- I was kinda hoping he wasn't going to visit this year...
Just when I thought we might get to skate through the winter without any major snow events, it looks as if my fantasy winter forecast may just have a rude awakening. In case you missed it, the weather experts are saying Old Man Winter is about to rear his ugly head and dump what's touted as "historic" amounts of snow on the North East in the next few days. This in and of itself enough to make me want to grab the Mister., the furkids, and flip flops and head south for the winter. Add this onto the muckery of late and you have a full blown chaos factory. What kind of chaos?...
Well it all started like this. My Yaya went to be with the Lord recently. So we traveled a few hours north to attend the memorial service and visit family. Sad yes because she will be missed by everyone, but also happy because she was such an inspiring and kind woman who touched so many people in her ninety years on this earth. She immigrated from Greece as a young girl of twenty two years of age and lived what really was the American Dream. She waited in line, went to school and learned to read and write English and then passed her exam to become an American citizen. She married her true love, raised three wonderful children, worked hard, never demanded anything from this country, and never took a penny she did not earn. As my uncle Chris so eloquently stated... a sharp contrast to whats going on in our country today.
Spending time with family to reflect and honor such a wonderful woman was enough. Grief as many have experienced can be hard. I found happiness though the day of the memorial, the morning was cold and snowy. When we came out of the luncheon at the church the skies we bright blue with blazing sunshine. The neatest part of this was my Papoo had passed just over a year earlier and he was obsessed with the weather. He was always talking about the weather and it was almost like they were giving everyone the sign that they were together and happy with Jesus.
So Saturday rolls around and it's time to pack up the car and go home. We stopped for a hot cup of magic a la Dunkins for the road and off we went. We get not thirty miles from town when all of the sudden while driving down the highway the cruise control shuts off and this yellow coil looking do-dad light comes on in the dash. The car starts to slow down and acts as if it is not getting any power from the accelerator. I'm thinking "What in the heck in the world is happening on with our 2013 German tank aka VW Passat TDI"? Normally I'm gushing to everyone about the 40+ mpg we get, how we just love love love our TDI, and how we can get from NY to FL on two tanks of diesel. Saturday night however, I was singing a different song.
After much sputtering, shaking, the coil light going off never to go back on, then the engine light coming on, and a terrible wind whistle noise coming from the engine which eventually led to a burning smell, and three calls to roadside assistance, turning the car off and doing everything they told us... We found ourselves stranded in the middle of rural upstate NY on a cold dark side road with not one, not two, but five furkids in the car with us. Thankfully we were only thirty miles from family who came to rescue us and our belongings while the tow truck took Paul Passat off to the nearest VW dealer. Where it will sit until Monday morning when the dealer opens. After getting to safety lo and behold we discovered we are not the only ones this has happened to. The internet is full of people who had the exact same thing happen. The cruise control turns off while driving and end up just like we did. It turns out, in many of these cases it is the turbo blown and engine as well.
You can bet your bottom dollar that this Greek girl is going to be on the phone with VW ASAP. Especially since our car has only 25,000 miles on it, is under warranty, is also a certified preowned, and worst of all it has been into several service departments for a "hesitation issue" with the acellerator. Where we described to them that it felt like it was not getting power when pushing gas pedal and a sputtering at times. Only to be told it was "nothing to worry about", that they did a computer update on the transmission that should take care of it. According to what we found on the internet there has been a known issue going on with the TDI's in this model year and we were never made aware.
So on top of sorting out trying to get our car fixed we will be trying to get home just in time to get a wallop from old man winter as he makes his 2015 debut. Frustrating yes, but at the same time all fixable. At the end of the day it's all a matter of perspective. I can complain because we got stuck on the highway at night, or I can be happy that we have a newer car that actually is under a warranty. I can be annoyed that there is a major snowstorm on it's way or I can be happy I'm still here to complain about it... No matter what is going on, the most important thing is that we live every day to it's fullest. Something that my Yaya did.
Times might not always be perfect, and yes they may even be hard. Every day there is something to learn and a new chance to plant seeds in the lives of those around us. So grab that shovel and get ready to welcome Old Man Winter back for what hopefully is a short stay.
