Working is Germain

When I picked up the boys at St Mary Magdalene I couldn't help but notice that Jesus left his backpack behind.


I was up before 6am to cloudy skies and temps in the 60s. The next two days weren’t expected to escape the 70s. I could do without the clouds but the milder temps sounded heavenly. I was on a run before 8am and ran just three miles, giving myself a mini reprieve from the usual 4 miles.

Initially, I planned to head into the Hilliard office but also planned to take an early lunch to get the Accord to Germain Honda for the previously scheduled 11am A/C service appointment. Busy with work before and after my run, I decided it made more sense to keep working from home until 1020am.

I didn’t bother with a shower either. Instead, I brushed my teeth for a 2nd time, rolled on some deodorant then headed off to the Honda dealership with my laptop and phones near 1015am. I arrived 20 minutes early for my appointment but they took my car right away. I set-up for work in the quiet room complete with comfortable chairs with a small table arm much like old school desks. There was an AC outlet nearby too, so I didn’t have to rely on battery power.

I stayed busy with work for the next couple hours, interrupted somewhere midstream by John, my service writer, letting me know that they found a leak in the return hose and would be replacing it. That made me happy. While working, I overheard another service writer advise another customer that she needed to have her air and cabin filters replaced, which was the same spiel they gave me the week prior. Without much hesitation, she gave them the nod to go ahead and replace them. Once the service writer walked out I shared what I learned last week, which was how easy their replacement is, and how one could save $80 for 5 minutes of effort. She thanked me and went out after her service writer to halt their replacement.  My good deed for the day.

. I’m thinking it was near noon when he came to get me to let me know they were done. I logged off work, packed up my stuff and headed out to sign my car out. John went over once more what they did to resolve the problem. Let me know my car was waiting, running just outside the service garage door. I thanked him for taking care of my car and wished him a happy 4th then headed to my car.

As promised, my car was running and waiting. Instantly noticed that instead of blowing cold air, the Accord was blowing warm air. The fact that it was running meant that it should have been operating efficiently cold. Still, I decided to drive it around the block and rechecked the settings. No change. Nothing but warm air, which was never the symptoms prior. Instead, the air temp was marginal.

I pulled right back into the service garage and asked for John, who was writing a new service order for another customer. I waited until he was finished then let him know that the problem wasn’t fixed and much, much worse. He concurred and took my car immediately back to the service garage after apologizing. I thanked him again for being so attentive then headed right back to the quiet room to log back into work.

This time I was logged in for no more than 10 minutes when John came to get me again sharing that the problem was taken care of. Apparently they left a pressure relief valve loose. He assured me that it was good to go. In fact, he left the hood opened in the service garage for me to inspect, and for him to show me just what they replaced. Good enough. I couldn’t help but notice lots of neon green slime all about my battery and the air filter housing. He confirmed my suspicion. It was dye, which is what they injected into my AC system to find the leak. I guess they forgot to clean it up. John shook his head in disgust of his repair techs oversight and then fetched some cleaner to finish cleaning up their mess.

He also brought his service manager over too, who also apologized. I thanked both for following through and cleaning up the mess. While holding the industrial style cleaner spray can at his side the service manager accidentally hit the trigger spraying the cleaner all over my driver’s side fender. I joked that now they needed to repaint my car.

The AC was plenty cold, by the way. I was pleased provided it stays that way. You never know. By then it was 1pm or just after. I called Mindy to let her know that I was done and on my way home. She had been in touch with Connie McVey making Red, White & Boom arrangements. She’d also been out running errands, including picking up snacks and ice. Before heading home, I stopped at Kroger to fetch some beer, flowers, sparklers, smoke bombs and snaps for the kids.

I exchanged a couple texts with Lindsey, too. From Kroger I headed directly to St Mary Mag. To pick-up Landon and Rocky, who were at base (daycare). We were taking them to R.W.B. with us.

Must’ve been near 2pm when I pulled up at the school. The kids were out front playing in the hose with Stephanie, the granddaughter of Mrs. Carrier, the main care taker at the school’s daycare. Both were very nice. Rocky, Landon and I headed for home with me doing familial impressions during the brief drive. They loved it!

Once at home, I got logged back into work. Not a lot of activity as many folks were already gone for the long holiday weekend. We were expecting Glenn, my mom and dad any time. My mom & Glenn were planning to join us for RWB. Around 4pm my boss sent a note out to his team advising us to log off. I took the queue and headed out to toss the baseball with the kids in the backyard. Just as the forecast promised, the sky was clearing up nicely leading up to boom.

Dad, Glenn and mom pulled up out front sometime before 5pm. Mindy had snacks laid out inside. We hung out inside for a while, planning to head down to northbank park around 630pm, where Darwin & Connie set up camp. Trying not to be rude, I made sure that my mom knew that we’d have to walk a good mile from our parking spot to the fireworks. With her back and knee issues, I just wanted to make sure she knew what was in store. She acknowledged my advice but was insistent on going, which was more than fine. I was worried that mom wouldn’t be able to endure the long walk. I then extended the same invite to dad. He declined.

We left the house near 630pm. I was a tad anxious getting everyone loaded into the car and making sure we had everything we wanted/needed (chairs, blankets, drinks) while also keeping the bulk low given that whatever we took would need to carried for more than a mile.

We parked on Michigan Ave. near Thurber and across the street from APCO windows & doors, which is the same place we’ve parked the last two times. We faced the car north so getting out of there after the
Event would be that much easier. Experience!

Keeping a close eye on Landon was key since we had to walk against fast traffic. Also had to stop numerous times to allow mom to catch up. Rocky found an iPhone along our walk. When he showed Mindy she immediately confiscated it against his desires. It was locked but had a photo presumably of the owner. A few blocks later Mindy encountered a young woman and man walking against the flow and commenting that they’d need to walk back to the car. Mindy felt that the girl looked like the owner of the phone so she butted in and asked if they happened to be looking for a phone. Elation! They were.

Mindy and the others got far ahead of mom and I, after I stayed back waiting for her to catch up. She gave me a little grief about the distance to which I quickly reminded her of what I had shared earlier back at the house, that it was at least a miles walk. Oh boy!

Finally arrived at the northbank park venue. Very crowded, just like the year before. Struggled to find Darwin’s camp but after a couple texts we eventually zeroed in on the spot, which was no more than 100’ from the live music stage. Needless to say, the spot was loud. Our wee ones, Bella, Rocky Landon immediately went off with Connie while we got settled. Judging by looks alone, mom didn’t look at all pleased to be there. The band playing just a 100’ away was really loud. She later shared that she was cold. It was far from the type of weather one might expect on the 4th. I’m guessing that it was in the upper 60s but with a cool breeze. The sky continued to clear up as well.
Mindy and I eventually went off to find the kids and Connie. We found them on the midway of food and games. I’d forgotten just how crowded it gets down there. No exaggeration, the lines for bathrooms and food were at least 200-300 deep. We were going to get the kids some food but the lines were much too long – over an hour’s wait. No thanks!

Back at our spot the kids played wildly and seemed to be having a ball. We brought limited snacks and drinks which helped ward off their hunger but not much else. Glenn, Mindy, and mom looked a bit glum. Mindy and I joked, asking one another why we thought it a good idea to come down to see RWB. It was then that I broke out the flask of Jack Daniels. Even Mindy partook, which might’ve been a first. I’m guessing she did 4 shots over the next hour or so. Worked like a charm on all of us. Elevated everyone’s mood.

The fireworks started at 10pm sharp and lasted maybe 30 minutes. Just before their start, I hopped over the park’s stone wall and took a pee. What a relief! Meanwhile, both Mindy and Bella had to go too. They opted to hope the same wall, but ventured over to a private party area and used their port-o-potty.

The fireworks were certainly entertaining but I am not so sure that it’s worth the effort getting down there, and that doesn’t even account for the long lines for the bathroom and food. I’d put it right there with the zoo lights. Other than a long walk back to the Pilot, which mom did with little trouble, the trip home was quick. Our strategy definitely pays off. Keeping in mind Glenn’s local preferences, Mindy suggested we hit White Castle on the way home. Why not? All of us were hungry, well, save for Landon who was asleep before we got out of Victorian Village.

Arrived at the Wilson/Broad St White Castle about 15 minutes later. No surprise, already a line of cars ten deep in the drive-thru. We weren’t in a huge hurry, though, so we waited. And by the time we neared the order kiosk there were another 10 cars behind us. Yikes! We ordered three #9s, which each consisted of 20 castles and 3 orders of fries for a total of 60 castles and 9 fries. All that for just under $60. When analyzing the cost, probably not a real value, especially given that we didn’t touch but maybe one order of the fries. So effectively we paid a dollar per burger. Not a deal, but they did satisfy Glenn’s west coast craving, which as Mindy said was the reason.

Between seven of us, we might’ve eaten 40 of the burgers. Bella and Rocky had just a couple each before begging off to bed. I think I had eight. I drank one beer, that’s it. It was after midnight before we knew it. I was tired and ready for bed.