A stressful couple of weeks..

A couple of weeks ago, I took my car in for a routine oil change. They called me and said I needed a new left-front CV joint.($250) OK, I said. Driving onto the ferry that afternoon, I remarked that the car in front of me was making an awful grinding noise. Remarked on it again as we were offloading. And as I turned into my driveway, there's that noise again.. must be that same car still in front of me. However, the next day when the noise was still there as I was backing out of the garage, I had to admit that it was probably coming from MY car.

What to do? I have to be at a meeting 50 miles up the island later today, and I'm now concerned my axle is grinding itself to pieces. So I decide to take the bus. I will call Jill when I get up there and she will pick me up and cart me the remaining four or five miles to her house. Halfway there, I check my cell phone and find I do not have Jill's number, although I swear I can clearly remember adding it just yesterday. No problem, I have my laptop with me and I know I have her number there. I open the laptop. Battery is dead.

Just in time, I ask to be let off at the fire station, where they kindly let me plug in my laptop, and use their phone, as I have no cell phone service there anyway.

After a 2-3 hour meeting I hop back on the bus, and half way home my phone rings. It's Crystal, my student from 25 years ago, who I was expecting to visit me tomorrow, saying they're coming up today instead, and could I please pick them up at the ferry. No problem, I am so looking forward to seeing her! I ignore the grinding in my car and hurry down to the ferry. My bike is in the back of the car and I need to make room for Crystal and her partner, so I haul the bike out and install it on the roof rack. Forgetting, in the excitement, to remove my garage door opener from it's usual place on the visor, as I always do, to keep me from driving into the garage with my bike still on top of the car. Which, wanting to show off my house to my guests, I promptly do.

Crunch!. Of course my first impulse is to back up. I get out to see the damage I've caused, and realized I've backed up ONTO my bike.

Well, the damage doesn't look too awful... I've only backed onto the wheel, not the frame itself. Off we go for a mini-tour of the island, trying to ignore the grinding sound still coming from the left front wheel. We have a nice visit and I make it home without the axle breaking.

The next day I take the car in for what turns out to be a very minor adjustment, and the bike in for repair. I need a new rear derailleur, not a problem as I was planning to get a grannier granny gear installed before this summer's big trip anyway. They even manage to true the bent rear wheel, but I opt to order a new one to be safe. ($300 + $250 for new wheel on order)

Meanwhile, I'm obsessing about how we are going to get 4 bikes and camping gear for 4 people to Arizona in a couple of weeks. Buy a trailer? Rent? Finally opt for renting a Uhaul trailer, only $15 per day, but that means I have to get a hitch installed. ($350) Oh, and I might as well buy new tires as long as I'm hemorrhaging cash anyway; I've got 90K miles on my old ones. ($550)

A couple of days ago, as I was doing some routine thing on my laptop, I began to get these very Windows-official looking pop-up messages saying that Windows had determined I was under attack from a virus, click here "for the scan you computer now", and wanting me to activate some previously unheard of virus protection software. Being a bit suspicious of Microsoft's lapse in grammar, I googled that phrase and found that this is most likely the Conficker virus and the "virus protection software" is bogus. After following all the directions on the Norton website, doing a complete scan of my PC (in which Norton found nothing wrong!), spending close to two hours on the phone with a Norton tech in India, I am no closer to resolution. I can't access the Internet, can't do much of anything, and every few seconds I get a pop-up saying "Want to activate your antivirus protection NOW?" I'm off to take my PC to the local tech ($??). Hoping they can save my turbotax file, as I was 99% finished doing my taxes.

Hoping for some less stressful days soon....