Car problems

What ever possessed me to presume I could get a bike ride in today??? Well, there definitely won't be any more chances after this. I could've really used the stress reduction, too, though the worst of the stress didn't arise until after I'd've been back.

I didn't realize I'd have to be in charge of the kids this afternoon, but I should've known mrs tg would need to go help choose flowers. I didn't mind, except for missing my ride; this is definitely a time when my own wishes take a back seat to my wife's needs. The grandkids were pretty good, except the almost 8-year-old grandson acts more like he's 4 when he doesn't get his way. But it was still nice to hang out with them for a while.

Then, about 4:30, as I was in the middle of cooking (bean soup, with the leftover ham bone from the weekend) my cell phone rang. It was oldest daughter, telling my car had stalled and wouldn't start. We'd swapped when we picked up the kids. We thought they were still asleep, and were just getting ready to call them. Turns out they'd decided to go have a hot dog at this place they'd heard about on a cable food show. In Baltimore. On one of the busiest streets in the city. During rush hour. In my car. While we're babysitting their kids so they can sleep! Without so much as a "would you mind if we . . . ," which we would have, under the combined circumstances, even if my car didn't break down.

So middle daughter grabs her GPS-equipped cell phone. They were a few blocks from I895, but there was a traffic alert, so we took the Key Bridge (as in Francis Scott Key) instead and let the GPS reroute us. I've gotta get me one of those! Before we arrived, they told me they'd paid someone $20 to drag them out of the street into an adjacent drug store parking lot - a good decision, though I imagine he'd've done it for $10. It was still on his bed when I arrived, though as fast as I could say AAA he started to drop it for me. I tried to start it, having to hook up the jumper cables first, seeing as the battery had died from the repeated start attempts. It would rev briefly, then stall. On the third try, it backfired. Folks were probably ducking all over Highlandtown (cheap shot - I don't think that's such a bad neighborhood). I'm guessing that maybe the timing belt has gone out on it. I think they're supposed to be done around 100K miles, and I've got 109K now. At least Toyota motors don't blow up when the timing belt goes.

I really wanted the car closer to where we were staying, so AAA recommended a shop nearer our end of town. The guy driving the AAA tow truck agreed to follow the van while I rode in the wrecker, to the AAA recommended shop. Except apparently the GPS didn't give them enough notice of an exit, and the tow truck wouldn't have been allowed on the alternate route. We got there okay, though, only to find out the shop at that address is no longer the one AAA has listed. Still, I went ahead and left it there.

Finally getting back to dad's house, where everyone was already eating the meal I'd started preparing, we put our foot down when daughter and son-in-law tried to insist on using our van. They then tried to rent a car, not wanting to be dependent on us for transportation, but finding out that would cost more than they were willing to pay, finally had us drive them back to their hotel. We stopped at a grocery so they could get some snack supplies first, then dropped them off. The grandkids and I played "I Spy" while their parents shopped. Even the 5-year-old did pretty well with it, and the time passed quickly until mom and dad returned and we drove the few blocks to the hotel.