Finally - October and new car pictures

I have to say, I'm glad to start a new month.  I just feel like things are going to look up now.

I finally took some pictures of the new car, so here it is.  This car is so fun to drive.  Although the car really doesn't like how I drive in heavy traffic.  I'm ending up talking to this car much more than I talked to my other cars, mostly reassuring it when it fusses at me (gives me collision warnings). "yes, I see that car", "yes, yes, I'll signal when I change lanes"  "Oh come on, I'm not that close!"  etc, etc.  I could turn the cameras off, but that wouldn't be nearly as fun.  And actually, the warnings are not because of the distance between me and the other car, they're because of the difference in our speeds.  So if I'm accelerating toward the car ahead of me in preparation for changing lanes to go around it, the warnings go off.  Or if another car crosses the road ahead of me, the warnings go off.  So it's mostly the difference in speed between us rather than the distance between us that sets it off.  The car is also very responsive and has lots of bells and whistles (which of course I don't play with while I'm driving).  It's just overall a pleasure to drive.

One thing has already looked up.  I thought I was going to have to call an electrician at the house, on top of everything else.  I went to put some drinks in the frig in the garage on Wednesday and it was dead!  As in, dark and hot.  And smelled like a dead refrigerator. I'm glad I really didn't have any food in there to speak of. I think for the most part it doesn't hurt beverages to get hot and then cold again.

Anyway, I figure the foundation guys probably did this. After investigating, it turns out it's not the frig, it's that circuit that is blown.  I tried flipping all my breakers, and nothing made it come back. So I plugged the frig into the house with an extension cord. Luckily the door into the garage mostly closed over the cord. I say the foundation guys did it because they had been using the outlet outside my front door the first day they were there. Then the second day they had their extension cord running through the bedroom window and told me that the outlet by the front door didn't work. I also noticed that day that the boxes next to the garage frig were pulled out, so they must have tried using that outlet in the garage when the one out front failed, before they went through the bedroom window to an outlet. In their defense, they may not have realized that frig was running before that circuit blew, and they did tell me the one in front was out.  I certainly never thought to check the frig. I just pushed those boxes back in place. So it was down from September 17th until October 3rd. 

Anyway, I was telling the frig story at work on Thursday and one of my friends asked if I had pushed all those GFCI buttons on the outlets in the house.  I looked at her with a completely blank expression, and she said, "you know, the red buttons on the outlets. In my house the circuits are linked funny, so when one blows in the garage, I push the red button on the outlet in my guest bathroom to reset it."  I'll be damned. I never even thought about what those red buttons are for. So when I got home I went looking, and sure enough, the outlet that the frig was plugged into in the garage has one of those GFCI buttons! I pushed it, and everything is back to working normally. I owe my friend so big time. She saved me from paying for a electrician service call and looking like a fool. So not having to call an electrician is a serious mark in the positive column for the month.  

And another positive:  I got an email from the head guy at the foundation company to call him regarding the plumbing check results.  I figured he wanted to tell me that I should fix the leaks or they could cause future foundation problems, or that their company wasn't liable for them.  So when I called him, I started out assuring him that I would get the leaks fixed, etc, etc.  He said, "all that's fine, but not why I wanted you to call."  He told me that most plumbing companies in this area charge $300 per foot of tunneling if they have to tunnel to fix leaks.  He said if they have to tunnel to fix my leaks, to call him.  He and his guys would come and do the tunneling for $150 per foot.  I was really amazed.  It's not like these guys are not busy and just need extra work.  And they didn't have to offer this at all.  So I appreciate the offer and will take him up on it if I need to.  Yes, $150/foot is expensive, but it's half what the plumbers will charge me.  

So a few things are moving my way.  Now if they can find the leaks easily this coming week and it doesn't cost me a fortune to have them fixed, I'll know my luck has finally turned.