I did go to Enterprise and rent a small car for the next week. Today I have to drive to Sacramento, so I couldn’t risk driving the Santa Fe. I’m trying to evaluate the next step and go from there.

I cleaned everything out of the car and if I can trade it in that’s what I’ll do. Of course, I will be upfront that the coolant system was just replaced but there is still a problem. I’m not sure what will be a trade in value but probably not a lot. Sad, because it is a very nice car. It’s easy to drive and it was Barclay’s work car to begin with so it had lots of extras for long distance travel, which he did a lot of. Well, I won’t be getting anything like that. While I have the rental I’ll check at a few dealers and see what’s available. This really could not have come at a worse time. Well, I suppose it could have but now is bad enough. I haven’t had a car payment in many years so that is not something I’m looking forward to. 🙁

A few random pictures. One of our Japanese maples all red, Gus in his new Christmas house, and my Christmas cactus blooming.

So, I’m off to get ready. Thanks for reading about my woes. This too will pass I’m sure.

Oh and I am beyond thrilled at the Blue Wave. After such a tortuous time with Republicans, maybe we can return to some decency and civility.

So finally around noon yesterday, I was fed up with not getting a call from the garage. So I called, and he was out, so later he called me. I think that they had decided about it last week quickly enough but were not communicating with me. So they did nothing. And there is nothing to be done apart from pulling the whole head gasket off and replacing it, which would be many thousands of dollars. What they did do I’m guessing on Thursday last week was run a certain test with a liquid that checks if coolant is leaking into the head gasket system. And yes it was. It’s called the combustion gas test and if the liquid changes color that’s the end of the engine. I mean it’s running fine now but it’s not safe to drive as the engine could overheat at any given moment.

I am beyond devastated by this. I am now facing a huge financial blow. I could just sit tight and use my daughters Honda Fit opposite when she works. but that would only be temporary. In the meanwhile, I will rent a car so I can get to my appts this week and next. That will cost, but it will give me some time to think without completely breaking down.

Our beautiful fall weather!! I love sitting out in the yard, taking in the colors and the sky. I went for a short walk, and it was nice. There were, though, lots of people and moms with baby carriages. Anyway, I may try again perhaps at a slightly different time.

That maybe the Santa Fe will get fixed and I won’t have to worry about driving it. Hopefully it’s like ChatGPT said and is an air bubble.

I’m thankful for a warm house and having the firewood done. I’ve been having a fire every morning as it’s been chilly. Today the temperature is 46 out, so a bit chilly.

I’m thankful for both my kids and how much they help out. My daughter has gotten the yard really cleaned up for fall and winter. It looks really good. Since my son has been traveling, he hasn’t been up too much but I’ll see him for lunch tomorrow and mention getting another load of junk to the dump. This is mostly the old wood and some old fencing. I think we’re down to maybe 2 dump loads left.

As I said yesterday, I’m really glad to see the end of October.

We are having such pretty fall days. The leaves are turning golden with a hint of red occasionally. Mostly, the light is golden in the afternoon, coming through the trees. So pretty.

I did an ok walk. I felt a bit tired but got it done and it was nice. I’ll walk on the treadmill at the gym later too. I plan on doing weights and maybe dropping off the Goodwill stuff. I’ll see how it goes after I get changed and eat breakfast. I might take the Santa Fe and see how the temperature is. I think I should probably drive it as much as I can locally so if something happens, I near home. I usually take the VW to Auburn so it gets used but as I said I think I’ll do the SF.

Happily, next week no appts, so maybe I can get to the pool a couple of times. That would be really great. Plus, I still need to get my library books by Wednesday so I can plan a morning at the Mahany gym and library. Of course, with gas prices so high I do need to plan on how many times is reasonable and now with the car acting up it feels all a bit iffy. But I’m going to forge ahead and see how it goes.

Last night we had cheese enchiladas and home canned pintos. It was good and easy to put together. I have a salad pack to use today so I’ll see what I can pair with that.

updated: I’m back from town and the heater wasn’t working again, it’s a 10 minute drive). Then it seemed to kick in on the way home. So I think what I’ll do is call and check with the garage as the heater should have been fixed. But I’ll wait a few days and see how it goes on the way to Roseville which is about 25 minutes.

At least the temperature gauge seems to be fine and therefore the coolant must be ok.Such a pain.

I did drop the Goodwill off so that’s ticked off my list. Well, not sure what else I’ll get up today but I’m going to go sit outside for awhile.

So my heater did not work yesterday when I went to my appointment. So I freaked out a bit. I did check the coolant and kept watching the temperature gauge, and it stayed in the normal range, so that was reassuring. After my appt, which was really a Medicare compliance thing, I had planned to do a bunch of things but, of course, did not. I called up to the garage and told them I’d stop by. I also called my son who happens to be in the office on Fridays so he was near by if I needed to get picked up. But then just as I got to Auburn , the heater kicked in. I still went to the garage and he checked it and said it looked good and to just monitor the temperature. So, I guess it’s really just wait and see time. It really did take the wind out of my sails for the day though. I did stop at the Holiday and picked up the milk and few other things we needed so at least that got done.

Last night I slept terrible probably upset at the car but I managed to at least go for a walk this morning. I went out at 7am and it was light enough. I’m not sure what the day will bring as I still have those errands to do. I have laundry to do and it’s sheet day too.

I tallied up most of Octobers food receipts and it came in right around $400. It might have been less with LTSF from Costco which averages out over a number of months but still I think keeping it around $400 is a good mark. It’s definitely a learning curve with this food business because we just are eating differently. I’m still making some mistakes and buying some stuff from Costco that we are not getting to and end up in the freezer. (Those new biscuits are an example). But I think more frequent trips to Trader Joe’s or Winco will help me buy in smaller quantities. Last night we had the TJ’s fried rice with some of their wontons and spring rolls. All in all the amounts were perfect and we are using the food up. So I think going forward this next month that’s what I’ll do.

Well, off to do laundry and and see what else can get done.

The rain was so nice, and it seemed to help the fire season. I had a little fire going in the woodstove and it was pleasant.

Today, I’m off to the NP for the sleep doctor, who is actually a neurologist. I don’t really have any issues at this point so it should be quick. After that ,the library and maybe the gym. It just depends on how I feel. I need to stop at Winco for some milk and a few things. But I may just do that here in town. Sometimes the extra stops are a bit much for me. And of course, I’m still a bit nervous about the car.

My son is back from his Japan trip and it seemed it was a great time for all. I’m glad he got to do it. He’s coming over next week to show pictures.

I did some rearranging yesterday too. I was looking at Facebook and there’s tons of decluttering ideas but there are also ideas that an older person should consider in their house. One was not to keep things on higher shelves. Probably because of the risk of falling off a step ladder. So I had some christmas boxes on the top shelf of my one and only closet. I took them down and put them on the other side of thee closet where the shelf is lower and more reachable. Then I had a high shelf of books in the small built in bookcase outside the bedroom. So I moved them all down to a lower shelf and kept the top shelf empty. I didn’t declutter any because those books are nostalgic. Some are Barclay’s Bob Dylan Books and the others go back to when we first married. I have my original Laurel’s Kitchen and the Little Prince that Barclay got me. So nothing decluttered but made more accessible.

I do have another load to go to the Goodwill though of just random things. Honestly, where does it come from??? I will do that today and get it out of the car.

Last night I ended up having some soup for dinner. I didn’t feel like much else. Tonight, my daughter suggested a pizza but I’ll wait and see if that’s what she wants to do after work. I really haven’t been doing meal planning as such as. Maybe with the fall weather, I’ll feel like setting out a menu again for the week like soups, chilis etc.

Right now it’s almost 7am and it’s still quite dark out. Tomorrow, my walk day, I’ll need to gauge when to get down to the park. But the following weekend, this will be 6am as we fall behind. That’ll be ok in the morning but the afternoon will feel like I should go to bed at 7pm. ugh!!!

Well, off to get ready.