Another doctor visit

Gerry had a lot of trouble with her ear getting infected when she was a child and has continued to have ear problems to this day.  She goes in for a 6 month checkup and today was the day for that.  It is an 85 mile drive one way to the appointment and it rained all the way down there.  We still made good time since the traffic wasn't so heavy and we only got caught in one road construction area.

The ear is ok, but she will still need to continue with the 6 month checkups.  Ear problems can be a real pain and she has had one operation already and doesn't want to have another.  

We borrowed Cassie & Jack's Dodge Ram pickup truck to make the drive down there.  Whew!  It rides pretty well on smooth road but it feels like I am driving the motor home.  It is neat to have a good view of the road ahead with the high clearance.  The wet roads made for some slower driving, but all went well.

We stopped by our favorite liquor & wine store on the way home and picked up some good buys on wine there.  They cost $2-4 cheaper per bottle there and have a huge selection.  The beer is much cheaper also and if we are in the area, it makes good sense to stop by and make a large purchase.  

When we were leaving the wine store a call came in from the automobile repair shop that was working on the Saturn.  It had developed a very bad miss when there was a steep climb or when taking off fast.  We had them work on the car in June and they replaced the spark plugs and a few other repairs and factory recalls.  The car ran a little better but I wasn't happy with it's performance. The gas mileage dropped from 25mpg around town to 20mpg.  Not good.  They tried to fix it on Tuesday but could not isolate and fix the problem.  Today they were more successful.  

Yes, the plugs they put in the car in June were the wrong plugs.  They hadn't noticed that the engine was a Honda V6 and assumed it was a Chevrolet V6.  Wrong!   When they installed the correct plugs the can ran like new with a lot of pep.  To make up for their mistake they only charged for the difference in cost between the wrong plugs and the correct ones,  $74 difference since the new plugs cost $20 each and the old ones were around $5 each.  I wonder if the first mechanic is still working for them.

At least the car is repaired and we can make the trip down to North Carolina and help our son celebrate his 40th birthday which was yesterday.  He doesn't want to make a big deal out of it but we think it should be recognized.  He was such a daredevil as a child that making it to 40 is quite an accomplishment.  

Cassie & Jack will be making the trip down there also and we are looking forward to a big celebration on Saturday or Sunday.