By a sheer stroke of good luck our Hyundai Santa Fe's A/C broke down just in the nick of time a few days ago. Had it not done so we may very well have been in for a blown engine. A few days ago Kelly said she thought the Santa Fe sounded a little louder & different somehow. I assumed it was probably the muffler starting to go & never thought any more about. I didn't go out, start the car & have a listen for myself. The air conditioning in the car had quit late last week so Kelly phoned & made an appointment with the BAYFIELD GARAGE to have the A/C looked at this morning. She took the car in before 8 & I followed in the Jeep. Left the car at the garage & headed home. 
THIS LITTLE FROGGY FELLOW STILL HAS HIS TADPOLE TAIL
WALKING SOFTLY ON THE WATER & CAN YOU SEE THE YELLOW BUTTERFLY ON THE PURPLE FLOWER
Couple hours later we had a phone call from the Bayfield Garage. Figured the Santa Fe was done. Nope, bad news. And good news at the same time. First, the bad news. Soon as Don at the Bayfield Garage started the Santa Fe he immediately knew there was a serious engine problem. Shut it down quick & never attempted to start it again. A closer inspection revealed the timing belt assembly with only a few gears left on something was on the verge of flying apart. They didn't know how Kelly even drove the car in. Apparently had that assembly come apart it could have permanently damaged the engine. Good news the problem was discovered when it was. Bad news is the $400+ unexpected repair bill we are facing now. And that wasn't the end of the bad news but at least the car will be fixed up & ready to go sometime Thursday.
AROUND THE YARD
We had hoped the Santa Fe's A/C problem was low coolant & it would be as simple as topping it up with fluid. Nope. Turns out the clutch assembly on the compressor was shot. It’s a $700+ fix we decided not to go ahead with. The Santa Fe is 10 years old. With the necessary timing belt repair we decided the dozen or so humid days we have each summer just doesn't justify spending money on the Santa Fe’s A/C repair. Especially when the car is not being used every day anymore. If push came to shove & it was an unbearably hot humid day we can always take the Winnie Wagon anywhere if need be. Both dash & coach A/C work just fine in there. All & all the bottom line is that despite the Santa Fe's timing belt repair cost at least the engine wasn't wrecked & that ended our day on a positive good news note.
SSSSHHHHHHH, PUPPY IS HAVING AN AFTERNOON SNOOZE
Sun was out full force today so that brought our heat & humidity levels back up resulting in another inside day. I suppose there is a positive side to that as well in that my sore leg/hip has been getting a lot of rest & has not been bothering me like it had. Only used my cane a couple hours to get around in the past two weeks. But I do think my days of doing THE TWIST, the Limbo Rock, the WAH-WATUSI, & the Boogaloo are over. Well if I know what's good for me that is. And of course all this sitting around inactivity isn’t doing anything to help my weight problem either:((
Wondering if anyone has tried out that new OUTLOOK.COM. Noticed it in our in-box Tuesday. I think it is replacing Hotmail or something. We happen to use Hotmail a fair bit & I would hate to transition a familiar email account to something radically different again. I know we will have to do it sooner or later but just wondered if anyone has made that Hotmail to Outlook transfer & what they thought about it.
JUST HANGIN OUT IN THE SUNROOM THIS MORNING
Thoughts & even memories of our winters in the South-West over the years seem so far away right now. Almost hard to comprehend we actually have a house & an acre of land in Arizona. But the same thing happens when we are down there. Ontario & our life here in Bayfield always drifts out of our minds & becomes a hazy memory as we take on our totally different South-West lifestyle. And so different it is too. I have posted many times my thoughts on how much I love the South-West. When I reach into my mind & press the ‘best memories’ button for the past 7 years it is always our travels south that fill the giant screen. Places we’ve been, things we’ve seen. The mountains, the valleys, & the canyons. Sunrises & Sunsets. Those beautifully quiet & sweeping landscapes. The glittering diamonds scattered across a pitch black night sky. Campfires & those beautiful boondocking spots we always seem to find. No human sounds anywhere, just the lonesome wail of the Coyotes & desert winds whispering through tall giant Cactus arms. The hikes, the rock scrambles. And I so much love our daily morning desert walks. There is something spiritual about the desert & I feel it every time we are there. It’s like a calling, a beckoning, a welcoming. I can feel it growing inside each year as our annual southern journey swings us ever further westward. I can feel it inside as we first catch sight of mountain ranges ever so slowly looming up out of a hazy horizon. And then it is into, up, & over the mountains & down the other side. It is here where the transition firmly takes hold & ever so peacefully slides me into the type of lifestyle I so much love. And it is here right now where I have to wrap up this post before I get myself downright depressed. Next thing I know I’ll be out in the driveway loading up the Winnie Wagon. Maybe tomorrow night I will tell you a few more reasons why we, & especially me, like the great American South-West so much. Maybe, just maybe……..:))
OUTSIDE OUR SUNROOM WINDOW TODAY
GROANER'S CORNER:(( A young Grandson asked his Grandfather how old he was, and the Grandpa teasingly replied, "Well, I'm not exactly sure how old I am."
The little boy advised, "You have to look in your underwear, Grandpa. Mine says I'm 4 to 6."
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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.
With ya..
ReplyDeleteTransition from hotmail to outlook was seamless. No problems.
ReplyDeleteI am right with you! We love, love, love the desert southwest! BUT....remember this....It is to be 110 degrees there tomorrow. But! no humidity...
ReplyDeleteI miss the southwest so much but I will admit the weather up here in MT has certainly been a whole lot nicer. May not say that in August though. I changed to Outlook and if I can do it anybody can.
ReplyDeleteWent over to Outlook with no issues whatsoever. Outlook seems to have a more updated, cleaner look to it.
ReplyDelete"They" transferred us to Outlook and that was that...not a problem. I have lived in Az since 1974...my husband is a native...born right in Wickenburg in what is now the sorpt. thrift store but used to be the hospital...a long time ago. lol. I would never live anywhere else but love to travel during the summer...that is the best of both worlds. BUT...you don't have to have a house in both places..it is just too expensive and the upkeep is too time consuming. Or maybe you do being a Canadian? Who knows..maybe you will full time as much as possible in Az and travel in Canada in a motorhome...lots and lots of options
ReplyDeleteLove the photos today. How did you get the black background on the flower? Did you take the photo at night?
ReplyDeleteYour daisy helped me create a flower in my needlepoint tonight.
ReplyDeleteOf course my favorite photos are the ones of Pheebs! What a lapdog she is. I think we all have someplace that is so very special to us. For me it's Bishop, CA and the Owens Valley. Of course I love Oregon more than anything but Bishop "calls" to me.
ReplyDeleteWe love the desert too! This was our first year to spend time in the desert...we are so hooked!
ReplyDeleteLove the snoozing Pheebs! And the water droplets on the daisy! Just sooooo clear! I was wondering about the black background too...
Sorry to hear about the Santa Fe. it's always something, isn't it?
My email was changed to Outlook and I don't like it. Of course I don't like any changes they do to computers and think it's better. I still haven't figured out how to print an email except using the file button and that prints all the folders and everything.
ReplyDeleteGreat pic's Al. Was that a F 1.8 on that daisy? Sore like the way you push me to be more creative. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteYou were lucky to save that engine. Some are made to have valves and pistons not interact when a belt breaks, but most let them hit and the valves lose the war. Very expensive repair.
As for the A/C clutch, if it has in fact broke ( usually bad relay or broken wire), Let some mechanically minded guy give you a second opinion. There should be some wreaked cars out there with the same compressor. It is easier to swap the whole thing and then vacuum the system and reload with the new freon and oil. As you said, There is no hurry.
Al, call your buddy that is handy with mechanics and, you can get a new A/C clutch assembly for under $200 at Auto Zone or Canadian tire, they even will loan him the tool(puller) to take the old one off and install the new one. No matter how much you think you can do without it for the one long month you need a/c in Canada, Kelly will love you for it.Wish I lived closer , I could do the job for you you. Your friends Sam & Donna..
ReplyDeleteGood that you got the engine fixed in time.
ReplyDeleteWe too really love the southwest, can't wait to get back out there this fall.
They switched me to Outlook a couple of weeks ago. They "lost" my contact information for a couple of days, but everything is back to normal now.
ReplyDeletePat
Changing to Outlook is just a matter of learning a few new places to click on things.
ReplyDeleteTo Martha, in order to print email: When you have an email open across the top toolbar it will say: New Reply Delete Archive Junk Sweep Moveto Categories then there are three dots. Click on the dots and more tools will show up, one of them is Print.
It takes some clicking on areas and learning what things it can do.