Perpetual Ruminations

Saturday

Last day of the week and once again I'm just getting in here and getting started when I should be getting to bed. At least tonight I'm not behind to the point of being up past bedtime, but I will be soon.

I worked today, so I was up at three, and should have been done at ten thirty. Saturdays are kind of a short day now, and I was looking forward to Rhonda coming in and me getting to go home. She also would have had a short day and been done at four. But, about the time she should have been heading in to work to relieve me, she was calling and leaving a message for me to call her back.

The van wouldn't start and she had no way of getting in to work. Yes, the van that I just worked on again, and thought maybe, just maybe, we had found the trouble and had it fixed. But, even though we cleaned up the connectors and had it running nice yesterday, it would not run today. The only thing that had changed is the temperature had dropped down into single digits overnight and didn't make it much into the twenties today.

So, what to conclude? Temperature must also be a factor in what ever is wrong. For now, we still aren't sure what the item that's failing is, but it's a pretty good guess that cold temperatures make it worse. We will see when it warms up more and I have more time to look at some things. For now, we have it kind of down to about three things that are most likely the problem.

But, what ever the problem, the result was the same, Rhonda was not able to make it in to work, so I was not able to get done at ten thirty. She did call another guard and had him come in early, so I was still out pretty early. But when I got ready to come home, the Jimmy wouldn't start. The battery was deader than month old road kill. I do have roadside assistance, but thought I would give my brother a call and see if he had jumper cables.

He did and was over in a short time. We hooked the cables up and still could not get anything. I pulled the battery and he gave me a ride over to a part store to have it tested and it was shot. At least I was at a part store, so I was able to get a new battery and he, my brother, gave me a ride back to the Jimmy. We had the new battery in in just a few minutes, then I gave the key a turn and vroom, it was running.

I have had some trouble with the battery a couple of times, even though it was a pretty new battery. There wasn't any labeling on the battery, except for one sticker that said it was shipped in 2012. I have no idea what brand, how powerful, or anything.  But, it turned over twice as well as it ever has since I have owned it, and it started easier than ever. So, about two hours, or maybe closer to two and a half hours after I should have been driving home from work, I was finally underway.

I got home and checked my computer, since I am in the midst of putting everything back on it. The last Windows updates were good, and when it ran it's check found seven more I needed to download. I should have kept count, and could look back through the log, but it's someplace in the lower three hundreds now. For the number of Windows updates I had to download and install over the last two days. I clicked to download and install and then enjoyed  supper with Rhonda.

After our supper, which was kind of early, but not too much so, considering what time I should be in bed most nights, we lie down and took an hour power nap. Oh, and before we ate, while the computer downloaded, we looked at the van and tried a few things to see if we could find the faulty component. So after our supper we took a nap, the got up and I started in on the laptop again and downloaded my Office programs and a few other items I had purchased.

I didnt' install much of any of them yet, just downloaded and then ran a system backup. Just in case I have to do this again, I will have the basics on backup, along with all the updates. Well, I suppose there will be a few more, but at least I'll have the first three hundred.

Now, it's time to shut down for the night, get to bed, and get close to eight hours of sleep. Well, by the time I get there, and get to sleep, maybe seven hours would be more accurate.