Friday, November 16, 2018

Homeless in Albuquerque sucks. We're outta here.

The mechanic called us with the final diagnosis... the exhaust manifold is cracked. Also a bunch of ducting on the cold air side of the turbo had perished allowing leaks here and there, robbing Loretta of critical turbo power. Grand total $3400. The shop itself was also undergoing a major overhaul, in that their computer system was being completely rebuilt from the ground up, which caused significant delays getting our parts underway. Altogether we waited two weeks until the actual work started, and when it did... major oops.

The technician in charge of separating the exhaust manifold struggled with removing the broken parts because over the years the bolts holding everything to the engine had seized, and in trying to remove them he managed to break two bolts off in the head, the first of which he was able to extricate, and on the very last one the coup de gras - he broke the head itself.  So now we're looking at a pretty major engine refit. Probably weeks. Final bill likely closer to $8000. Ugh.

Well, we've definitely had enough of Albuquerque and have no intention of spending Thanksgiving here, and so the decision was made to pack up the whole furry family, check out of the hotel, and hit the road to spend some time with family in California.

This meant visiting Loretta at the shop to collect some clothes and pet supplies, and throw away all the food in the fridge/freezer (rrrggghh).

When you spend so much time with a vehicle, it sort of takes on a life of its own; seems to breathe, triumph, suffer. You become used to each of the little sounds and learn to interpret their meaning. Our boat was the same way, so we shouldn't have been quite so surprised at how it would affect us to see Loretta torn apart this way.  The shop had the bed propped up so they could work, and from the hallway we could see all the way through to the shop floor.  Her engine parts were separated and spread around. She was not plugged into any shore power and the propane was off, so she was cold and dark, and the usual warm happy smells of a life well lived were replaced by sharp shop smells and just a hint of food beginning to spoil in the fridge. While we negotiated the scene collecting our things it felt like standing in the middle of a surgery room or murder investigation, the way her guts were exposed and spread around like that was just too much to witness. We packed as quickly as we could, patted some love on her dash, and fled for California. Yes we heard the smoke is bad... how bad can it be?


Lance and the cats are having a battle of wills

Traveling with two cats and a dog in the Subaru is a challenge. The dog settles right down in her usual bed and is fine unless any cat tries to share it with her, which they do every now and then probably more to annoy her more than for any other reason. They each have their own comfy safe spaces created for them which they choose to ignore in lieu of being all over the driver and passenger and trying to climb the seat backs. I know what you're thinking... "Why don't we leave them in the carrier?". We tried that. The yowling is neverending and soulful, it goes right through to your bones, and the driving days were really too long to ask anybody to sit that tight in their little carriers. Eventually they found their own space at the passenger's feet or the backseat footwell and settled down. We drove for two days like this, taking care they didn't escape at fuel and bathroom breaks, doing a pet head-count before rolling from each pause.

California is on fire, as it usually is this time of year nowadays. We first started noticing the smoke in Phoenix, and without a doubt the majority of it is being held back by the mountain range separating the Mojave Desert from the Central Valley.  Our last clean breath of clear air was on the Tehachapi Pass; when we started dropping into Bakersfield on the Central Valley side we instinctively held that last breath as it seemed like we were being slowly dropped into soup. The buildings and cars along the roadside in Bakersfield had a thick layer of red dust/ash on them and combined with the dark skies at midday it all felt very apocalyptic. The schools are closed, the traffic minimal as everyone tries to stay at home and exert themselves as little as possible.

Pray for rain.

8 comments:

  1. Welcome home fambly. Everything is on fire but at least there is malfotti.

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    1. Call me and let’s work out a time to see each other.

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  2. YEAH Malfotti!! The trauma from the breakdown of Loretta can be offset by reconnecting with family, slightly.
    Has it really been more than 6 months?

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    1. It’s been 8 months since you and I last hugged, over a year for Lance.

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  3. I think you’re prayers for rain are about to be answered. I hope Loretta speedy recovery as well. 🤞🏻

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  4. Yes looking forward to family time and excited about next week’s rain forecast. Nations burger today, malfati tomorrow, Lillam next week, feeling better already :)

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  5. ITs not a rain issues its a climate change issue. As the temperatures in California and most of the planet warm, it changes the dewpoint where humidity does not condense into rain but it does not cool enough to occur. Other areas of the planet have super saturated atmosphere resulting in flash floods.

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  6. Yes of course. Apparently the East Coast is getting all of it nowadays; we spent a very wet summer out there this year.

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