A date like no other...

I'm back! And I am happy to report I have reached a WW milestone...25 pounds lost!  I had not been able to go to my WW meetings regularly due to Xavier's soccer season, and then his joint birthday party with his cousin, but I was thrilled to finally go back and learn that even with several months of no meetings I met the 25 pound goal!  That in itself was very encouraging and motivating.  I was rather pleased with myself that some healthy habits have taken root in me.  I had thought I should get to blogging again starting with that, but something else happened to spur my writing.

The day of Xavier's last soccer game was one to remember.  Much goes on for the last soccer game of the season, especially for a team mom.  I had laid out what needed to be done that day for things to go smoothly. The first of which was picking up the trophies I had ordered for the boys.  That in itself is a whole other story very much in the vein of my UPS rant on Facebook, so I won't go into it now.

I was running on time.  I arrived at the trophy place, inspected and paid for the trophies, and then went out to my car...my treasured PT Cruiser...to find it had a flat tire.  I was like "REALLY? Right now???" I had recently changed the tire on our Tribute with the assistance of a coworker, and previous to that had changed the tire myself on the PT once before a while ago.  So I sighed and got to work.  I have never called AAA for a flat despite having it.  I hate calling places and I hate waiting so I always figure it is best to do it myself if I can.  And there is also something about a flat tire that makes me all "I AM WOMAN HEAR ME ROAR!" *laughs*

My beloved PT Cruiser

So I change my own tire, and then try to get the spare tire cage that is under the car to come back up.  I am in a hurry and it won't come up fast enough so I thought "Screw it, I'll see to that later!"I was already late for the game and that was killing me and I had the snacks for half time so I couldn't let the boys down!  So I speed off as fast as my spare tire will let me (which is over its printed max speed) and I arrive in time to watch some of the 2nd period and have the snacks to hand out at half time!  I was thrilled and the rest of the day went off without a hitch.

The next day it was time to see to the tire issue.  I had already known my car was in need of a new set so I had that arranged.  When I came to pick up my car from the tire place I was angry that they had left the spare in my trunk.  Dom was with me and I exchanged some angry words with him about the tire place and he then saw to placing the spare back in its cage to find that there was no cage hook!  It had fallen off when I failed to secure the empty spare tire cage under the car.

Naturally I call a local Chrysler dealer for the parts department. Turns out they don't sell just the hook of course and that the whole piece would be $180!  No thank you!  I am not sure where the salvage yard idea came into play, but that was the new plan and I made sure Dom was willing to help me as I know he is handy with cars and had done some light repair work on his own.  So I let the issue rest for a few weeks til I was on break and this weekend I kicked off what I have affectionately called the "Spare Tire Hook Scavenger Hunt!"

I was leery of going to a scarp yard...I likened it to an automotive graveyard.  And here I was looking for the dead body of my very own beloved PT Cruiser, to pick at it like a vulture.  I was surprised when arriving at the 1st scrap yard at how much that mindset left me.  I was immediately curious about the "culture" of those who frequent these places, and the stories of all the cars in the yard.  They must have stories, and there was no way to know any of them really.  I figured many of them had tragic stories, especially based on the terrible condition of several of them. 

As Dom and I walked the yard, finding the rule, or the sorting pattern... (laughs) the cars might be in, I found myself thinking about Mad Max and the Thunderdome, and game shows, and all sorts of other things to make the hunt entertaining.  I commented to Dom on this new experience and how after all these years of being with him, that we were now on a date at a salvage yard and I was enjoying it.  He rolled his eyes at me like he often does and I laughed as I got my exercise in speed walking the salvage yard hunting for a wrecked PT that would give me the part I needed!

Unfortunately day one of "Spare Tire Hook Scavenger Hunt" ended in failure.  I was bummed but we would go again on Sunday to two new yards in the area.  One claimed to have a PT in the yard, but it had been there nearly a month and could very well no longer be there.  Turned out it wasn't.  I realized we were quickly coming to the end of my game and would come up with no part and I would have to buy the $180 part from the dealer.  I was given renewed hope when we were met with the immense size of the final yard.  I felt hope right off.  The place was huge and we began the hunt anew.  We quickly set into finding the sorting rule of this new yard and soon found the first half did not hold our prize.  We quickly moved on and I walked ahead looking for the Chrysler section as we had learned the yards seem to sort in similar fashions, but there was no telling where they would place a PT Cruiser.  It is classified as a "wagon" but none of the yards had a "wagon" section or any PTs so, we could not be sure where one would be.  We eliminated obvious sections, like imports, and had found the Chrysler section was rather small and limited to Neons and Seabrings. 

So I round a corner and I see a Chrysler...I get excited and knew this was it, it was now or never, would I be paying $180??

NOPE!!  I walk very slowly through the Chryslers and if a ray of sun could have come from the cloudy sky and shone down on the wreck of my prize it would have been perfect!

I had only seen the black PT and practically sprinted to find Dom.  I was thrilled!  There should have been confetti shooting off!  I shouted for him when I reached the main walk and led him to the recessed prize.  He smiled and said "You found two!" I was like "WHAT?"  I had been so excited I did not notice the white one.  I had already checked the black one and saw the hook was still in place.  I checked the white one and it was there too.  So we took them both!

THE HOOK! (All I needed was what is on the left, and all the dealer sells is on the right.)

I thanked my husband for all the lovely dates we had at salvage yards this weekend after our victory.  He laughed and rolled his eyes at me again and once the hook held my spare tire securely in place once more, we drove off and knew that if I should ever need a part for my PT again we knew just the place to look!