Back when I was wandering in the desert between Blogger and WordPress, it became painfully apparent (especially to the wallet) that the Squire’s 1998 Grand Caravan was about to bite the dust. He has some physical problems which make it necessary for the car he drives to “fit” him properly. He can zip over to church in my Nissan, but any trip of more than a half an hour – either as a driver or passenger – becomes quite painful.
He spent a good deal of time comparing Consumer Report listings with local car lots, and finally decided on a 2009 Kia Sportage. Yesterday – Monday – he drove up to trade in the old car and pick up the “new” one. I got two phone calls, back to back. One from him, saying the new car needed to be detailed, and one from the fellow who tunes up the church’s organ, saying he was at church, where the Squire was to have met him. Oops!
I grabbed the church keys and dashed off. As I opened the doors, we discovered that someone had set off about a dozen bug bombs in the sanctuary to kill the stink bugs! The place simply reeked, and we had to leave even more quickly than we arrived. The Squire was furious. He is the Junior Warden at our church (the head of the Property Committee, to you non-Episcopalians) and this had been done without checking with him. It wasn’t simply a matter of not asking permission, which was really only a courtesy, but that 1) trying to re-schedule having the organ tuned this close to Easter is a nuisance to both us and the repairman. 2) We have a contract with an exterminator who says most pesticides do not work on stink bugs, and 3) the chemicals are toxic to people with immune system problems.; we have three people in the congregation undergoing chemo at the moment. Stink bugs are a nusiance, but they don’t bite or sting the way bedbugs do, they don’t chew on the scenery like carpenter ants, and they aren’t filthy, like roaches. Just pick them up and drop them in the trash. Big deal. Got all that straight, collected him, and came back home, and this morning we got up at some unearthly hour to pick up the car, and then I had an errand to run, while the Squire went to Panera to pick up bread for the local soup kitchen.
When he got home, he simply reeked of cigarette smoke. Turned out the car had been owned by a smoker, and even though the dealer had ionized it – twice – the odor was still seeping out of the upholstery. I took it back to the dealer while the Squire was supervising the cleaning of the church, and on the way up the road, the Check Engine light came on.
This company is locally famous for making good on any repair work, and also a no-questions-asked return policy. They are going to do the interior one more time and fix the engine, but even with a loner car, this is all a major pain.
And we still have ants.
Tags: ants, cigarette smoke, new car, organ tuner, stink bugs
During Lent, I don’t give up chocolate or carbs or going to the movies. I try to either take on a “mitzvah” – helping at a homeless shelter or something of the sort – or giving up a personal trait I wish I didn’t have. Most years, it’s trying to be less judgemental. I’ve been at this for a while, but I haven’t made nearly as much progress as I’d hoped.
thisendoftheswamp 