first, assuming we can get it done before the rain starts.  Even if the bed frame and headboard are not moved until later, we want to get the bedding itself moved and into the new apartment and keep it dry.  Things like her clothes are packed in trash bags, along with her stuffed animal collection, towels, etc., so they are somewhat protected from rain.  But a lot of her belongings are in boxes, so we may wind up wrapping trash bags around the boxes as well.  We'll see tomorrow.  The rain is not expected to start until afternoon, the timing changes depending on which station the tv happens to be on.  It's actually a 20% chance, which is not too bad.  But the forecasters here are not known for being accurate...

Thursday on is supposed to be very hard rain all day, and there are already flood watches being posted.  Not for our area so much, mostly for southern parts of the state.  But we could get localized street flooding.  Because of that, we aren't really sure when we'll finish up.  We should be able to get everything moved, but she might not be unpacked until Friday afternoon.  Also, the cleaning of the old apartment is tenatively set for Sunday but that may change.  I took my vacuum cleaner over there yesterday, the original plan was that I vacuum as each room is emptied and also wipe down the walls and then we finish cleaning sometime on Thursday morning.  But the office said she can have until Sunday to get everything finished, both because of the holiday and the weather but also because of her work schedule.  They are being very nice about this whole situation.

And now, it's time to go get into the Bluebell in the freezer!

Still Here!

Just up to my neck in stress!  

We figured out what we're doing as far as insurance goes, although it has been un-fun getting to this point.  I did the research and picked a plan which would work for Otter and me, Bill will be able to get insurance where he works.  It's not the best plan, but it's ok because it will bring the cost down enough so that we can actually afford the plan for me and Otter with our current carrier.  But yesterday, they nearly convinced me that it would be a mistake to stay with them.  We called them and went through the entire application process and were just about done, when the girl who was helping us realized she had put the wrong zip code and she wasn't able to correct it so she had to transfer me back to an actual agent.  He then basically tried to bully me into getting the government assistance to pay for it - which will NEVER EVER EVER happen, and then he lied to me and told me that the plan (which I had already picked out and was happy with) was not available and in fact, never had been.  He then informed me that they didn't have anything at all in that price range and he was very rude.  *RHTW then told him to cancel the application and that we would probably be going elsewhere entirely.

We considered enrolling along with Bill at his employer's insurance but I got online and checked up on what he told me.  And discovered that he was lieing through his teeth.  I called them back again - and talked to someone else.  She couldn't quite figure out why he told me what he did, then she figured out that even though I had told him repeatedly that it was for 2 of us, not my husband but just me and my daughter, he thought I needed to insure all three of us.  Although at the time, he told me it was just for the two of us.  I told her that I was interested, but she also helped me to find an even better and cheaper plan which meets our needs.  However, Otter was not with me anymore (she was at work) and they had to be able to ask her if she was enrolling since she's not a minor anymore.  So, they got the process started and then they suspended it so we could finish it today.  I went over to her apartment after work, this time I took my computer in case they needed to email me and it took about half an hour.  They called me when they said they would and it was easy.  I'm going to call them tomorrow and request the proof letter we need showing Bill's lack of insurance effective 1/1/16 and then he can finish the enrollment at work.  I'm also going to complain about the idiot agent from yesterday, I did get his name.

That's one stress fairy vanquished.

There are more.  Otter's move in next Wednesday.  The day before Thanksgiving.  She has to work the night before and then the late afternoon shift on moving day.  We have a 60% chance of rain.  It's out the door, down three flights of stairs, across the parking lot/grass area, in the door, back up three flights of stairs and into the new apartment.  We are going to try to get it all done in one day, but it might not be possible to get the old apartment cleaned so I may well be going back over there on Thanksgiving Day itself to finish up the cleaning.  She has to work Black Friday.  I'm probably going to spend Black Friday collapsed on the couch!

That's another one at least tamped down to manageable.

We got the booth finished up last week.  We basically built it from scratch and this time we've done more with the booth itself.  We took the machines up there one day last week and the store opened last Friday.

Bill built the booth sides with peg board.  The boars across the back and one side are to give it enough strength to hold pachinko machines in cabinets.  There are also boards on the back side which are not visible,they are between the 2x4's that make up the frame.

He used light hog wire across the top of the booth.  It's bolted down.

He strung Christmas lights across the top.  Each booth has electricity access and he has a timer so that the lights are only on when the store is open.

We bought two packs of kites at the dollar store a few years back and I found them in the closet the other day.  He attached them to the top and also used paper Japanese lanterns.  Since this picture was taken, he added two red lanterns between the blue ones.  He was going to insert small lights inside the lanterns but he didn't like the way it looked so he went with the Christmas lights instead.

The sign is a plywood board with a plastic car wrap type label.

Since this picture was taken, two of the machines have been sold.  They were sold off of our website, but that didn't happen until after we'd carted them up to the booth.  They were in my living room for weeks and weeks and not a bite, but as soon as they were out of the living room (and my way!), two of them sold.

The view from the front of the full booth.

Bill has a poster on one side which explains what pachinko machines are, also there are pachinko balls, board feet (for support for table top machines) and how-to restore dvds.  Also our business cards and a free information flyer.  The bulletin board at the top has pictures with the progression from before restoration to after.

Now, we just need someone to come buy machines!

Now, I'm just waiting for the rest of my stress fairies so I can beat their heads in!

Pray for Paris

That Kind of Week...

Veterans Day 2015

Thank you.  All of you.

Cars and Shower Curtains and Brownies and Pachinko Machines and Otters...

I made brownies on Thursday evening, and I made sure to double the batch.  Because otherwise, they would not be safe from Willie!  I frosted them this time, which I don't always do.  But I made them for J and his mom, to thank them for watching over Otter until we were able to get to her the night she had car trouble.

Otter saw a sign for a craft show and it was the same one I was going to yesterday, so we decided to go together.  Bill had the car loaded up with pachinko machines to take to the new booth and he dropped me off at her apartment and she was my chauffer.  For a while, anyway.  We went to the craft show and had a good time although we didn't buy much.  Then we went to Target in search of a new shower curtain for Otter.  Well, that was the plan anyway!  When we were pulling into the parking lot, the car light "low coolant level" came on.  So we called Bill, then we headed back to our house (I was driving the car then at Otter's request) and we watched the engine heat the entire way home.  It never really got very warm, it stayed in the normal range so we weren't worried about overheating.  Bill checked the car, it really didn't seem to need much anti-freeze but he added a little anyway and that's when he realized that the overflow tank was slightly bubbly.  There was apparently still a little air in the radiator and it was basically exhaling into the overflow tank.  He watched it for a while and let it run, he checked a few things and it seemed to be fine.  Otter and I went back to Target, Bill said it would be a good idea to drive her car and let it work any remaining air out of the radiator so we took it.  She wanted me to drive it, so I did.  She really doesn't have to drive very far to work, and our trip was the most distance the car had been driven and for the longest time since it was seen at the repair shop.

She found a shower curtain she liked, it's got bright colored stripes and it's very pretty.  She also found a matching bath mat but Target didn't have anything else that she liked so we went down the street to Walmart and she found a trash can that was not even made by the same company but it almost matched so we got it.  We also got her a can opener since she didn't have one, other than a hand-operated metal one that she said is almost impossible to operate.  When Roomie moved out,she left the shower curtain and bath set there which her mother bought when they moved into the first apartment.  It was never Otter's favorite, it's a nice blue but let's face it:  it's not exactly what 20-year old girls would have picked out for themselves! :)

Otter was going out to the not-quite-next-door small town that J lives in, she was still a little apprehensive about more car trouble so she asked me to take her.  I did, and drove her car.  It is probably all burped now, but she wants Bill to drive it this week and make sure.  I'll go back out there and get her in a few days.  Sometime between now and then, I'm going to go put her new bathroom stuff in place in her apartment and she also wants me to water her plants.    Otter is still moving in a couple of weeks, but she really does not want that blue shower curtain anymore - it's about the last thing that was Roomie's that is left in the apartment.  She's going to donate it to Goodwill or Salvation Army, but I'm going to wash the curtain and bath mat first. The apartment office changed the locks for her and Roomie did give us her keys when she moved out, but we didn't know for sure if she had given a key to her parents so I checked things a couple of times when Otter was gone last week/end.  Even though the lock isn't the same, Otter still wants me to go over there and check it a couple of times.

We went to the booth yesterday afternoon and took a couple of machines.  Bill realized that one of the walls was not strong enough for the weight of the pachinko machines and cabinets, so he talked to the owner and her husband stabilized/strengthened the wall last night.  We went back there this morning and Bill was satisfied, so he re-hung the machines on the wall.  We also put a fabric covered bulletin board on one of the side walls and it has a series of photographs, before restoration to after restoration of a pachinko machine.  The one Bill used is the Kanji-print fabric board that Otter made, she gave it to him when she moved into her apartment.  He also has a shelf which will hold pachinko balls, business cars and flyers.  The shop is opening for business on Friday, so we'll be back over there Thursday evening with the pachinko balls and also some how-to restoration dvd's.  We looked around the store a little bit, it's got a really good layout with good sized aisles and we hope that it succeeds.  Not just for us, she's a really nice person and she has a lot riding on this store.

Mags is very happy lately, I think she likes the cooler weather.  She's been pretty bouncy lately and is very playful.  As I type this, she is on her back and is attempting to catch her tail.  I guess it's easier to catch it that way? :)

EsCuuuuuuuuuuse Me!

(Anybody remember Steve Martin's tagline?  ExCuuuuuuuuuse ME!)

Bill talked to our neighbor the mechanic Monday evening and we also called the repair place we've been using.  All agreed that it sounded like the thermostat might be the problem with Otter's car.  Like maybe it was going out but hadn't gone out completely, because Bill drove it Monday and it was fine.  I took it to the repair shop on Tuesday morning and was expecting to have to get the thermostat replaced.  It turns out that it was a much simpler repair - in fact, it didn't actually need anything repaired.  When Bill replaced the radiator, 3 months ago, he did not get all the air out and the car basically just needed to be burped!  Once they got the last of the air out, they topped it off with more antifreeze and sent me on my way - at no charge.  I went on to work Tuesday and wound up keeping her car through today, because of the hours she worked and the fact that we had to go finish building the booth at the antique mall after work yesterday and I didn't have time to meet her to switch cars.  I watched the temperature gauge and it's been consistently fine.  Bill checked the belt and it's in good shape and he also checked the oil, since we had the car through this evening and he just wanted to make sure everything is ok.

Younger Boss filled the tank yesterday for her, which was nice of him to do.  I took the car back to her this evening, along with a few boxes for her.  She's gotten quite a bit of packing done already but she still has more to do.  I also got her laundry, I told her I'll do it this time for her so she can get as much packing done as she can.  She wants to go with me to a craft fair on Saturday, so I'll take her laundry back to her then.

We are back in the market for insurance again.  We got the renewal notice in the mail and they are raising the premium over $400 per month!  I am not about to pay more than $1,100.00 for insurance.  No blooming way.  Especially with as little as we actually use it.  We have a few options and most of them are a lot better than the "blue" company wants to charge us, I'm finding more than I did last year at this time when we were having to replace the insurance we had at that point.  There is absolutely NO EXCUSE for insurance to cost that much - that's even higher than my mortgage payment.  Way higher!

However, one Good Thing did happen today:

BLUEBELL IS BACK!!  

I have one of these in my freezer now.  It hit store shelves on Monday, I was going to get some then but with the car issue and the fact that there was a possibility I would have had to go get Bill if Otter's car had acted up, it wasn't possible.  I didn't get it yesterday because I had to take the car to the shop in the morning and then I had to run home as soon as I could after work so we could get to the booth place to finish assembling the booth.  As soon as I left Otter's, I went straight to the grocery store and my first stop was the ice cream freezer.  It looked like it was selling pretty fast, but I grabbed one before it was all gone.  The second I got it home and to the kitchen, we had the lid off the carton and the spoons out!  We just had a spoonful (ok, I had two!) and then put it in the freezer.  We each had a bowl after dinner, it was so good!  I had forgotten just how spectacularly good Bluebell ice cream is.  It tasted a lot sweeter than I remember, in fact.

Happy Happy Texans around my house!

Running on Absolute Empty

Or at least that is what it feels like!

We're working on getting the new booth ready and the new antique mall.  That has taken up a lot of time.  It looks like it will be mid-week before we can actually stock the booth.  Bill put the pegboard sides up last week and installed the support boards to hold the wall-mounted machines.  We went up there Sunday and installed the metal mesh top on the booth.  Bill's going to decorate it more than we have done with our previous booths.  The mall owner thought that people would be able to build booths last week and stock them last weekend, but she's never really dealt with contractors and construction.  So, while we were not at all surprised at the delays, she was!  That has taken up a lot of time.

Otter's move is actually going to be Thanksgiving week.  It was supposed to be the week before that, but the apartment office said that it will be Thanksgiving week.  Probably the day before Thanksgiving, actually.  I took her a bunch of boxes and she got several at work, she's been packing and I'm going to go help her pack sometime in the next several days.  She knows which apartment, it is in the same building but it's at the other end and on the back side of the building.  It's going to be a case of "out her door, down three flights of stairs, across to the other side of the building, in the door and up three flights of stairs then into the new apartment."  In other words, exhausting!  She will sign the new lease sometime that week, and is going to ask about getting the keys the day before she will be moving because she is probably going to have to work at least part of moving day.  We may see about hiring a couple of people through someone I know through work, because it's going to be hard to find people to help move the day before Thanksgiving!  If we are not able to get everything moved and the 2-bedroom cleaned in one day, we'll finish up on Thanksgiving itself.  Probably the cleaning is what will be done on Thanksgiving.  I'm thinking that we might have either frozen pizza or maybe a frozen lasagna for our actual Thanksgiving meal.  We were going to have an actual Thanksgiving this year, last year was the stove thermostat having to be replaced and then Otter's dental adventure keeping us from a traditional meal and we thought this year might work out.  But then Roomie moved out and all that...  Maybe next year?

Bluebell is back in the area today!  I had plans to go get some this morning, but I should know better than to actually plan anything because hardly anything has gone according to plan this year.  Last night, sometime after 9:00, I got a call from Otter.  She had gone to a not-exactly-neighboring town to visit J and to go to the Halloween party he and his mom had.  She was on her way back last night when her car started acting like it was overheating.  We're talking very small town, the kind that rolls up the streets and turns the lights off when the sun goes down and that is not too far off from reality!  She hadn't gotten very far, but she was afraid to drive any longer so instead of going back to J's, she pulled into a parking lot and called me.  The restaurant was closed for the night and it was pretty isolated.  We got on our way immediately and then she called J.  He and his mom came to where she was at and stayed with her until we got there, which we really appreciated.  It took us 30 - 40 minutes to get there and that was on the turnpike which is the fastest way.  Bill looked at the car and he could tell it had plenty of antifreeze, but it didn't look like the coolant was getting to where it was supposed to.  The car had cooled off at this point, it never got extremely hot so there probably isn't any engine damage but he was concerned about getting it home and we didn't want Otter to drive it anyway.  So, Bill drove her car, she rode with me and we brought her car to our house.  Bill stopped one time on the turnpike, of course there were no lights out there!  He said the heat gauge was going up again but he didn't wait for it to get too high.  He could still see that there was plenty of coolant, but he was thinking that the water pump might be the issue at that point  After letting the car sit and cool for a while, we started back on the road and he was able to drive it to our house without it getting too hot.  It was well after 10:00 last night when we got back, and she took my car home.  J bought her a microwave, which is now at my house since she didn't want to leave it in the car overnight and was really too tired to carry it up the stairs.  She'll pick it up from us in the next day or so.

Bill took her car to work today, it seemed to run fine.  He talked to our neighbor who is a part-time mechanic, he talked to the mechanic at work and we both talked to the mechanic at the shop we've been using.  The consensus is that the thermostat is probably bad, or at least it had a bad moment.  It might be that it was a one-time thing, but it might not be.  If it is the thermostat, it has to be replaced.  We drove it around tonight and it was fine.  I'm taking it to the shop in the morning and they'll check it out.  Then, depending on what they say in terms of how long it will take, I will either get it fixed right then or I'll have to bring it back the next day when someone can come get me so I can get to work - or Bill may take the day off so he can take care of it.  The thermostat has been replaced once - by the shop we used before we went to Chevy, the shop that we realized were a bunch of crooks which caused us to go to Chevy in the first place.  At that time, they were owned by a national company and had a good reputation.  But Bill had to take the car back to them a couple of times to get it checked because he didn't think the new thermostat was working right.  After that, they were purchased by their manager and that's when they were dishonest in the extreme which is why we went to Chevy.  The manager eventually sold the shop back to the national company that owned it before, but we will never go back there anyway.  There really isn't any reason to think that they would fix it again, unless we wanted to pay them, and they are not going to have another chance with us.

And we still have to get the pachinko machines to the booth sometime this week!

Maybe I'll actually get my Bluebell ice cream tomorrow!