I had to be up quite early this morning so that I could get on the road and get the Spark into the dealership. It desperately needed an oil change and it was time to get the New York State inspection so that we can register it in New York now that that is its home. Thankfully registration in NY is actually a cost savings for us because of the vastly lower insurance costs outside of Texas.
Last night I finished reading “Eleven on Top” and today I started reading “Twelve Sharp”, the twelfth Stephanie Plum novel. Ten and Eleven were better than several of the preceding novels. Some of the boring tropes have been dropped and the writing quality is improving.
I needed to have the car worked on while I waited, that meant that I needed to be there first thing in the morning. The shop opens at eight but they allow the cars in at seven thirty so I had to be there by then. I actually did really well this morning at was at the dealership in Mt. Kisco by ten after seven! A bit earlier than I had intended but it was good that I was so early because I was only the first car of the day by a few minutes. Five to ten minutes tops before another car was there and by the time that the doors opened there were four cars in the queue.
I got the car in and had a minimum of an hour and a half to kill. So I took my backpack and set off for a .9 mile walk, slightly uphill, to The Bedford Diner, which is the only dinner in the area, up in Bedford Hills. It was a nice walk and good exercise.
The dinner was very nice. I got Eggs Benedict but with smoked salmon instead of back bacon which was delicious. I had some coffee and hung out there for a while. I had thought ahead to bring my Kindle with me and was able to sit and relax and read a bit of “A House Like a Lots” while I was there.
I walked back to the dealership but the car was not ready yet. So I sat on the bench out of Route 117 and enjoyed the nice weather while catching up on emails and postings.
The car was completed around ten thirty. A long morning but desperately needed. The oil is now changed (this has to be done at a dealer because no one stocks or can get the oil filter for my odd car) and I have a New York State Inspection completed. The windshield washer fluid is working again now too, turns out that that was only a fuse. Had the other dealership that I used in the winter not been so lazy, they could have just replaced that months ago. The car has a semi-recall for an air conditioner thing but the dealership did not have the parts so I am to call them on Monday or Tuesday to see if they have come in and then take the car in for service.
It was just after eleven when I finally got into the office.
I got to head home at a good time tonight. Sadly, there is no one at home to get home to, though. Another lonely night for me. The car is driving great, very happy that it got its oil changed.
For the first time since the family left, I decided to not just camp out in the bedroom and went down to the basement instead. Five days of being alone now. The house gets so dark and quiet at night, really catches me by surprise.