As usual, it was not without incident. Either our bad luck continues, or Mississippi hates us.
As we made our way east, the sun beat in through the windshield which is always a hassle, but especially so once your a/c stops working. Unfortunately the cold snap was over, so it was an uncomfortable ride... putting the windows down only helps so much.
Mike realized this was the same thing that happened to the truck to cause us to take it to a dealership in Athens in December, so our plan was to bring it to a dealership here in Mississippi where we could hopefully get it repaired under warranty. Given our luck, you know that's not what happened. What did happen is that the dealership in Georgia did not perform the repairs correctly or completely, so after the dealership in Mississippi examined the truck we were told that no parts were replaced, so there is no parts warranty. They also didn't flush the line, so debris is causing issues, and I know we discussed flushing the line because I remember that the warranty company specifically stated they do not pay for that. So we paid for the flush. Working under the mistaken assumption that our after market warranty had a vested interest in this information since they did pay a (small) portion of the bill, I contacted them to see if they could add any muscle to our fight, but was told that "they can't be held responsible for incomplete repairs," as usual, defensive. And oh by the way, since they paid for it once, they won't pay for it a second time.
Next call was to Dodge. They have gotten a portion of it resolved, they will replace the compressor at no charge, but to fix the rest will cost us $800. We don't feel we should have to pay for any of it since we already paid once, but each dealership is independently owned, so Dodge can't really force two dealerships to cooperate with each other. We have one more iron in the fire, a school friend of ours works for Dodge and has offered to help.
Just really sick and tired of dealing with this.
So that wasted a day.
Next day we had catfish at Pickle's, and went to see my grandmother. She seems lucid one moment, and confused the next. I'm worried she may have Alzheimer's. She seems to be creating multiple fantasy worlds. She kept imploring us to go to the house at the end of the street, claiming it belonged to my great-grandmother and they turned it into a nursing home where the rooms looked just like the one she was in. When my aunt voiced her theory that grandma had dreams and couldn't tell the difference between her dreams and reality grandma said, "Don't tell them that! They don't need to know that!" And when my aunt said G.G. never owned a house on this street, she said, "You don't know, you haven't seen it." A little while later she told my aunt to find her shoes and when my aunt asked if she was going somewhere, she said since they wouldn't take us to see the house, she would. It would be funny if it weren't my grandma.
After that we went to my cousin's house. He invited us to his house for steak, who am I to refuse? So we drove to Alabama and hung out. He brought out a rifle and let me fire it. The recoil on the first one was about what I expected, it felt like might leave a bruise, but I think I did okay. I've always aimed using sights and never through a scope, it was difficult for me because the slightest twitch makes the sight move and I lose my target so they let me kneel down where I could put my elbow on my knee to steady it. It helped. Then he brought out an AK47. This one was bone stock with a metal sight, more like I'm used to, nothing fancy. Once I figured the sight out I hit my target. He was pretty stunned that I'd never fired a rifle before, and was spot on with a gun not known for its accuracy. Here's how I shot:
Then he put a beer bottle up and we took turns shooting. It took me two tries but I got it from 32 yds away. I couldn't really see it to be honest, I had my glasses on, but had to use my bad eye because using my good eye put my face too close to the buttstock and I didn't feel comfortable. I kind of went with where I knew it should be and sighted that area in. You should have heard Mike and Jason when I hit the bottle. :) Makes my head swell a little bit.
Today was low key. We stopped by the RV to drop a few things off. Still there, no foul odors, no mice, all good news. Then we drove around looking for a throttle to replace the one on the Harley that was damaged. No dice. Had a Bill's Hamburger, very similar to Country Boy's but thinner slice of onion and different kind of fries. Country Boy wasn't open, that's been the case the last four times we visited, so I give up. Now I'm defrosting some pork and rice that we had in the freezer and taking advantage of the 3G signal while it lasts... the last couple of days the internet has been slow or nonexistent.
Talked to the bank this morning, they sent more paperwork and it sounds like we're moving forward. It explains the terms and estimated closing costs, so I *think* we are on our way to getting the house. We have also discussed how long we foresee being in the house and we're pretty sure that as long as we like it out there, it's probably our forever house. We will keep looking for land that Mike can use for hunting, and maybe we'll build a small vacation home out there for a weekend getaway. Basically, we hate the idea of moving after we've put in a lot of work into this house (landscaping, renovations, gardening, pens for livestock, etc.). Moving means we'd have to start over... neither of us is keen on that, especially as we get older. So over time, we will do things here and there to make it what we want it to be, and that makes me happy. I'd like to find a place to settle, and I have to say - being out here for only three days, I'm so much more relaxed... no traffic... slower pace of life... yes, it will be a lot of work, but it will be a better quality of life.
Tomorrow I think we'll go take pics of the area. Have some ideas already. It's what we like to do, and we don't have plans, so it will be our entertainment for the day. I'm in a sort of nostalgic mood. I see things that have meaning to me from my childhood and I'm seeing things I never notice before. So we'll see what we come up with. (Picture blog!)
