Tuesday, November 3, 2009

My car is sick.....

I was finally able to get my flu shot on Monday. The Health Dept. and all the drug stores and senior centers and other places that were giving the shots were out of them completely. I managed to find a doctor's office that still had some. I'm not going to get the H1N1 unless my doctor specifically tells me I have to have it. I'm just glad that I was able to get one. I've had a flu shot every year for over 30 years and have rarely had the flu and even when I did have it, it was a very mild case. So I do believe that the shots help a lot.

The other day my car stalled while I was driving down the highway. Not cool to be driving along at about 45 mph and suddenly your car quits. Its never done that before and it was pretty unnerving to say the least. Since then its been doing it a couple times on the way to and from work....and its only a 6 mile drive one way. I figured that maybe I got some bad gasoline or worse yet....maybe my fuel pump is going. As much as I hate to part with the money, I need my car and have to keep it healthy so I decided that on my day off (today) I would take it in to see what's causing this.

I had my daughter follow me so I could leave my car there. I took it to the dealership for the repairs. I've always used the dealership unless its something small like an oil change. I trust the mechanics there. I told them to winterize it and change the oil too. Also I told them to check the brakes because they still don't feel right to me. I had them checked a couple months ago because they felt "spongy" to me but the place I took it to (not the dealership) stated that the brakes were fine. I was beginning to feel like I'd lost my mind. I figured they were right and I was wrong.

Now I want to tell you all something that just proves beyond any doubt that I have some powerful guardian angels looking after me. I've learned to listen to their whispers. See, I've been driving my car even though I felt something was wrong with the brakes.....but I was driving it because people who are supposedly professionals told me there was nothing wrong. I probably would have continued to drive it even though I still felt that the brakes didn't feel right. That is until this new thing happened with the stalling. Having a car that stalls out in heavy traffic is extremely stressful and only a fool would put up with that. So that made me go and have my car looked at and while there, I felt a nudge at my shoulder and a whisper in my ear.... I heard myself saying, .....'oh yes, would you check the brakes while its here....they feel spongy to me but no one seems to think I know what I'm talking about'. Yes ma'm....we'll check them out for you.

They found the reason why my car is stalling....some sort of electrical problem that can be fixed without much trouble. But.....the brakes.....the brakes, the brakes. Seems as though my rear brakes have been leaking brake fluid for quite some time and the brake pads are soaked and the master cylinder has to be replaced. Dangerous? You bet! They will be repaired and yes, its going to cost more than $600 for everything to be repaired....the stalling plus the brakes, plus a tune-up. I'm going to do it even though my car is old. I'm going to do it because I've taken very good care of my car since I bought it new and it has low mileage and I can't afford to replace it right now. I'm going to do it because my car has always been dependable and has never caused me any trouble. I'm going to do it because my guardian angels have gone to a lot of trouble to make sure I knew about those brakes. Somebody up there loves me.

12 comments:

Linda@VS said...

I've had car trouble on the road eight times in the 48 years I've been driving, and in each instance help arrived in less than one minute. You can be sure I believe you about those guardian angels. Glad you'll be safe again.

Joy Des Jardins said...

Yep, somebody up there loves you Val....and a lot of people down here too. Glad you listened to that little voice...Hugs, Joy

Jamie said...

Yep, that's exactly what happened. Isn't this world a wonderful, mysterious place? I am so happy that your car decided to stall out and that you are okay. Hugs, dear friend. :)

SOUL said...

wow charlotte-- you have been awful lucky lately!!! you sure have some 'loud mouthed ' angels :)) in a good way of course.

i take it your son isn't a car guy?
that's too bad. i wish you lived closer to me-- a lot closer-- cuz that stuff sounds like stuff soulman could fix. i know he could do the brake job for the cost of parts-- that i have always thought to be extremely cheap in regards to what these places charge to do the job. seems triple or more in comparison. it's just hi-way robbery!
especially at the dealership. i bet the parts cost 200.00 or less to complete the job-- the rest is 'labor'. it makes me ill to see you be be raked over the coals that way and to know that soulman could and would do it at cost. ugh.

anyhow-- i'm just happy that once again.. you are safe and sound. keep listenin to those angels of yours. they do know what they're talkin about. and so do you.

big ole hugz to you my friend!
have a very happy day!

Christine said...

Okay that is just scary. You DO have someone on your side. Send her my way when you're done :-)

happyone said...

I have never had a flu shot!!

Its always good to listen to your instincts. You are the one who drives your car and know it better than anyone.
Things happen for a reason and yes, someone up there does take care of us. :-)

Forsythia said...

How 'bout a bumper sticker for your rehabiliated car: "I brake for angels."

Golden To Silver Val said...

Good one Forsythia! LOL, thanks!

Lee said...

Thanks for stopping by and you are one lucky gal!!

Maria said...

Well, I'm not much of a believer in guardian angels...but I am seriously glad that this had a happy ending.

I really should take some sort of car repair class. If anything ever happened to Bing, I would be totally dependent on the kindness of strangers.

Anonymous said...

Just paying you back a visit, not that I dont visit...just terrible lurker at times... glad we got reconnected..and weird how you found me!!! i just changed the stupid blog address twice in the last week or so... ha ha...guess the man upstairs is looking out for us...really...!

Savannah said...

Well plenty of people down here love you too so I'm glad you listened to those guardian angels.