For all that Fay never reached hurricane status, she managed to knock me off the internet for 36 hours...

Lot's of problems here, not related to Fay:

Firstly, I'm on vacation... not a problem at all except that crap always seems to befall me while on vacation.

Yesterday, my girlfriend's car has a flat two miles northeast of Cottonwood [Translated: the Boonies]

One of the lug nuts must have been welded on, so the tire could not be changed. Had to call help. Help arrived. The stuck nut was so stuck it stripped the tire iron [Note to Self: Buy a new tire iron]. Had to resort to a can of "Fix-a-Flat" and hope for the best. It worked. I'll take my blessing wherever I can find them...

Upon arriving at the house, my girlfriend took off for Jim Whaley [the tire place] and I hopped into Trina [my Corolla] and proceeded to follow her... Or, I should say, I proceeded to TRY to follow her. Trina wouldn't go at first but she eventually started. Half a mile down the road Trina dies and no amount to turning the engine over would wake her up.

Had to push Trina 100 yards to a church parking lot while a whole passel of kids danced, cheered, and generally mocked the white boy pushing his car.

The next wave of heavy rain came through, so I sat in my car and waited thirty minutes for the cab to arrive.

Took cab to Jim Whaley's to pick up Cristal, then back to the house for a grand total of $16 genuine cash.

Convinced the old man across the street to pull Trina to Hardin's Auto, 300 yards north of Jim Whaley. Two police officers tried to interfere but Cristal set them straight about the whole "protect and SERVE" motto on their cars, and they relented.

Back at the house there's nothing to eat [I had planned to go shopping that afternoon]. Cristal and I ended up walking a mile and a half to the Winn Dixie under umbrella's, and soaked and exhausted by the end of it.

Later in the evening Pepe [see pic of Pepe immediately above "Previous Posts"] began to act... uncharacteristically... sad, slow, restless... like he couldn't find a comfortable position in which to lie down. This morning he was yelping and crying. So.

The cab was late in arriving to take Cristal to work, so Mr. Marsh across the street helped us out again with a ride, first to the vet, which was 100 yards from Jim Whaley's, and then to Wal Mart.

I stayed at the vet with Pepe. An hour and a half, 3 x-rays, and a butt-temperature later Pepe, at seven years old, Pepe has a few disks that are failing. Cortizone shot, prescriptions, and a short kennel stay, I made my way in the rain to the tire place.

Razor blade. Someone doesn't like my girlfriend. 15$ bad check [I have overdraft protection] to Jim Whaley and I go out into the rain to start the car and pick up Pepe.

Car won't start. Go back into Jim Whaley, they push it back into the hangar and another 109$ later, there's a new battery to go with the plugged tire.

Down the street to my day job to pick up my paycheck. 46$ and a belated birthday present later I'm back in the car and now it's to Ed Hardin's place to tell him about Trina. By now it's 10:30 am. I have not eaten since 5pm Sunday, and I'm beginning to feel very drained.

Ed sees me and said he thought that was my car in the lot. I told what happened, and he said he'd look at it.

Next it's off to Wal Mart to give Cristal the bad news. As if we both didn't already know what the morning was going to be about. The new battery did throw me for a loop though.

The vet bill as 191$ Jim Whaley was 123$ combined total. And Ed has only begun to look at Trina.

With Cristal in the car we head to a loan company. We don't have all the info needed for a loan so it's back to the house. Pepe is still in a kennel at the vet.

Back to Loan Co. Won't know anything till later this afternoon. Cristal's car [plugged tire/new battery] begins to emit a steady ominous beeping and the oil light is blinking.

Across the street is Advance Auto Parts. 1 quart of Valvoline and a paper towel later, in genuine cash, it becomes clear that the engine doesn't need a drop of oil... money wasted. Beeping continues. Gas light comes on. Off to a Chevron station near by. Twenty bucks later all the beeping stops. Could that incessant beep have been a built in warning of an imminent empty tank? Who knows!

By this time I am faint and famished, and being diabetic, Cristal is freaking out [She worries about my health more than I do]. Food! NOW!

Three Krystal's with cheese and bottle of water later, I'm a little more alert.

Now it's off to the Health Food store to ask about alternatives to cortizone for Pepe. We find what we're looking for but it cost us another 30$ genuine cash. Two bottles of 100% pure and organic coconut water and I'm back on top.

Now it's back to Ed Hardin. Looks like Trina needs a new distributor cap and a rotor. "We'll pick her up tomorrow," I says. He says "fine."

Now to the vet. Pepe is happy to see us. He seems more energetic so I think the cortizone shot is kicking in. Pepe is to be on bed-rest/kennel rest for the next six weeks. He can't go up or down the steps to the house so we have to carry him. He is not allowed to dance for his treats any more... he basically has a license to be lazy. But I love that dog, and he's going to get whatever he needs. The very same is true of Cristal.

There's roughly 140$ left in genuine cash to get both Cristal and I nine days to next payday, including gas for the cars and pepe's new raw diet: Everything raw... meat, vegetables, what-have-you. He loves Bell Pepper, by the way.

Now. Back at the house. It's time to find out what's up with the internet connection. I am jonesing for some news and opinion. Twenty minutes on hold on my pre-paid cell phone waiting for the next available technician. Cell begins to beep... I'm low on minutes. Hang up. Take up the land line, which means I won't be able to test dial a connection should I actually get a technician on the line. Twenty more minutes on the land line and I get a technician.

Cristal's back at work, Trina's fixed [pick-up tomorrow], still no word on the loan, Pepe's asleep, I'm exhausted, but...

I'm back.

What else could possibly go wrong?


SHHHH!!!! Don't Jinx IT!