very early Thanksgiving trip makes Volvo lose its marbles
18-11-18 09:00 Thanksgiving,Grandchildren
It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Melika and Tom have invited us to join The Adams Family holiday trip to Club Med in Ixtapa, Mexico. We’re flying from LAX on ..
“Wednesday, Dad,” Melika explained. “At 7:00AM.”
“AM?” I asked.
“It’s a little early.”
“We’ll have to leave Santa Barbara at, eh, 3:30”, I thought. “Maybe we’ll get a hotel the night before,” I said.
“On the other hand, Nazy will probably still be awake,” I thought. "She is a night owl.”
While we thought about the trip, we watched the children while Tom and Melika went to a birthday party. As usual, they had special outfits. (See at right with Tiger photobomb.)
“I wish I had one of those vests,” I thought, unable to come up with an appropriate occasion to wear it.
Nazy and I were headed to dinner on Sunday when …
“Did you hear that?” I asked as I stepped on the brake.
“What is it?”
“Bad news,” I thought. “It’s the brakes,” I said. “And it doesn’t sound good.”
“Is it safe to drive?” Nazy asked reasonably.
“Well, the car seems to be stopping,” I replied. “Metal on metal works,” I thought.
Unfortunately, there is no Volvo dealer in Santa Barbara. The nearest is in Thousand Oaks which was…
“Inaccessible, Nazy,” I explained. “The 101 Freeway is closed because of the fires.”
I located a local certified Volvo repair shop and took the car to them for advice.
“You have a brake problem,” Bob, the mechanic, explained.
“Duh,” I thought. “Can you fix it?” I asked, holding onto my wallet.
“I can fix it. I just have to get the parts. It will be expensive.”
“Isn’t it a warranty item?” I asked. “Expen$ive?” I thought.
“I can’t do warranty fixes,” Bob replied.
Nazy called the Volvo dealer in San Luis Obispo (SLO). They said that, while the brake pads were not covered under warranty, the rotor would “probably” be covered. But SLO is 120 miles from Santa Barbara and it wasn’t prudent to drive that distance in a car with ?uestionable brakes. Because they could also do the annual service in SLO, I hired a tow truck in hopes of, eh, ‘braking’ even. But…
“.. nothing was covered under warranty,” I explained to Nazy as I sat in SLO waiting for the repair to be completed.
While I waited, the wild fires continued to burn — both north and south of Santa Barbara. As a result, the state has been declared a federal disaster site. And..
“The ‘president’ is coming to California to see things for himself,” I said to Nazy.
“Hasn’t California already suffered enough?” She replied.
Tiger and Arrow have a new favorite toy — Marble Run, a ‘you build it’ roller-coasteri(ish) marble maze that includes funnels, tunnels and various other pathways. Building a complicated version is a customary challenge. And, whenever we arrive at Melika’s house…
“Play marbles!” Arrow shouts.
There is the occasional disagreement between Arrow and Tiger on structure. Tiger, sure that Arrow didn’t create the longest path, often wants to dismantle his brother’s work. In contrast, Tiger always creates a long path, with multiple funnels and no missed pathways. But his creations are..
“… fragile,” I noted. “He prefers complexity to stability,” I thought.
“He is unbelievable, Dan,” Nazy observed accurately. “Everything works. There are no missed or unconnected pathways.”
“I know.” I replied. “He’s figured it out and he’s not content unless he has used every piece. There are always complex cantilevered components because he doesn’t have enough foundation pieces for a sturdy construct.”
Note: The photo depicts a typical Tiger masterpiece. He can barely reach the top, every piece is used and the middle is free-floating.
In the past few weeks and months, Arrow has become very chatty. We were at lunch and, since Arrow and I had both finished eating before Nazy was done, I took Arrow out for a walk. He pointed out the sights..
“See Pokey Tree,” He said pointing to a cactus with big thorns.
Then he spotted someone sitting on the curb.
“What’s that guy doing?” He asked, loudly.
In point of fact, however, no one can compete with Nazy for Arrow’s attention. He (like me) thinks that Nazy is spectacularly wonderful. If he has a choice, he’ll spend time with Nazy.
And, finally, young Azelle continues to amaze. She is pleasant and attentive.
“… and hungry, Dan.” Nazy noted. “If she is awake, she is hungry.”
Nazy is right. This baby, now three months old, is not only noticing and reacting with her environment, she is growing very, very rapidly. Nazy thinks we’re lucky to have to two grandestdaugthers on the whole planet.
“It’s not luck, Nazy,” I explain. “It’s genes. Mine and yours.”
“Mostly mine,” Nazy responded.
Nazy is, of course, mostly responsible for (the amazing) Azelle and (the lovely) Leandra — provided that we ignore the contributions of Tom, Melika, Darius and Christiane. In any case, the girls are beautiful. And, soon they will outnumber the boys.
“Wednesday, Dad,” Melika explained. “At 7:00AM.”
“AM?” I asked.
“It’s a little early.”
“We’ll have to leave Santa Barbara at, eh, 3:30”, I thought. “Maybe we’ll get a hotel the night before,” I said.
“On the other hand, Nazy will probably still be awake,” I thought. "She is a night owl.”
While we thought about the trip, we watched the children while Tom and Melika went to a birthday party. As usual, they had special outfits. (See at right with Tiger photobomb.)
“I wish I had one of those vests,” I thought, unable to come up with an appropriate occasion to wear it.
Nazy and I were headed to dinner on Sunday when …
“Did you hear that?” I asked as I stepped on the brake.
“What is it?”
“Bad news,” I thought. “It’s the brakes,” I said. “And it doesn’t sound good.”
“Is it safe to drive?” Nazy asked reasonably.
“Well, the car seems to be stopping,” I replied. “Metal on metal works,” I thought.
Unfortunately, there is no Volvo dealer in Santa Barbara. The nearest is in Thousand Oaks which was…
“Inaccessible, Nazy,” I explained. “The 101 Freeway is closed because of the fires.”
I located a local certified Volvo repair shop and took the car to them for advice.
“You have a brake problem,” Bob, the mechanic, explained.
“Duh,” I thought. “Can you fix it?” I asked, holding onto my wallet.
“I can fix it. I just have to get the parts. It will be expensive.”
“Isn’t it a warranty item?” I asked. “Expen$ive?” I thought.
“I can’t do warranty fixes,” Bob replied.
Nazy called the Volvo dealer in San Luis Obispo (SLO). They said that, while the brake pads were not covered under warranty, the rotor would “probably” be covered. But SLO is 120 miles from Santa Barbara and it wasn’t prudent to drive that distance in a car with ?uestionable brakes. Because they could also do the annual service in SLO, I hired a tow truck in hopes of, eh, ‘braking’ even. But…
“.. nothing was covered under warranty,” I explained to Nazy as I sat in SLO waiting for the repair to be completed.
While I waited, the wild fires continued to burn — both north and south of Santa Barbara. As a result, the state has been declared a federal disaster site. And..
“The ‘president’ is coming to California to see things for himself,” I said to Nazy.
“Hasn’t California already suffered enough?” She replied.
Tiger and Arrow have a new favorite toy — Marble Run, a ‘you build it’ roller-coasteri(ish) marble maze that includes funnels, tunnels and various other pathways. Building a complicated version is a customary challenge. And, whenever we arrive at Melika’s house…
“Play marbles!” Arrow shouts.
There is the occasional disagreement between Arrow and Tiger on structure. Tiger, sure that Arrow didn’t create the longest path, often wants to dismantle his brother’s work. In contrast, Tiger always creates a long path, with multiple funnels and no missed pathways. But his creations are..
“… fragile,” I noted. “He prefers complexity to stability,” I thought.
“He is unbelievable, Dan,” Nazy observed accurately. “Everything works. There are no missed or unconnected pathways.”
“I know.” I replied. “He’s figured it out and he’s not content unless he has used every piece. There are always complex cantilevered components because he doesn’t have enough foundation pieces for a sturdy construct.”
Note: The photo depicts a typical Tiger masterpiece. He can barely reach the top, every piece is used and the middle is free-floating.
In the past few weeks and months, Arrow has become very chatty. We were at lunch and, since Arrow and I had both finished eating before Nazy was done, I took Arrow out for a walk. He pointed out the sights..
“See Pokey Tree,” He said pointing to a cactus with big thorns.
Then he spotted someone sitting on the curb.
“What’s that guy doing?” He asked, loudly.
In point of fact, however, no one can compete with Nazy for Arrow’s attention. He (like me) thinks that Nazy is spectacularly wonderful. If he has a choice, he’ll spend time with Nazy.
And, finally, young Azelle continues to amaze. She is pleasant and attentive.
“… and hungry, Dan.” Nazy noted. “If she is awake, she is hungry.”
Nazy is right. This baby, now three months old, is not only noticing and reacting with her environment, she is growing very, very rapidly. Nazy thinks we’re lucky to have to two grandestdaugthers on the whole planet.
“It’s not luck, Nazy,” I explain. “It’s genes. Mine and yours.”
“Mostly mine,” Nazy responded.
Nazy is, of course, mostly responsible for (the amazing) Azelle and (the lovely) Leandra — provided that we ignore the contributions of Tom, Melika, Darius and Christiane. In any case, the girls are beautiful. And, soon they will outnumber the boys.
For last week's letter, please click here
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