I have a tree hanging dead in another tree. Six trees with heavy
over-story hanging above my roof, upstairs deck and guest-house. My tree
guy called and said he couldn’t make it on Thursday. Aha! A free day. I
quickly decided to attend a meeting in the Bay Area, roughly 120 miles
away. So down to the service station I go to have my tires checked. 
Ray, from Nash’s Chevron in Angels Camp, drew two circles around spots on my tire where the steel is showing through. “I wouldn’t drive this car to the Bay Area”, he told me. Shoot! Couldn’t get new tires to match until Friday. I return home. Oh, well, I can take the truck to the Bay. I don’t drive it very much. I struggled to open the hood, it is old and tight. Yikes! I found chewed acorn debris inside the engine- not a good sign. Couldn’t get the lid off to check the coolant. Left front tire practically flat. Checked my tag, yipes! I’m over-do for service. Luckily Ethan at Nash’s can get me in at 4:00.
I slowly drive to Pinacle therapy with my soft tire, late for my appointment and apologizing. I hate it when I’m late, I’m frazzled. But,Theresa Locke is the greatest. She get’s to know you and your habits, and can define intricate muscle movements. Its about caring and time and evaluating. I can’t say enough good things about Theresa. I have such confidence in her as does everyone who meets her.
And her staff is great too. Dulcie, Lea and Jessie, allowed me to take their picture. Lea hammed it up and gave me some good advice. You know how guys go to the barbershop and discuss the game or their car problems with the barber? Well, Lea gave me some good advice as I told her my woes. “People on the prairies, where they have problems with prairie dogs, leave their hoods open and the rodents won’t chew up wires and stuff on the engine.” What a team.
This is what Lea really looks like.
Back to Nash’s. Jeff has the station on a new computer system and he gets me entered into it. Nash has been taking care of my vehicles for 30 years. It is nice to have someone you trust to do good work and always take care of your needs.
The good news is the tire is fine. It just needed air from sitting too long. Bad news is the oil pan plug has been replaced so many times with a bigger and bigger plug to prevent leaks, it is going to need replacement next time. And, “I wouldn’t drive this car to the Bay Area with that plug. Better test it on a short trip,” Ethan told me. He drove it around town about five miles. It was dry and without a leak. I promised I’d watch the gage and pull over at the first hint of a problem.
I’m a bit red-faced. This is the rat’s nest Ethan found sitting on top of my air conditioning filter. Red faced also because my truck was so dirty. It sits under trees with leaves and twigs and bird droppings and rats…arrgh! Ethan told me, you just put a bar of Irish Spring in your engine well and the rats won’t bother it again.
The full service car wash in Angels Camp had just closed. I settled for the car wash in Murphys where you have to get out in the heat and vacuum the inside yourself and wipe down everything. Some days are like that!
I went home and couldn’t wait to get in the door and swill down a nice cool brew. I shuddered at how dirty and neglected I’d let my trusty truck get. It needs some tender loving care instead of being owned by a beer swilling, neglectful derelict.
Ray, from Nash’s Chevron in Angels Camp, drew two circles around spots on my tire where the steel is showing through. “I wouldn’t drive this car to the Bay Area”, he told me. Shoot! Couldn’t get new tires to match until Friday. I return home. Oh, well, I can take the truck to the Bay. I don’t drive it very much. I struggled to open the hood, it is old and tight. Yikes! I found chewed acorn debris inside the engine- not a good sign. Couldn’t get the lid off to check the coolant. Left front tire practically flat. Checked my tag, yipes! I’m over-do for service. Luckily Ethan at Nash’s can get me in at 4:00.
I slowly drive to Pinacle therapy with my soft tire, late for my appointment and apologizing. I hate it when I’m late, I’m frazzled. But,Theresa Locke is the greatest. She get’s to know you and your habits, and can define intricate muscle movements. Its about caring and time and evaluating. I can’t say enough good things about Theresa. I have such confidence in her as does everyone who meets her.
And her staff is great too. Dulcie, Lea and Jessie, allowed me to take their picture. Lea hammed it up and gave me some good advice. You know how guys go to the barbershop and discuss the game or their car problems with the barber? Well, Lea gave me some good advice as I told her my woes. “People on the prairies, where they have problems with prairie dogs, leave their hoods open and the rodents won’t chew up wires and stuff on the engine.” What a team.
This is what Lea really looks like.
Back to Nash’s. Jeff has the station on a new computer system and he gets me entered into it. Nash has been taking care of my vehicles for 30 years. It is nice to have someone you trust to do good work and always take care of your needs.
The good news is the tire is fine. It just needed air from sitting too long. Bad news is the oil pan plug has been replaced so many times with a bigger and bigger plug to prevent leaks, it is going to need replacement next time. And, “I wouldn’t drive this car to the Bay Area with that plug. Better test it on a short trip,” Ethan told me. He drove it around town about five miles. It was dry and without a leak. I promised I’d watch the gage and pull over at the first hint of a problem.
I’m a bit red-faced. This is the rat’s nest Ethan found sitting on top of my air conditioning filter. Red faced also because my truck was so dirty. It sits under trees with leaves and twigs and bird droppings and rats…arrgh! Ethan told me, you just put a bar of Irish Spring in your engine well and the rats won’t bother it again.
The full service car wash in Angels Camp had just closed. I settled for the car wash in Murphys where you have to get out in the heat and vacuum the inside yourself and wipe down everything. Some days are like that!
I went home and couldn’t wait to get in the door and swill down a nice cool brew. I shuddered at how dirty and neglected I’d let my trusty truck get. It needs some tender loving care instead of being owned by a beer swilling, neglectful derelict.
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