If you are a Catholic/recovering Catholic/survivor of Catholic School/fan of the new pope/thinking of converting to Catholicism, you probably understand that some things are a mystery of your faith. I've always liked saying, "it's a mystery, like the Trinity." So, I named this blog "like the Trinity" because I have faced a few mysteries over the past week. I thought it was funny.
BTW, happy 50th birthday to my sister. I think my fifties have rocked, but then again, I'm delirious. Also, happy birthday to Wild Mama, owner of her first smart phone. Let the app loading begin!
BTW BTW, if you are wondering, Packer Tickets are going for BELOW face value. If you've ever wanted to go to Lambeau, now is your chance to leap. It's no mystery why the tickets are so cheap....but, don't tell the wife I said that.
This holiday, I experienced a mystery featuring the behavior of wife's family on Turkey Day. We went to Thanksgiving dinner as planned, speeches of gratitude ready for action. The wife meditated, fretted, wrote, re-wrote & rehearsed, readying and steadying herself for the annual gratitude-sob-a-thon. It was a weird day to begin with, as it was the first year that paper plates were utilized. It was unusual that it was a buffet dinner instead of a fancy-sit-at-the-formal-table-til-everyone's-done dinner. Strangely to me, the wife's mother read a prayer (grace) from a folded piece of paper, with no one chiming in or professing anything. If I were Jesus, I'd be a little bitter. He didn't get much billing this year. Dinner was consumed, dinner was done. I wandered over to the sink to do the dishes, but it was anti-climatic, with just a bunch of silverware waiting to be washed.
Looking back, I think the mood was crushed by the Packers pathetic performance. People were screaming and yelling and frothing at the mouth during the game. It didn't go well and the Packers lost by 30 points. I think that game wiped--exorcised--the gratitude right out of the house. In fact, it wiped it out so badly that.....
....they didn't do the annual gratitude-sob-a-thon.
I couldn't believe it! At first, I thought they had forgotten to do it. How you forget an annual tradition like that I have no idea, but it seemed to be a possibility. Then, I thought they were waiting to do it after the game ended and everyone had removed themselves from the post game fetal ball position. Then, I started to wonder what was going on. I looked around the living room and noticed it did not look like anyone was making a move to start the circle. Heck, they weren't making a move for much of anything at all. I asked the wife about it, as I had to leave in an hour or so, and this event takes more than an hour. She asked twice, trying to get it going, but no one jumped in. While waiting, I think I heard one or two family members growl they weren't going to do it, but I'm not sure--it might have been the two dogs playing under the table. I finally gave up waiting and went home, reflecting on this non-event the entire ride home.
Like the trinity, it remains a mystery: why didn't they complete the annual cry-fest? I'm stymied. I still have no idea or answer. It's not like they suddenly have nothing to be thankful for. It's not like they aren't grateful. It's not like they all became Satan worshippers. Nothing to the seeing eye has changed. Maybe they heard I had written a blog professing my gratitude to and for the wife. I scared them right into submission.
Heck, if anything could be safely (and cheaply) scared into submission, I would like it to be the noise--no, the vibration--of my car. We're talking 747 landing overhead loud and teeth-chattering vibration. The sound is not from the pipes or muffler or the underside of the car; rather, it seems to be coming from the engine compartment. Talk about a mystery of the Lord.
Imagine, if you will, me standing in front of my car, hood open, staring at the running engine. I don't know much of anything about a car engine, but I can point out things like the battery, oil thingy, wiper fluid. (Points to me for knowing how to open the hood, right?) Picture me standing there in the freezing cold, hood open, sound is rumbling right along, things are visibly vibrating. Poor little wiper fluid cover, chattering a little song. I take a gander at the engine and easily confirm: Yup, that's where the noise is coming from. I lean a little closer. No, nothing looks wrong. Puzzled, I run through a list of ideas....Idle is fine, starts fine, runs fine. The engine itself doesn't sound rough. It's like the car itself sounds rough. I kneel down and take a listen. Nope, it's not from underneath the car--it's definitely something in the engine compartment.
Of course, I don't let a little thing like a rumbling engine compartment stop me. I shut the hood and hit the road.
I've been ignoring the noise & vibration for weeks, as because after awhile, it isn't as noticeable. Maybe I just become more delirious than I already am and stop noticing. Or, maybe turning up the radio really has helped me ignore it. Oh sure, it's embarrassing when you start out for the day and it does seem to scare passengers into submission, but what's a little car mystery as long as you keep chugging along?
It's not like the wheels are falling off or anything.
For some reason (another HUGE mystery, probably bigger than the non-sob-a-thon), I came to my senses and decided to have a mechanic take a gander. I took the car at night and left it so it would be nice and cold when the mechanic fired it up in the morning. I left him a detailed note about my observations: idle is fine, worst when cold, vibration and noise seem to be front passenger side of the engine compartment. (I'm sure mechanics think notes like that are ridiculous, but it made me feel better.) I guessed that whatever it was, it would cost $1000, while the wife decided the cost would be $200 to fix.
Turns out one of my engine mounts is sagging a wee bit; thus, there really is a vibration and it really is from the area of which I pointed out and it is the worst when it's cold out and when the cold is just getting started. I took a second, then asked the most obvious question: "Is the engine going to fall out?"
The answer was "no."
I countered, "but, I've had a car where the engine fell out." (It was the wife's car and the engine really did fall out.)
He assured me that I was safe to drive the car. "I can fix it, if you want. I have the parts in stock."
I thought about it. The price sounded very reasonable--more than the wife's guess, less than mine. I asked, "if it were your car, would you fix it?"
He indicated that if it didn't bother me, there was no rush to fix it. "Does it bother you?" I assured him it does not, but thought to myself "it sure bothers the wife." I also thought that it probably bothers the neighbors.He seemed to take the approach of if it doesn't bother you, it's all good. "It's not a safety issue," he reiterated. "So, my engine's not going to fall out? I'll wait. I can always bring it back."
The REAL mystery here? A mechanic who gives me the chance to not spend money. The Trinity ain't got nuthin' on that.
***********************************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment