Shocks in Postcards 4

1995. At the dealership buying Grumpy.

After a horrifying accident where our last truck was totaled, we bought a new truck. The new one was a bare bones vehicle: no carpet, no drapes, no AC, six cylinders, and crank windows. The dealer gave us a generous discount, fleet cost, and then we struggled with the electrics for the next year. It was one of those, no matter what we did the dashboard worked when we took it in to the dealer. It stopped working when we drove away. We named the truck Grumpy.

One night, G got out of the truck to get something from the bed, and he left the motor running. He turned the four way flashers on, and when he opened the door the buzzer made noise in time to the four way flashers. The seatbelts were screwed through the buzzer wire. No more weekly trips to the dealership at last.

Over the years there has been a few repairs and dealer changes. A new door skin when someone backed into us. When one mechanic told us to turn up the radio to cover a rattle, that wasn’t ok. The rattle was a broken engine mount. Now we usually use an expensive dealer up on the mesa. Today we are using a neighborhood semi-shade-tree mechanic. His new shop is cleaner than his last one. That’s important. Grumpy needs new shocks so why not give him a chance on the small stuff.

I’ll wait. I can’t walk back home, but I can sip coffee across the street while I wait.

• Himself: (Still) ”Working one hour (overtime).”
• Herself: Laundry, shocks, out to dinner. Simplicity.
• Reading: Peters and Box.
• Gratitudes: That I am warm and dry as four storms blow through.