Saturday, January 3, 2009

Stuck in a deep freeze

As my regular readers know, my hubby has a 'new' job.....really, it is his old job.

The relevance of this information is that he started his new job yesterday....in a small town 2 hours west of our home. Since his first day was going to be a very short day, I offered to follow him (a few hours later since I did not want to leave at 5 am) and help him get settled .

My plan was to arrive around noon, find him a hotel with a kitchenette, buy him some groceries, cook us some supper, and then we'd hang out for the evening.

All went according to plan....I even beat him 4 out of 5 games of Rummy. (He'll tell you it was because he was so tired, but don't you believe it!)

This morning, we awoke at 5 am to temperatures around 40 degrees below freezing. Brrrrrrrr
No one likes these mornings.

Both our trucks started, thanks to the extension cords plugged into the motel's outdoor outlets. Problem though, when Jim went to leave.......his truck would not go into gear. It would not move either forward or back.

First 'real' day of work......several crews of workers were going to be arriving somewhere in the middle of the 'bush' an hour south of town within an hour and a half, looking to him for instruction......what does he do?

He takes MY truck, of course.....what else can he do?

I spent the morning phoning different shops in town, trying to find one that was A) open on this Saturday after the New Year (most places had decided to close down from the 1st - the 5th) B) had time to work on our truck. and C) would give credence to my hubby's analysis of what was wrong.

I succeeded....the Ford Dealership was willing to take Jim's GM truck and do what he asked...even though they did not think he was right in his diagnosis.

What was it? you ask?

Here's the thing......Last February, we had a high performance tranny put into our truck. Where were we last February? Bossier City, Louisiana. The tranny techs put high performance tranny fluid into the transmission (of course). Now, those fortunate folks down in Louisiana never have to consider how their transmission fluid will perform in a deep freeze.......Jim figured the thicker oil simply got too thick in the extreme cold, causing the truck to be unable to go into gear. He asked that the shop do a "tranny flush" (drain the old oil) and add new "Alberta-cold-resistant" oil instead.

Did it work?

Much to the surprise of the service folks at Ford, yes, it worked.

BUT....that meant that I've been stuck in a hotel room (except when I was in a tow truck, at the dealership, or in a cab) all day.

Happy for me that Jim has a personal computer with him as well as the one supplied by his employers.....I've had the company of my blogging friends all day.

Couldn't even read, because the book I brought (of course, I brought a book along) is so poorly written, I can't make myself read it past the first 3 pages (which I read last night). I don't often find such a dud.......

Not that I'm not enjoying the blogs.....of course I am, but it would be nice to do something else too.

Sitting here with no options as to how to spend my time took a tole on my mind......I started craving chocolate in a bad way. Of course, there was none in the room - or my purse - or my bag and I had no way to get to any place that would sell it.......until the dealership called that the truck was ready.

The cab dropped me off, I paid the bill, and drove away.....straight to the nearest gas station where I started looking frantically for my usual chocolate help - a Cadbury Thin, Dark Chocolate. I even asked for help from the cashier but was informed that the Cadbury Thins did not sell well here, so they don't carry them.

I should have walked out. I mean, the Thins are part of my personal strategy when I "need" chocolate.....anything else is an 'infraction'.

I did not walk out - had you already guessed that?

I did read the calories on a few different bars, and the one I chose had fewer calories than many - plus it was the only one that was dark chocolate. (I don't see any use for eating chocolate if it is not dark) I bought a dark Kit Kat and I enjoyed every bite.

But I am disappointed in myself for giving in so easily.....

Hubby just called.....telling me that when he finally gets "home", he is going to need a hearty meal - he's been outside all day (and it has not gone above -25 C). He took steaks out of the 'freezer' this morning so I will need to work around those.....and we have limited groceries - as in, no 'staples' and only salt, pepper, and garlic for seasoning. That eliminates stew or something like that.....unless I brave the deep freeze again and go supplement his simple supplies. But my feet have been cold since last night (even though we went and bought me some slippers to try warm them up) and I really don't like driving his truck.......

Guess I'll have to go think and get a bit creative......he probably won't be home for another couple hours, at least.

It is getting colder.

Tonight it is supposed to go down to 45 degrees below freezing. ugh. Take me back to Louisiana!

On the up side, the forecast is for the temperature to rise to ABOVE freezing by Tuesday.

Go figure.

8 comments:

~TMcGee~ said...

I can say nothing negative about the chocolate because it is exactly what I would have done. LOL Sometimes...you just need a chocolate hug. :-)
I highly suggest packing a crockpot or two for him/and yourself when he is away from home. There are so many wonderful things you can make in the crockpot. Check out this lady's blog...it is awesome!
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com

Take care and stay warm!

Karyn said...

thanks for the suggestion Faith....the crock pot works if I am here, but since Jim would not take the time to start anything in the am - it's all I can do to get him to pack himself a healthy lunch in the morning. :)

~TMcGee~ said...

Ahhh, well, hopefully the weather gets warmer soon and you can venture out to get some good eats to go with those yummy steaks. :-)

Skye-Lynn said...

Karyn, here in Louisiana, I have my air conditioner on! Yes ma'am that is just how hot it is here. Actually, it's quite yuck. The humidity is through the roof! Ugh!

I had to laugh at the Louisiana techs! They surely don't know what freezing is! lol Glad to hear that your hubby did know what he was talking about and that all is well now.

And as far as the chocolate goes...at least it was dark and you only bought one! ;o)

Cmay said...

Wow...I'm sorry you feel bad about the choclate, but you did so well! First you considered calories, then chose cheaper calorie choclate...and then...then you only bought 1!!! You didn't lose control. I think you deserve applause.

Hehe...I had the same problem with my car. It came from Florida, and last year -5 celsius was the norm where I am. My grandma told me what the problem was, my uncle changed the oil...and voula!

Karyn said...

Skye....maybe I'll take the deep freeze over the humidity - at least I know the extreme cold will never last for more than a few days. :)

Faith...I should correct the impression I gave about Jim not wanting to pack a healthy lunch in the a.m. - he actually does very well at keeping himself supplied with nutritious snacks for the day. But to get a meal started in the crock pot would mean he'd have to get up at least a half hour earlier and he already doesn't get enough sleep after 14-16 hour days (normally).

Miz....don't worry, I don't know what a high performance tranny is either - just that it cost lots and now the truck pulls the trailer with ease. :)

Charlotte....thanks for the perspective about the chocolate! That's funny that you had the same kind of problem - and at only
-5C! That's like almost spring temps!

Lost Half of Me said...

Thanks for the kind words you left on my blog! I feel for you with the cold...our Michigan trip last week had me chilled the entire time! I am thrilled to be back in Florida with warmer weather!

SeaShore said...

-45! Yikes. My niece lives in Yellowknife. She says the extreme cold isn't so bad because it's dry, not cold-damp like around here, but I'm not so sure!

You did really well, actually comparing the labels of the chocolate bars!