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.