Another Day at the Funny Farm

A little background here. Remember the story about the Buick Reviera? Well I had to take it in after I got back from Kansas because of the leak that was over the right front tire.


"Just a small leak, it is probably nothing. Probably just some oil that dripped down when they worked on it before". right......well, it is going to get checked out.

One day later, a new water pump, sparks plugs etc, and something else I don't remember what now, and a goodly amount of money "it's fixed"!!! I get the van to come get me so I can pick it up and I pay for it, get in the car, start to drive off and the a/c isn't blowing cold air. I back it back into the shop, and they take it off and, as usual, I have not bought any of my "kill time" toys with me, so there I sit twiddling my thumbs. About 30 minutes later it is bought back and a hose had come loose and that was all. Ok, thanks, and off I go.

I get about 20 minutes away and I see a light come on that I assume is the "check engine" light, say a few bad words, and go on home. That will just have to wait. The car hasn't been driven since until Thursday afternoon.

Every Thursday afternoon, most of the time at 3 pm, Aud gets her hair done. Since she has stopped driving supposedly I take her. She has informed me the night before she needs some shoes and some bluejeans so we are going to have to go shopping.

I hate, hate, hate, to go shopping unless I am going to a quilt store. I buy everything I can online. But my sweet mother loves to shop. She doesn't always have the stamina for it anymore so she buys a lot of stuff online too. But about twice a year we venture out on a shopping trip.

Ok, so here we are, we have been to the beauty salon, her hair looks wonderful as usual, and we head off to her favorite shoe store to buy shoes. I have called to make sure they have time to see her. This is one of those very small stores that sells shoes fit to your foot. I tell them we will be there in 10 minutes. I no sooner hang up the phone than lo and behold the Check Engine Soon light comes on. I am at an exit on the turnpike so I head off..."it is nothing", yes it is, I am not going to drive around town with this light on, "well, it won't hurt", I am not doing this, we are going to the auto repair shop. By now, I have called and cancelled our appt at the shoe store.

We get to our favorite place, drive in, Mario, who knows us well by now, comes up and asks what is wrong. Well, Mario, the Check Engine Soon and the A/C needs service lights are on. You two go set down in the waiting room and let me see what I can find out.

We go in the waiting room, sit down in front of this huge Sony TV that is blaring, but we can't see it because the only place you can see it from is 1 seat and it is occupied, and not by us. A man in a suit, his name is Jay, comes up and asks if we need anything.

Yes, if you are going to have a TV blaring the least thing you can do is provide seats where you can see it and have blinds on the window to cut the glare. Well, we can move your chairs over here in front of it. No, then the man that is sitting there who can see it (and looks like he has swallowed a prune) won't be able to. I don't care for tvs anyway, but you could at least have some decent magazines. He laughs, and says there's nothing out there I don't know about, just ask me what do you want to know.

So we are having this off the wall conversation and I don't remember exactly what was said, but he tells us he is 49 years old and has just had a quadruple bypass and a 3 hernia operations. Of course I have to laugh. How can you have 1 hernia, let alone 3, without knowing about it? lol.....he was a delightful soul and Aud and I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with him.

Here comes Mario to tell us that the a/c needs freon in it, and that is why the light has come on. They cannot figure out why the check engine light has come on, so when that happens again drive straight to the shop and don't turn the car off. Now the bad part of this is they no longer make the freon that goes in this car. You have to have a kit to convert the air conditioner to be able to use the new freon. Of course! So what are we looking at? Oh, about 180, but I would wait until next spring, you don't need the a/c now. Well, maybe he doesn't, but he isn't old and harmonal, lol. I will take it in next week.

One of the stops we intended to make was at a Mexican restaurant that we dearly love, and we are starving because we have not eaten since breakfast at 11 am. So we do that, and as usual it was delicious.

Next stop, Dilliard's. I park at the door that is closest to what I hope is the women's clothing. I can always find a parking place at this door. We go in, and go by the shoes, "just in case". Oh my goodness, Aud finds 2 pair of Cole Hahns, and a pair of Ugg boots that she can wear!!! Wonderful!! Please hold these for us and we will come back to get them later.

Upstairs on the escalator, which is always an adventure, since Aud is unsteady and has her cane. We find a wonderful salesclerk called Pural that helps us. 1 pair of bluejeans, and 3 new outfits later, we are through! Ooops, where is the nearest restroom? Oh, across on the other side of the store of course. So we traipse across the store, and sit down in the chairs in the "little girl's room" ro recuperate from our walk.

Well, lets take the elevator down, so we ask where it is, and it is on the side we came from, and I am not walking that far. So I ask one of the salesclerks to help get Aud on the escalator without falling down, and she does, thank heavens. We pick up the shoes, and by now it is dark, so I ask the shoe salesman to watch us walk to our car, because I don't want to go to jail if someone tries to rob us and I accidently kill him, lol. So we all traipse out. I know I have parked in a "crip space" and I know where I have parked the car...but it is not there.

Someone must have taken it. You are just like your Daddy! He use to call me from the Fat Stock Show and tell me someone had stolen the car! And I would ask him where he had parked it and he would tell me, and I would have to go get him and take him to the car. Of course by then he was watching the horses, so it took forever to get back home.

Oh, here comes the lot patrol. I wave him down and ask him if he will see if he can spot it. Sure, so he takes off and starts going up and down the isles and I have decided it has been stolen because I know where I parked it, and that spot is empty!! The lot patrol starts passes us about this time to go down the next isle and it dawns on me we have come out of the wrong door! So I go running down the isle hollering for him to stop and telling him we have come out the wrong door! Mother is standing at the entrance with her cane and part of the packages in her arms, and I have my arms full of clothes, and both of us are exhausted. I ask Keith, by now I feel I have known him forever, lol, if he will take us to our car, as the right entrance is on the other side of the building, lol.

Of course, so we pick up Aud, pile in and he drives us around to our car. I don't think we would have made it if he hadn't, lol. And sure enough, the car is right where it was parked, in the exact parking place I thought it was, just at a different entrance, lol.

SO, Aud and I get out of the patrol car, load our packages into the trunk, thank Keith profusely, climbe in the car, look at each other and just laugh. I cannot believe all of this has happened. I never forget where I park the car, or I should say, never until now. What next I wonder?

Stay tuned, who knows what where out next adventure will be, lol.

Hope everyone has had a great week!