Friday April 19, 2024
Dear Diary,
I woke up at 6 am. Angel woke up right after I did. We made our beds and I let out the chickens, ducks and geese. We went in the house and got ready to go thrifting with my friend. I fed the dogs, made tea and a smoothie. Then got dressed and headed off with Angel. We were taking my car today, it’s a 2005 Scion that I kept when I bought my truck because they weren’t giving me much for a trade in. I kept it in case we ever needed an extra vehicle. Today I planned to get it inspected and registered. I also wanted to see how well it drove since I’d had new struts, ball joints, sway bar end links and brake pads put on last week. The last thing it needs is an alignment and then it will be ready to make the trip to Idaho. I plan to leave Wednesday afternoon to start the 28 hour drive to my sisters.
I picked up my friend and we drove to Rockdale. We stopped at Moon Brew and ordered drinks. I ordered a chai tea. Moon brew was really busy so we went to get my car inspected and came back to pick up our drinks after. The inspection went good other than he said the car was making a grinding sound. I would take it back to my mechanic later to see what was going on.
We picked up our drinks from Moon Brew and went to the thrift store. Angel found some cute shoes she liked. Then we went to Cameron to get my car registered. All went well getting it registered and now the Scion is back to being road legal, registered and insured. Next, we went to the Cameron thrift store. They have the best thrift store. It’s my favorite. I was looking for a juicer to take to Idaho with me. I didn’t want to take the fancy juicer I have at home since I plan on leaving the Scion up there at my son’s house and flying back. That way I will have my own car to drive whenever I fly up there to visit my family.
There wasn’t a juicer at the thrift store but I know I will find a cheap one somewhere. I did get a metal shelf and a nice suitcase. We all had fun and we’re happy with our treasures. I took my friend home and drove straight to the mechanics. I had noticed the grinding noise especially when I turned but I figured it was something in the wheel well causing it. I also noticed the a/c wasn’t working and asked the mechanic if he would also look at that. He got me in right away and the grinding noise was a plastic piece in the wheel well hanging down that he cut off. He added freon to the a/c system and said he was pretty sure it had a leak from the smell inside the car and suggested I don’t use it until I get the leak fixed because breathing the freon could make me sick. I wouldn’t need much a/c in Idaho, so I figured I would do things the old fashioned way and roll the windows down. I asked the mechanic how much I owed him and he said nothing. I really like this mechanic. He was recommended by a friend and he has been honest and straightforward and doesn’t overcharge for things. I paid a great price for all the work he did last week. I’m very happy with him. He doesn’t do alignments but recommended a place in Rockdale.
I drove back to Rockdale to the place recommended. Their alignment machine was down. They recommended another place. Their alignment machine was also down. They recommended another place. I drove to that place and they said they could do one for $145 and it would take about an hour. I agreed and left the car there. Angel and I walked up to the bookstore. I got another chai tea and bought a birthday present for my great nephew to send to him. Meggins, the bookstore owner, gave me a bag to wrap it in and some packaging tape to tape it with and it was ready to send. Yay! Angel and I sat in the kids room and I read a few chapters of Ramona the Brave aloud to Angel. Then we walked to the post office and I mailed my great nephews gift. Angel was hungry so we stopped at Coronas and got her 2 bean tacos. We received a call that my car was finished just as we left the restaurant. Perfect timing! We walked back to the shop and went inside to pay.
There was a young man at the counter and he told me that they were only able to do a partial alignment because my back tires were off center and I needed a kit to fix them. I asked about getting the kit put in and he said he would have to look into it but they couldn’t do it today. I asked how much I owed for the partial alignment and he told me I had to pay for a full alignment. I paid for it and asked if I would have to pay for another alignment once I got the kit put in and he said yes. I didn’t feel that was right and could feel myself getting angry. I asked to talk to the owner. The young man said the owner wasn’t in but I could call him. I went out to my car and immediately called him and told him what I had been told. He said he would call his mechanic to see what was going on and would call me right back. He called me back 5 minutes later and apologized. He said his mechanic didn’t do an alignment at all and they would refund me the full amount. I thanked him and asked him to get me a quote on getting the kit put in. He said he would do that later in the day and get back to me. I was glad things had been set right and that I didn’t have to pay for an alignment that didn’t happen.
When I got home, Christopher and I put together the metal shelf I had gotten at the thrift store. Then I sat outside and watched the chickens, ducks and geese. Christopher came over to feed the goats and I helped him. I noticed a bunch of blood weeds growing behind the fence and I spend some time pulling them up until it was time for dinner.
I had a smoothie for dinner and took a bath. After my bath, I made 64 oz. of almond milk and 1 1/2 gallons of pineapple/apple juice. I cleaned up the kitchen and walked to the mailbox to get the mail. I had a couple of checks in the mail. One from a coaching client and one from the home health company I work for taking care of Ms. M. I opened the check from the home health care company and they had paid me for one hour. This was not the right amount. I immediately felt frustrated. They have tried to short me on hours before. I went in the house and looked at my previous check from them. They had shorted me on hours on that check as well, I just hadn’t caught it at the time. I sent them a message with pictures of my time sheets and my pay stubs asking that it be corrected. I added Ms. M’s husband to the message so that he would be aware of what was going on with my pay. I’ve worked for myself for so many years that I’m not used to dealing with this kind of drama. I would quit working for this company if I didn’t love taking care of Ms. M so much. I decided that I wasn’t going to make this a big deal and trust that my pay would get straightened out.
After dealing with all that, I sent a message to my coaching client letting her know I received my check from her and told her thank you, she even gave me a tip which was very kind of her. Angel wanted to jump on the trampoline and do stretching. I was all for that! We jumped for a while then helped each other stretch. I felt really good after exercising and stretching. We went in the banana hut and when Christopher joined us, I read one chapter from Stormy, Misty’s Foal. Christopher went in the house and Angel got in her trundle bed. We fell asleep at around 9:30 pm listening to a Bobbsey Twins audiobook.
Thank you for reading my blog, and being a part of my life. I dearly appreciate you.
Love,
Victoria
P. S. This blog post was inspired by the Holy Spirit.