Tranny Troubles at the Taco Bar

I woke around 520am after a night filled with lots of tossing and turning and little to no deep sleep. At that very moment, anyway, I didn't feel sleep deprived. Brushed my teeth then headed downstairs where I prepped some coffee after failing to do so the night before. I glanced out back seeing nothing but clouds and rain. I wasn't surprised. It rained most of the day Sunday and was forecasted to continue for the next few days.

Over the course of the next 10 minutes, I completed sit-ups and push-ups. I had to wait a minute or two for the coffee to finish brewing before taking a fresh cup to the PC where I checked the temperature and reviewed the over night headlines. I walked away from the computer around 550am to meditate. That went just so-so.

Near 605am I delivered coffee to Mindy's bedside. She shared that she hadn't slept well. I acknowledged her misfortune then shared that I hadn't either. I headed back downstairs to stretch and ultimately run.

The stretching felt terrific, but then again, when doesn't it? I double checked the temperature. It was 50 some degrees. I wore a thin long-sleeved wicking shirt & pullover fleece along with hand covers due to the rain. It wasn't a soaking rain, though. Instead, it was more a drizzly type rain - tiny drops but steady.

I ran the 4.1 miles easily feeling much more comfortable than I did on Sunday when I was beset with stiffness. Back at home around 7am, Mindy had apparently just gotten downstairs after her ready. From the home's entrance, I asked for the dog opting not to walk through the house with my wet attire. Mindy lovingly brought me the pug. I asked if she would be so kind to make my eggs omelet style but plain. She willingly agreed.

Eiknarf was quick to take care of business. We were back inside by 710am. Mindy had my eggs all but ready. I took control, flipping it over and then cutting it into two sections since she used three eggs. I took about 2/3s and left the rest in the pan. Bella stared at my egg still unsure what she wanted for breakfast. I asked if she wanted some eggs. She did. Mindy cut her a small section from what remained. She ended up pretty much wasting it, and then later made a Pop Tart.

Mindy left ahead of 730am, still not quite used to her old routine after leaving early the two weeks prior to take the boys to school. I put the finishing touches on my lunch (fruit & cheese) then headed up for a shower after reminding Bella to address teeth and hair.

I was quick with the ready and back downstairs by 750am. Once again, I got a call from Lindsey stressed out about her car. Said it was still acting up and she was damn near in tears. I told her to drive it to work. She went on and on about what she might do if it breaks down. If nothing else, her call got my blood flowing. Because it was raining, I declared it a wait in the garage morning. Both kids concurred. We waited patiently in the garage until the bus came barreling down the road surprisingly on time - about 815am.

After the kids were on the bus I did some last minute prep, including running the dishwasher, then headed off to work. Saw that gas was under $3 a gallon at Thornton's for the first time in over a year. That was a welcome sign. Arrived at work at 830 something, as early as I've arrived in a few weeks. It was 850am by the time I was logged onto my PC, had my lunch stowed, and fresh ice water in my pitcher.

Lindsey called at some point to let me know she took her car to Auto Zone and had then scan for problem codes. Said there were 4 and all related to the transmission. The gentleman who checked it told her that her transmission fluid level was extremely high. Said she should have some drained out. Not sure how that happened, but I had my ideas. Said it might cure the trouble but obviously couldn't guarantee it. Told her it was OK to drive, too. She asked if I would arrange for it to be looked at this week. All I committed to was perhaps.

After a quick scan of my email, I decided it a good day to start on a long series of required online technical training courses complete with exams at the end. My boss stopped by to chat about a problem he and I worked on over the holiday weekend. He didn't visit long. While thinking about it, I submitted an informal time off request for the week of our Oregon ski trip. He approved it quickly. I'm all but certain I'll be on-call on one end of the week. I'll need to trade out of that if possible.

I continued with the online training for a better part of the day. And aside from a few brief bathroom breaks, I stopped only a couple of times, once to join a recurring conference call and then to eat my lunch and chat with a peer.

My day went smoothly. I knocked out 3.5 of the 12 or so training modules I need to have completed by Jan 31st. Left for home close to 530pm. Mindy went grocery shopping after school then picked up the boys from after school care at Magdalene. Jacob and Bella were at Dena's. We'd be having leftovers for dinner - taco bar & Olive Garden. I was OK with that.

Arrived home just ahead of 6pm. Our dinner options were spread out across the island. Bella was quick to tell me that Rocky hurt his hand on a nail protruding from one of the kids wooden chairs in the basement. At first, Mindy thought he might need stitches but later determined that not to be the case. Just a band-aid. He wore the band-aid with honor. :) I opted for a burrito. It was good but also very filling. It was a gymnastics night for Bella. Mindy asked if  I was willing to take and pick-up. I agreed to do both. That made Mindy happy, who shared just how tired she was after a poor night of sleep.

After dinner clean-up, it wasn't long before it was time to shove off with Bella. We left near 650pm. I was back at home by 710pm. Mindy and I chatted mostly about our options relative to Lindsey's damn car. I called Westway body shop earlier that same day. They were more than agreeable to fixing the broken door handle. I also called Jiffy Lube to ask about a flush and fill of the transmission. Said it would be $99 coupled with a $38 oil change. I figured that a smart first option before taking it in to a repair shop, which  I can almost guarantee will result in a new or rebuilt transmission. I'm also convinced that the prior owner, Tom I. was keenly aware of these issues with the Hyundai. Lots of pieces are falling into place.

Lindsey showed up around 740pm to fetch the boys. She was once again all worked up and completely out of breath and wheezing. Honestly, just hearing it gets me angry and makes my chest hurt. I asked why she was so out of breath. She said it was because she ran up to the house in the rain. She has asthma and relies heavily on an inhaler. Dealing with asthma one thing, but the fact that she smokes drives me crazy.  Just another one of those self inflicted wounds.

She asked if I would see that it gets in the shop on Wednesday. Hold up! I shared the options I previously discussed with Mindy. I went on to share them with Lindsey. There are two issues. the broken door handle and then the far more harrowing transmission problem. I explained that she could take the car into Westway body shop on Wednesday – already made her an appointment – and have the door handle looked at. I then shared that she could take the car to Jiffy Lube, who would do a flush and fill and change the oil as a first step in addressing any transmission issues. However, the more we discussed the problem of having too much fluid, the sillier it sounded to pay someone to change the fluid when all we really want to accomplish is removing some of the fluid. I shared that I have the tool to suck it out through the dip stick, the same way Jiffy Lube said that they’d do it. I offered to do it right then as long as Mindy agreed to go after Bella. She did. Once Mindy pulled away, I pulled Lindsey’s car into the garage.

I located the same tool I used to inject transmission fluid into the Trooper. I had to reverse the hoses for a withdrawal rather than inject, but that wasn’t a problem at all. Actually, it works better that way anyhow. I slid the slender hose into the dip stick tube as far as it would go and carefully placed the larger, shorter hose into an oil pan and pulled the pump several times to start the flow of fluid. It went quick. Had about a pint out in a jiffy. Not quite sure how much to remove, I pulled it out and started the car and rechecked the fluid as defined in the manual. Still a bit too much. And I learned last spring that too much can be as bad or worse than not enough. In fact, I was told that running a little low is a far better option that over filling. I proceeded to pull out more until I had roughly a quart in the pan.

I waited for Mindy to get home to check it properly, which requires a hot engine and placing the car in neutral. I didn’t want to chance placing it in neutral without another person there in the car just in case. God forbid it jump into gear then smash into our cars. Then we’d really have a problem.

Mindy took longer fetching Bella than I hoped, but she finally returned and helped me out. Seems I pulled out a tad too much, but just to the bottom of the full zone. I decided to leave it as is and take it for a drive. As it has every other time, it performed as expected. No burnt rubber smells and no erratic shifting. It was dark and pouring rain, plus a cop had a car pulled over along Trabue.  I couldn’t drive it as hard as I would’ve liked. Still, I was satisfied with the performance, though the check engine light remained on.

Back home I shared the results with Mindy & Lindsey. Lindsey was ready to head home and still asked when we might take it in to be looked at. Confused, I asked for what. She also asked for gas money from her savings. Mindy gave her $20 but also told her to go buy some fuel treatment first. Mindy wasn’t too pleased with me when I shared that I didn’t want her buying fuel treatment at Circle K.

On a positive note, Lindsey shared that ever since I pulled the door panel off on Sunday,  the power door locks have been working – the driver’s door handle still inoperable, however. She and the boys headed for home.

It was almost 9pm. I tuned into MNF while Mindy and the kids headed off to bed. Tired myself, I watched very little of the game and headed for bed around 940pm.