What I week! So last Wednesday Jess called me on my way to work telling me that our washing machine had died. It had given us an error code about the motor the day before and when she went down to check on the wash cycle the drum refused to move. The motor had seized and it was dead. So, Jess took the next day off and we went shopping for a new washer. But of course, nothing is ever THAT easy for us. We finally found the washer we liked at Lowe’s but they didn’t have it in stock. It would take about a week to get it in and even then, they wouldn’t be able to deliver it for almost 10 days. In fact, if I had bought it right then and there, we still wouldn’t have it. So I asked him to check other stores and the Scranton store in Dickson City had 2. I opened up my mobile app and bought a washer from that store. Knowing they would not be able to deliver it any sooner, I dropped my wife and kids off at the house, hooked up the cart, and drove to Dickson City to pick up our new washer. Even though it was on sale for $200 of, it still cost us quite a bit of money we were not expecting to spend. But, we need to have a washer. So here is our new 4.5 cu ft. Samsung washer.
Then came Friday….
Friday morning I was running my sister around picking some stuff up with the cart for my niece’s graduation party on Saturday. When we got off the interstate, she said she smelled a weird smell and hoped it wasn’t us. Since the truck burned oil, I just shrugged it off. Fast forward to when I am driving home and all of the sudden the truck starts bucking and the check engine light start flashing like mad. I finally make it home and I call the garage. I setup an appointment for first thing the next morning and I milked the car up there that night and dropped it off. I get a call the next day saying that it needs a gasket job, but they replaced the faulty spark plug that was covered in oil instead as that should get me a few more months until I needed to lay down a few grand for said work. We go up after my niece’s graduation party and pick up the truck. I barely made it to the end of the building when the check engine light came on. By the time I hit the first traffic light, the check engine light was back to blinking and it was bucking again. I turned right around and went back to the garage. I walked in and told them it was still doing the very thing I brought it in for. The mechanic came out and we had a nice chat. He had hoped his fix would have lasted a little longer than 30 seconds, but it just wasn’t meant to be. He said to fix the engine properly it would likely cost a little over $3,000. After looking back at the history of the vehicle, my dad had done pretty much the same exact work to it 21,000 miles ago. He totally agreed with me that those gaskets should have lasted more than 21,000 miles. I walked out knowing I would have to partake in the one task in life I hate the most — car shopping. Take me to a hospital full of sick people, a viewing, or even a funeral before you make me go car shopping. But, I had no choice.
Knowing that I needed a vehicle that had enough room for everybody as well as having enough power to haul my equipment, I set upon my search online. I ended up finding a nice 2006 Chevy Equinox with only 47,000 miles at the same dealership my dad bought his truck at. Sadly, there were closed by the time I found it online. So, I went after work on Sunday morning to took a look at it. The body and interior were in fantastic shape. It was a V6 so it had plenty of power to haul, and even though it didn’t have a hitch on it, the bumper and frame had all the hookups for one. I was really interested in this vehicle. Come Monday morning, I dropped off the kids at my mom’s house and made it to the dealership about 10 minutes after they opened. Long story short, I traded in BOTH the Trailblazer and my old Buick and drove away in my new Equinox. Even though it took about 5 hours to get everything done (we had to take an extra trip to get the Buick there), it was well worth it. Here is my new truck.
When I got home I called U-Haul and they are installing a hitch on it Friday morning. I should be up and fulling running to get my equipment around by Friday afternoon. And if all goes well, I should have this truck for many years to come!
