I am playing with Jacko lanterns!!! Not quite that time yet, but it is coming fast. So....I am making some fun ones. Happy ones!!!
Now for the drama:
My car. 2009 Rav 4. I loved it...good mileage, cheap to ensure, and paid for. Sounds good, right? Until it would not start. Replaced the battery, and took off some ignition thing that was burnt up, and I thought all was ok. Then? I was driving it over to wash it at the car wash, and go to the store, and was just stopped at the light, to turn down the hill. The car started shaking! Hard! Every warning light in the universe went off on the dashboard! Sputtering, a bit of smoke, and the power steering failed. The brakes failed!! The light turned, and I was able to turn it using super nursing powered arms. Ha! No kidding, I have strong arms, (turning and lifting patients did some good for them!) and was able to steer it. But no brakes, and I was going down the hill. Why did the brakes fail, by the way? No explanation of that. Anyway, the park was coming up, and I was able to screamingly wheel into there, use the emergency brake and stop. I was definitely looked after by a higher power, as there was tons of traffic both before me and after me. CRAZY!!!! Rush hour on a main thoroughfare.
Tow truck was called, and they took it the Toyota dealership. Water pump is leaking, although it had plenty of water left. Alternator is burnt up. I tried to jump it and somehow the jumper cables melted. NO kidding melted!! Total repair bill is high, in the thousands, plus 5 recall things, as well, which I had no clue of.
In the end, they would not accept it as a trade...too old. too sick. Poor little blue car. I went to a lot of dealerships and drove Subaru, Honda, Prius and Toyota. Considered expensive cars, even...luxury things...SUV's...all the options. Jeeps too. The 17 miles per gallon stopped me there. In the end, Toyota won out, and I bought a newer version of the same car I have had since 2009. I actually bought it in 2008. I am glad to have be safe with a safe car to drive again, although I will not like the payments. Overtime shifts, here I come.
*********************Nurse's Notes********************************
I have been working ICU, which I adore. I had a darling little twenty something-year-old girl come in, with a vague heaviness in her head. MRI revealed a goose egg sized tumor in her brain, actually compressing her ventricles and causing left to right shift in her brain!!!
A brilliant girl, just finished with her master's degree in data analysis, and just working a year out of school...this was terrifying for her. Alone in our country, her parents being in India. She ended up having emergency brain surgery. They got the tumor, encased, with no ominous tentacles of astrocytoma down deep. Friends and community have rallied around her!!
She recognized me immediately after surgery!! Smiles and sweetness. I love happy endings!!!
Julie
12 comments:
my car too went to the big garage in the sky....but aa a senior living on fixed income, no replacement in my future...you are blessed juliek...i am desolate, chained, shackled now with no wheels...this so soon after my mom passed....it's a devastating time...glad you were safe...obviously all the good you do has been rewarded tenfold...bless you!
Wow! Glad you are okay after your car died on you. What an experience. Both my sister and nephew drive RAV 4’s and have never had a problem that I know of. Love your picture of all the animals eating together. Glad you have found time to quilt. Happy to hear the young woman with the brain tumor is doing well.
Glad you had the presence of mind to get out of traffic and pull the brake (not sure I'd think of that). Last two vehicles have been Toyota; just wish the dealership were closer than an hour away.
Love the smiling Jack-o’-lanterns! What frightening situations for you and the young woman, but both of you had guardian angels.
Cars can be so frustrating, especially when they don't run. You did a good job getting it stopped and out of the way. That young lady is lucky to have you as her nurse. Thanks for sharing all that you do.
Wow! I am just glad you are safe. What an amazing experience.
WOW!! The car story is terrifying!!! Not sure I could have done all that and lived to tell about it! And the brain tumor--HORRIFIC! My DH died from a glioblastoma; awful, AWFUL things! I have a feral in my backyard. She's got a clipped ear so that's a good thing and I feed her every day so no complaints from her! LOL
I hate buying new cars but I do love the feeling of driving a car until it completely breaks down. Then I fell I got my money's worth. I hope you love your new car and that you get through the payments quickly!
thank goodness you can get a new car............wow you really have some special stories re nursing......so lucky that patient........
Oh, my. I was taken by the critter convo (do you have an automatic set up or did you just have the phone out at the right time?). But then -- the car. How scary!! Glad you are okay. I hope the new wheels will last a good long time. And what a miracle of modern medicine for your young patient. God is good!
Love the photo of the menagerie lunching together.
Nice hot pad creation.
Oh, my friend, I am so grateful God helped you do what was needed to stay safe in that scary car! I have driven Toyotas for my last two vehicles, and I drive them into the ground, so we are talking LOTS of years! I love them.
And be glad you can't afford a Jeep. Two people I know have had their Jeep self-combust. One vehicle was sitting in a parking lot--not even a key in the ignition, and no one in it (thank Heaven!). It burned to a crisp--and it had been relatively new (that was my DIL's Jeep). Then recently a neighbor had his Jeep out on a piece of farm property while he did some chores. Luckily it burst into flames while he wasn't in it, but we could see the flames from our home a half mile away. It was an older Jeep. So apparently it is a problem that is ongoing. I would never want to own a Jeep!!
What a tender nursing story. I am grateful that this young woman had you to care for her when her family was far away.
Forgot to say that I love the basket blocks. And your Jack O' Lanterns are so cute. Do you follow a pattern, or are you creating them yourself?
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