We attended the annual Easter Sunday car show today. A regular participant of this show is the Museum of Transportation, with its signature entry the Chrysler Turbine Car. This rare vehicle was built in the sixties and only about half-a-dozen of the 50+ originally built still exist.
Chrysler Turbine Car
Unusually, they were actually operating the car. The first short video has the car running normally. It sounds like a vacuum cleaner. The second video has the car shutting down and has the characteristic sound of the winding down turbine.
Well, it may have come from a galaxy far, far away or maybe galactic backorders are not what they used to be. Anyway, I got a call from Toyota today and the wiring harness that was on backorder has popped up and is available now. What a small universe we do live in. So, now I have to schedule that maintenance work. Coincidently, earlier this morning, I saw a squirrel headed to the RAV4 and it had leaves in its mouth and checking the engine compartment, I found a new batch of leaves in it too. Nothing would be worse than getting the car fixed, only to have the squirrels damage it again. I have gotten peppermint spray, which was recommended as a squirrel repellent, but it does not seem to be all that effective. I’ve ordered canisters of peppermint oil that can be left in the engine compartment, plus I have ordered a pellet gun. Anne is none too keen on the gun, but at $12K+ in damages something needs to be done about these pests. Anne hit upon the idea of a rat trap, which is what we used at the cabin, and I have one here, so I might try that too.
Pictured above is David at the Scottish border. He and Marin are headed up to Inverness, a locale that features prominently in the Outlander TV series, a bodice burster I like. Speaking of which, with his shaved head and red beard, he could pull off a young Dougal Mackenzie, a character from that story. I hope that they are having fun and that Marin, Dave and the wee bairn return safely.
Last Friday Night’s entertainment—Lenten Catholic fish fry, with a sing-along performance of traditional Americana favorites by a friend with her dulcimer.
Yesterday, in just a little over an hour, my insurance claim went from claim denied to, we are cutting a check. I first got a call from the Toyota shop that they had received an email from my insurance company denying my claim for last week’s squirrel damage. They had not. I called the insurance company and they denied they had denied my claim. They claimed that my claim was under final review and a settlement would likely be issued by early next week. Actually, they seemed most concerned with getting the name and address of the Toyota dealer, so that they knew where to mail the check. Their representative explained that they wanted to put both the dealer’s name and mine on the check due to its large size. It seems that the confusion extended from a quibble that they had, they wanted to substitute an Other Equipment Manufacturer’s part for one of genuine Toyota parts that had been requested. Good news—check is in the mail. Bad news—since the check is made out to Toyota too, there will be no all-expenses paid trip to the riverboat casinos. 😉
Well, the dam has finally broken, and the first of many long-awaited indictments have fallen. Some pundits warn that this event is a solemn occasion for the country, others advise to drink responsibly. I cleave more towards the latter bit of advice than the former and have been reveling in the parade of memes that have since sprung forth, fully formed, from the brow of Twitter, after yesterday’s announcement. Even more delicious is that the perp (Too soon? I mean he is supposed to walk next week.), first indicated that he could not even spell indictment and then stayed up past three last night, desperately, Captain Caps Lock tweeting, “WHERE’S HUNTER?” Does he know what this behavior looks like? Does he care? Every good story needs a good villain, and this is all we got.
I’m so indicted, And I just can’t hide it, I’m about to go to jail, And I don’t like it… — Apologies to The Pointer Sisters
It has been a weird few of days of late. Starting on Thursday, I started the car and was greeted by a new and cryptic warning message, “PKSB Malfunction.” Googling it did not elucidate its meaning much, PKSB stands for Parking Support Brake. Is that the parking brake? Further research indicated that what the message was referring to is what we call the nanny car’s parking-warning system. This is the system that beeps loudly in complaint whenever said nanny car approaches too closely any foreign object. Be it another car in an adjoining parking space or even a wisp of grass waving in the wind from the parking strip. Its idea of too closely is way further away than mine. I opened the hood and found leaves in the engine compartment. Not a good sign. Last winter a squirrel had nicked the fuel line and caused $1,200 in damage. Most of which the insurance paid for. We had a luncheon that day, so I scheduled an appointment at the dealer for Friday. It seemed safe to drive, but on the highway, a second warning message appeared on the dash, Low Oil Level. We got it home and then to the dealer for diagnosis—rodents. In this case squirrels. Anne had seen a squirrel with leaves in its mouth crawling beneath the car. There were the leaves that I had found at the top of the engine compartment and the mechanic found way more leaves at the bottom of the engine compartment, when he had the car up on the lift. The verdict was that the squirrel had chewed through not one, but two wiring harnesses, which was determined to be the cause of the two warnings. Toyota estimates that repairing this damage will cost $12K. Yes, that is more than a third of the vehicle’s purchase price. I called the insurance company and begun that process. Hopefully, it will lead to satisfaction. Right now, there are none of these wiring harnesses in the country and it is anyone’s guess when they will become available. The car is drivable now, but when parts become available, it will take a week to repair. We are having some fun now.
