Have I mentioned? - I don't think I've mentioned that my car has been giving a little cause for concern recently. My daughter and son-in-law borrowed it, the Sunday before last, to go to Norwich. When they arrived home, they said that it had overheated and had cut out on the Chicken Roundabout, a mile from home.
We let it cool, put in a few pints of water and have been keeping an eye on it. It seemed okay.
Yesterday, we put in a litre of water. Today, I went to Norwich and, when I came home, it took two litres. Hmm.
We phoned the garage (in Norwich) and booked it in for tomorrow morning. I rang a friend and arranged for her to pick me up to take me to my lunch engagement afterwards. As I put the phone down, the Sage came in. "I've just put in another three pints. I'm not sure it should be driven. Whatever the problem is, another twenty miles could do a lot of damage."
We rang the garage again and asked how much they would charge to pick it up. £100. But did we have breakdown cover? Yes! I had forgotten, but I have. But was it for roadside breakdowns only? I rang to ask. Lord love them, for a mere £54 per year, it includes picking the car up from my home. Arrangements have been made (including ringing another friend to fetch me from home) and all people I have spoken to have been lovely and helpful and, if actions are as good as words, I will give full credit tomorrow.
Oh, and on another subject entirely, I told you about the assembly I went to yesterday - one of the teachers referred to a sponsored run he and his wife (who is the SENCO* at the same school) did on Sunday for the Stroke Association. He was proud, not so much that he ran the marathon, but that his wife Mickey actually ran it twice. She just kept on running and went on for 52 miles and *however many* yards.
Today, I had a meeting in the Learning Support Department (for I am SEN governor). After my meeting, I said to Mickey "What did you do at the weekend?" She said "Oh, I, er, did a run." I made her tell me about it. And asked if she was accepting sponsorship (she'll have found out from Clinton this evening how I knew). And I asked her to accept my contribution.
But, though she was pleased to receive it, I had intended to give her a tenner. But, when I looked in my bag, I'd got 3 pound coins and a £20 note. I thought about it. I even thought of giving her a cheque. Better nature took over, I'm glad to say.
52 miles. Blimey. I still run lopsided - indeed, sometimes I walk lopsided. Not as badly as if I had a stroke, however. Good for you, Mickey and Clint.
*Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator
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12 comments:
his wife Mickey actually ran it twice
How did that happen? It can't have been an accident surely?
No, she wanted to. When she'd run the first marathon she still felt all right, so she thought she'd see how far she could go.
*whoops, was that the finishing line? D'oh - missed it - catch it next time*
Hmm, it sounds a bit too serious for radweld :(.
And is The Chicken Roundabout REALLY called The Chicken Roundabout?
Garlic in the post today :).
Here you go, Ally.
(BTW, there was no danger of them being culled as they are, officially, wild birds and so exempt)
And yes, I think a proper repair is required. My friend, who is picking me up later said "we're too old to court a breakdown." I said "Not too old, just too smart."
And thanks for the garlic, what a sweetheart you are!
The dreaded words 'cylinder head gasket' are reverberating around my brain.
Or is that something that only happens to the Newtons?
You've got it, Chairwoman. They haven't taken it apart yet, but that's the preliminary diagnosis. Sounds expensive, but that's one of those things.
I can't get my head round 50 odd miles. Incredible! She must have had super human help from somewhere.
Good luck with the car. It's such a relief to only have one to worry about now.
I don't know how much she runs usually - and she was back at work as usual the next day.
It's not so much the distance, but the attitude that is so outstanding. There's a fair few very long races around, called 'ultras', but people train hard and specifically for them. To do it on a whim is... Great, I reckon.
Love the Chicken Roundabout page, great pictures.
And it might not be the head gasket, but a sub-gasket - something similar just happened to SLF's car machine, and it turned out to be a leaky gasket pissing water away. So don't despair yet!
Head gasket is bloody expensive though, I'm sad to say.
She's a lovely girl, really good at her job, which is a demanding one and always seems to radiate happiness too.
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