Murpy’s Law Strikes Again
by Lynn Daniels on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 7:39 am
AAARGH!
You know it’s coming. You wash your car and it rains. Pack all the winter clothing away and you get hit by a blizzard. Just planted those spring annuals? Expect a cold snap at any moment. If you’re waiting for a phone call, go to the bathroom. That call is guaranteed to come in the moment you’re completely indisposed. Things like this happen so frequently, when they hit us we shake our heads, declaring Murphy’s Law as we grimace.
Still, I didn’t think Murphy’s Law would apply in this case. That’s what I get for thinking.
We bought Stella with a factory-installed navigation system, fully integrated with the CD changer. I still laugh about it — when we bought Sophie, SoundGuy was adamant about getting the navigation system. I, on the other hand, wasn’t completely sold. Why pay extra for a convenience we could surely do without? As long as I got a power sun/moon roof and power rear windows, I was happy. In the end it was a moot argument, I saw Sophie on the lot and decided she was the truck for me. And she came with the navigation system.
The funniest part? That nav soon became indispensable to me. I found that out the hard way while driving a rental vehicle without one for a month after our wreck last year.
So when the screen on my nav system/CD player suddenly wigged out right before Christmas, the fact that I was suddenly lost was no surprise. Granted, I didn’t actually have to go anywhere that required the nav system, but I didn’t even have my clock! How would I know what time it was if my CD player showed only squiggly lines?
At least the rest of it worked fine. Music still played, the kids were still able to use the rear seat entertainment system, the CD changer didn’t seem effected. But still…
I know this is making me sound incredibly spoiled and bitchy. Children are homeless and starving all over the world, and I’m whining about a navigation system? Sheesh. But the reality is I’m not spoiled and bitchy. Well, not too spoiled and bitchy. It’s just that if I have the stuff, I want the stuff to work. Is that really too much to ask?
So I drove around about a week with no nav system, no time. And on Friday, SoundGuy called the dealership to get a service appointment for Stella so they could fix the problem. Appointment made, we piled the family into the truck and drove up to play in the mountains. About an hour into our trip, the squiggly lines went away and the cd player screen went white. I assumed it was the next phase of broken, just steps away from total crap out.
We pulled into a gas station, took bathroom breaks, grabbed some hot chocolate and munchies, then climbed back into the truck. And do you know what happened when SoundGuy started her up?
Murphy’s Law.
The cd player screen came back, and it seemed even brighter than before. The colors seemed more vivid. For the rest of our trip, it ran flawlessly. And now here we are, four days later, and that screen is still fine. Haven’t had a lick of trouble with it since its return.
That service appointment? It was yesterday morning. SoundGuy and I discussed what to do about it. Something was obviously wrong with the screen — even though it’s working now, do we take it in anyway and see if they can figure out what happened? Chances are it would act like the check engine light problem we had with the truck before last year’s vacation — nobody could figure out what was wrong until the intermittent problem deteriorated to total crap out.
Even so, I thought it should still be looked at; if it wasn’t, it would certainly fail again. SoundGuy didn’t agree. Why bother to have it looked at if we knew they wouldn’t be able to do anything? We didn’t argue; we didn’t even discuss it loudly. We just disagreed.
SoundGuy took Stella to the dealership yesterday morning.
And had the oil changed and the tires rotated.
That screen’s gonna crap out any minute now, isn’t it? Stoopid Murphy’s Law.
Tsk, Tsk.
by Lynn Daniels on Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 3:29 pm
I’ve been lazy today.
Laid in bed all morning (after the kids went to school and SoundGuy went to work, of course) sleeping and reading on and off. Didn’t shower until noon. And you know what?
It was AWESOME! 
Is That a Moose in the Road?
by Lynn Daniels on Thursday, May 1, 2008 at 10:21 am
I got to talk to my father last weekend. He lives overseas, and we don’t talk as often as we should. Probably has something to do with the fact that we’re cut from the same cloth and both equally stubborn.
Anyway, he called to see how we’re doing in the aftermath of the accident. At some point in the conversation, he became horrified to learn I had never watched Northern Exposure. I had to explain that, heck, I didn’t even start watching Everybody Loves Raymond until the show was syndicated. That didn’t seem to sway him.
Guess what arrived on my doorstep yesterday. The full series DVD set of Northern Exposure. Of course, I had to start watching immediately. What fun! I’m almost through season 1.
Some Closure … Finally
by Lynn Daniels on Monday, April 14, 2008 at 11:25 am
It’s been nearly a month since the accident, and we’re still dealing with it. We did get some closure on one front, though. Insurance paid their part of the payoff, we’re waiting for Gap insurance to finish (could be 4-6 weeks). Thankfully, the bank worked with us and lowered our payment — we still have to make payments on Sophie until Gap kicks in and the loan’s paid off. But that lowering did open one door for us.
Random Photo
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NaNoWriMo
