I should probably rename this blog "Thoughts and Minutiae from Crow Cottage."

Today's minutiae comes in the form of car trouble. Yes, right here in the Witch City.

I was innocently catching a few final zzzz's in my bed at around 6:50 this morning when a tapping on my shoulder brought me into semi-consciousness. Usually Kip jumps up on my bed after Paul has left and naps there until I get up, but today the tap-tap-tapping was Paul himself.

My sleep-filled brain said to itself "this can't be good..."

He was asking for my car keys. What??? He said his truck had a flat tire this morning and he needed to take my car (SUV) in order to get over to the harbor to go to work.

Still not really "here," I said "over there, on my desk" and when he finally found them, I said "can't you use your set of keys for my car?" and he hadn't remembered he even HAD a set of keys...

Then he left. I figured I'd get up since I was almost awake anyway so whilst I was in the loo, the Big Guy came back in the house (he hadn't gone yet??) and yelled up to me to call Triple A and see if they will come out and change his tire!

Oh no. Something out of the ordinary for me. I hate those things. I wasn't sure where his spare tire was located, which tire was flat, or anything... but I said OK...

Then he said that my car's battery was dead when he tried it (that's because I NEVER use it anymore) and that my battery was in the basement on the charger he had put my battery on the charger for a little bit and not to worry...

My brain didn't really compute all that right away, but I kept asking myself - how could he take my car if the battery was on the charger in the basement? When I asked him about this later, he explained that he'd put the battery on the charger for 15 minutes and got the car going and disconnected the charger and drove away but that he brought the charger and long extension cord with him in case he needed it at some point and could hook up to a friend's outlet if he had to.

So I got dressed and came down and made my all-important cuppa and got the dogs their morning cookie bone and opened up all the windows (it's going up to 80 degrees they tell me today), and sat down in my good old chair and had my coffee. After that I got my AAA card out and called to see if they could help.

Of course they could help. I AM NOMINATING THE AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION for the COMPANY OF THE YEAR award right here and now.

Go AAA! You are the winner!



I told them it was not an emergency, any time today would be fine, but they said they'd be here within 45 minutes. And they would call first.

About 30 minutes after that call, they called back. They said that the original guy was on his way here and he BROKE DOWN! Oh yes, his brakes failed and he couldn't take the chance of driving another inch. They had to call an alternate guy to come and it would be about 30 minutes more.

No problem, I said.

I finished my cuppa and in about 25 minutes a big flat-bed truck pulled up outside and I hobbled out to greet him. He was sitting in his truck calling me on the phone but I yelled to him and he came over. He asked me where the implement to let down the spare tire was and I said I didn't know about any implement... so he looked under the hood where it is supposed to be and it was not there! He said all he might be able to do was try pumping up the flat tire (and it was FLAT!) but then he looked in the truck and there was the implement on the seat - Paul must have put it there.

So he said, "I'm all set, I'll only be about 10 minutes, and I'll let you know when I'm done."

True to his word, in about 10 minutes he was done, spare tire all installed, flat tire in front of truck on the ground, and I didn't even have to show him my AAA card - he said he believed me... and off he went, "have a good day!"

I have had to call AAA maybe 3 times since we joined up in 2003. Paul has had to call them maybe another 2 or 3 times, as well. Their service has never wavered and has been nothing short of excellent... every time.

So here are cheers to AAA - one of the few companies that really gives great service, has human beings on the phone when you call, and seems to really care about their customers.

With much affection,

Bex & Truck

Update on the dewclaw caper:

Kip tore off his bandage while we were having supper last night. He was very good all day and napped like I told him to. He left his bandage alone, but after he yanked it off and I located the remains of the bandage to determine it wasn't in his tummy, his dewclaw seemed to be OK looking and today, he's not even paying attention to it. He's on the mend...my boy is.

It's in every one of us to be wise;
Find your heart, open up both your eyes.
We can all know every thing without ever knowing why.
It's in every one of us, by and bye.


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