Yes, you read that right. My Honda HRV died. But I'll get to that later. Let me just say it's a damn good thing I'd had an easy, relaxing week last week because this one was a doozy!
It started out with snow on Monday. Yes, snow at the end of April. I had already put some of my over wintered plants outside so had to bring them in again. The snow didn't last long but that's just too damn cold for mid April. And of course the cold lasted until Tuesday because I had plans to be out and about.
I had already made plans to go to campus on Wednesday because I was selected for a random spit test so I scheduled it for 11:30 and then Dodie and I were going out to lunch for the first time in over a year. I could taste my fave Panera salad already! But then they announced the first mass vaccine clinic for students on Tuesday and were looking for volunteers so I signed up. I was going to be handing out free t-shirts outside in a tent.
Going out in public meant that I had to find real pants - with a zipper! - to wear. Luckily with the 11 pounds I'd lost this month, I was back at my pre-pandemic weight so something had to fit, right? It's not like I'd gone to work naked last March. I was happy to find 4 pairs of pants that fit so got dressed Tuesday morning and was on campus at 9:30. My shift was until 1:00 and the free food giveaway was in the same tent so I grabbed a Runza (for any non-Nebraskans reading this, it's a hamburger and cabbage mix baked inside dough and it's a hugely popular fast food chain here) and headed to my office. I had my spit test scheduled the next day but had to walk right by a spit hut and there was no line so I just got it done on the way to my office.
We had new windows installed in my office building last year so I had packed my office up before going home last March and it was time to unpack. After eating my Runza, I started cleaning the incredibly dusty surfaces and then put my cubie back in order. I went through lots of paper and filled my recycling bin. It's amazing how something that mattered 13 months ago was absolutely useless now. Anyway, my next mission was to find a place to train after lunch with Dodie on Wednesday. Alas, I totally failed. My desktop at work doesn't have a camera and I was dismayed to see that both the training room and the conference room had been stripped of all computer equipment, which I later learned was sent home with people so they could work at home. That meant that training via zoom at home would actually be easier so I called Dodie and asked to cancel lunch on Wednesday so I could just stay home. She was disappointed, as was I, but it made sense. So off I went.
I ran some errands and since I'd cancelled Panera with Dodie, I drove through and picked up my fave salad. My last stop was Nora's to pick up the plants I'd bought to support her daughter's old school. We had fun walking around her yard checking out plants and catching up. I left her house just before 7:00 and was looking forward to getting home after this long day and enjoying my salad. I was just outside Lincoln on a country road on the way to the highway when my car went nuts. I stepped on the gas after a stop sign and it wasn't accelerating. I looked down and every single light on my dashboard was lit and it said Park. So I did. I had hoped that turning the car off and on would clear it but it didn't so I got it going at half speed so I could limp to a paved road just ahead. And that's where I called AAA from.
It was just after 7:00, the sun was still out and AAA was on their way so I ate my salad and listened to the radio with the heat on. Because my engine would run. I just couldn't drive. My salad was delish (good thing I had my knitting treats bag of utensils, plates and napkins in the car because they didn't give me a fork) and I knitted away, not feeling too bad. Then it got dark. I kept calling the tow company and it was taking forever. By the time the truck arrived, it was almost 9:00. He towed me to the Honda dealership, who I'd already called to find out what to do, and Anne picked me up. I had already arranged to stay over at her house because I wouldn't know anything until I talked to Honda in the morning. She lent me a nightie and gave me a toothbrush and we both went right to bed.
I didn't sleep very well (go figure) and was on the phone with Honda before Anne got back from her workout at the gym. They told me that they were fully booked so wouldn't be able to look at it for days and also didn't have a loaner. Nor could they give me an estimate of how long I might need a car if I were to rent one. Not happy. So I called my friend Lorri, whose husband is a car guy so has several cars, and asked if she had a spare car I could borrow. Not only was she willing to lend me her car but she would come and get me. She came during my team zoom so I hung up early and we headed home. I put in some vacation time, ate lunch and was back to work that afternoon. Now to wait for Honda to call.
I was on a break between rotations but was not eating any sweets, which meant I was eating savory things that felt special. Since I had to do a deposit for Friends of the Library account and the bank is right across form Mocha C's, I went in for my regular grab and go but without the scotcheroo. I was down 11 pounds so was motivated to stay focused. The sandwich and chips tasted great. Honda called at the end of the day to say they had my car on the diagnostic computer but it wouldn't finish before they closed. It had already thrown a code for a bad transmission sensor so I went to bed that night hopeful that it would be a quick and cheap fix. Yeah, right.
They called on Friday to say that the reason the sensor died was because it was full of metal shards and I needed a new transmission, which would cost $6,200! WHAT???? My car is 5 years old and only has 66k miles! I told the service guy, who was very nice, that that was completely unacceptable. He said he'd check with Honda to see if they would help. I told him they had better because this was absolutely CRAZY. He called later to say Honda would pay 75%, which would still leave me out $1,500+. What choice did I have though so I told them to order the transmission. I then did some online research and turns out, this is a common problem on 2016 HRV's. Maybe I should be calling Honda myself to complain and see if they'll cover 100%. Time will tell.
One bit of good news was that they had a loaner for me so I called my friend Cindy to bribe her with breakfast out in Lincoln if she'd come and get me and drop me at Honda. Then I called Lorri and asked if she could come and get her car, which she did with her husband. I went to bed Friday feeling slightly better that at least there was progress.
Cindy picked me up just after 8:00 and I loaded her car with donations that I needed to drop off in Lincoln for her garage sale to benefit spaying/neutering strays. She's the one who bottle fed my cat Gansey so I like supporting her cause. Cindy and I went to Cook's Cafe, which is in a new location after a fire in their old one, and has the best sausage in town. We only waited a few minutes to be seated and then thoroughly enjoyed the special - baked strawberry French toast with sausage and scrambled eggs. Delish! Then we drove to Honda, where I picked up a bright red Honda Civic sports car. I pulled some stuff out of my car then transferred the donation boxes from Cindy's and we went our separate ways.
I had my normal Sunday morning of news shows and chatting with my sister and it was approaching noon when the phone rang. Connie was calling to say she really was coming to visit and asking if it was the next weekend or the one after that. We talked options and decided the next weekend would work best so I hung up and madly started cleaning. I'd been slogging through stuff for weeks but hadn't cleaned a thing so I started at the ceiling with cobwebs and worked my way down to the floors. I worked like a dog all afternoon and into the evening, stopping when I was too tired and sweaty to keep going. I had a few small things left to do but felt good about my progress and the house was in good shape. Yay!
So how's that for a full week to contrast with last week's mundane one? I am still in shock that my relatively new and well maintained car has died. They just don't make things like they used to. How's that for sounding old? Oh well. Hopefully next week will be less eventful. I live in hope.
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