Life has a funny way of changing your plans at the last minute. I was supposed to spend this evening in Boulder, chatting up other volunteers at the new Warren campaign office grand opening. Instead I'm now soaking in a tub, in a mid-priced hotel just off the interstate, where I have come to do a little road rescue. I'm hoping the soreness and swelling in my ankles will calm down soon so I can crash after the long surprise drive.
We still own the house we bought when we moved to New Mexico 12 years ago. We really wanted to sell it when we left, but we didn't get a single offer when we put it up for sale. (Now that I have real estate sales experience of my own, I am firmly convinced we didn't write a high enough commission in the listing contract, but that's a story for another day.) We have been renting the house out since 2011, and with each passing year I despair more that we will ever be rid of it.
Last fall we learned that the gate to the back alley is falling apart, and the concrete block wall is starting to crumble around the hinges. The estimate we got for repairs was ludicrous. So the Mr intended to drive down this weekend and fix it himself. The cost of gas and three nights lodging on base was less than the estimate. He doesn't own a pickup truck anymore, so he borrowed one to do the drive, and he loaded a ladder and concrete mixer in it and took off this morning. About the time I got back from a sales meeting in Fort Collins, I got a message from him that the clutch was acting squirrelly going up Raton Pass. Moments later, I got a second text correcting it: the clutch had failed, a few miles from the top of the pass.
He muscled the truck back down to Trinidad, and stayed put while I drove down. I get to take him to Pueblo for a rental vehicle with a tow dolly, and then I can go back home. I'm struggling with the wisdom of that plan. Maybe I ought to go to a Barnes and Noble or something in Pueblo and hang out for a couple of hours while he gets the truck, just in case. I'd hate to be well clear of, say, Castle Rock only to get a call to turn back around. I'll sleep on it and see how strong the plan seems in the morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment