Bobby's Updates: More Cherry Pits

I thought our soap opera was over, but it seems to be a way of life for us now. Wednesday August 7 Al received his temporary crown. We planned to go to our favorite Italian restaurant for supper and then go to the healing service at church. Just as we were finishing our spaghetti, a car horn starts honking. Al went outside to see if it was ours, and it was! He cut it off, came back in, but no sooner had he sat down when it started honking again! Again he went outside to cut it off, and again for the third time it began to honk as soon as he returned to his seat. By this time at least two people in the restaurant had told us, “That happened to me and I had to replace the horn!”

So we paid the bill, went outside, checked under the hood and could not find the fuse box. Al wanted to remove the horn’s fuse so we could drive home without constant honking! Since we could not find it, we went straight home and Al called the Hyundai dealership’s service department in Orange Park, where we had purchased the car. Now the town of Orange Park is a forty-five minute drive south of our house. The lady who answered the phone said, “All you can do is disconnect the battery and have it towed to our shop.” “WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?” screamed Al into the phone. “This is my only means of transportation and I have to take my wife to Fernandina for a chemotherapy treatment tomorrow! I can’t be without a car!”

Al asked her how to remove the fuse to the horn but she would not tell him where it was. She insisted that he had to disconnect the battery and have it towed. To which Al replied, “Well, if that’s all you have to offer me, this is the last time you will talk to me because I’m going to trade this Hyundai in for a Honda tomorrow!” The lady then told him that there was a latch under the hood that connected with the horn. If the hood is not shut properly, that could set off the alarm. Al relied,“That’s probably the problem because I just had the oil changed at Jiffy Lube”. After hanging up, he got the car manual and together with trial and error, we found the correct fuse. Then he found the latch under the hood and made sure that it was straight. Needless to say, we never made it to church.

The next day we headed to Fernandina. It is a one hour drive north from our house and Al had disconnected our horn. We had to take Interstate 95, and then get on the local roads with semi-trucks that haul logs to the paper factory in Fernandina. Often debris from the logs gets blown off the trucks and that can be dangerous. I prayed that we did not run into any trouble because our horn was not working. To get on the I-295 beltway, we have to cross a three mile bridge at the beginning of our journey, and that’s where our troubles began! We had just passed the last exit when the traffic came to a halt. We saw ambulances and police cars going the opposite way in the other lanes. There was an accident on the bridge, and we could do nothing but sit there and creep forward at two miles an hour with the rest of the drivers. People were changing lanes so they could see what was happening and get in the fastest moving lane. And we had no horn to honk in case they accidentally turned into us!

Well, forty minutes later, we finally past the accident. It was all the way at the other end of the bridge! But we still had a forty minute ride to the doctor’s office! So I called them to say I would be fifteen minutes late and they could take someone else who came early. Of course, when I called, I only got voice mail, no real people! And I have no idea when they check their voice mail! At the end of the day, probably! So I left the same message on three different voice mails, the appointment desk, the chemotherapy room, and the doctor’s medical assistant.

By the way, I take a diuretic, also known as a water pill, for the swelling in my legs. It makes one pee to get rid of retained water. On the top of the bridge, in the middle of the traffic jam, the water pill kicked in! Of course there was no way I could get to a bathroom. By the time we got off the bridge, I thought I could hold it until we got to the doctor’s office. Well, I did, but just barely! This time it was me and not Dorothy barreling through the door yelling, “I’VE GOT TO PEE REALLY BADLY! WHERE’S THE NEAREST BATHROOM?”They had checked their voice mails (all three departments) and they got out of my way as they directed me to the nearest toilet!

But the news is not all bad! The good news is:

1. I was able to get my treatments and see the doctor even though I was late. In fact the doctor told me, “Don’t worry if you are late getting here. We can always squeeze you in.” How nice of him to say that! I wonder if his nurses agree.

2. We did not have an accident, in spite of the fact that our horn was disconnected and we were in a traffic jam!

3. Al fixed the problem with the horn. It was the latch under the hood!

God is good! All the time!!

God showers me daily with loving kindness and tender mercies, renewing my faith abundantly ever day. The blossoms on my Mexican petunias represent my faith because they, too, are renewed daily.