The Plans We Make

Saturday was the day our friends returned from their trip.  We were to pick them up at the airport at around 6 PM.  Their plane was delayed in takeoff for two hours.  That sent the pickup time to after 8, therefore it would be dark.  As I am seventy-five years old with grey hair, Hubby did not want me out in the dark alone.  That was fine with me.  

When the time came for us to leave, about 7 PM, we took Jacob and his gear back to Cierra's apartment.  We thought about taking Jacob on with us to the airport but decided that space was limited.  Jacob was left in his kennel to avoid damage at Cierra's.  Seems Jacob gets himself in trouble if left alone and not in his kennel. The back cover in our Cmax cargo area was removed so there would be room for all the luggage.  We left the cover in Cierra's garage.  It was off to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

As with many airports, Austin Bergstrom airport has a cell parking lot.  The lot is near the pickup area so all one has to do is text your location in the long pickup line.  As you can see in the photo to the right, pillars have letters for location references.

Cierra's plane was late arriving, then even later disembarking.  I received a message at 8:53 PM that Cierra and her mom were at pillar L.  (Makes me think of the special love with a capital L.)  Hubby starts the CMax by placing his foot on the brake and pressing the start button.  Nothing.  Additional attempts with the same result.  He gets out and beats on stuff under the hood. 

During Hubby's attempts, I text Cierra about the car.  What to do?  The price of a Lyft is $75.  Ugh.  She calls her sister, no answer.  I call our son with the same result.  UGH.  Did I mention the time of night now?  Did I mention it is about 45℉?  Too chilly for Cierra and Erica to be standing outside.  Cierra texts that her BIL answered her call.  He is on his way but he will be 45 minutes.  C and E go back into the terminal to stay warmer.

While I was texting about ways to get C and E home, Hubby has contacted AAA road service.  AAA digitally said it would be over an hour before the technician arrived.  Since our Cmax is a hybrid, special jumpers are required for the battery.  To be clear, there are two batteries for our type of hybrid.  The lithium battery recharges while driving and braking.  That battery is what drives the electric motor.  The second battery is for starting the car.  It is the second battery that failed last night.  

As luck would have it, the AAA person called to say he was 12 minutes away, not nearly the hour + wait time.  He was there in what seemed like no time and Icie, our hybrid was up and going.  I called C.  She called her BIL to send him back home.  I texted Son to let him know we had a running car.  Hubby said the AAA tech instructed him to not turn off the car.  It seems the eight-year-old battery had served us well.  Now Icie would need a new battery asap.  

C and E were retrieved from the cold 'L' location.  On the trip back to Round Rock C showed photos and videos from their tropical vacation.  She and I discussed the book about dementia caregiving she had read while on vacation.  She realized so much she would need to do to continue caring for her mom.  She felt the book had given her good direction and help for the days, weeks, and months forward.

We had C and E home by around 10:45, about 4 hours later than the original plan.  The next plan made on the fly was to return to the apartment.  Hubby would change to his Jeep while I stayed with Icie to have her running.  We would then take Icie to the dealership's lot to be serviced the next day.  If we turned the car off we would not be able to restart without a 'jump'.   So off we went with the new plan.  We arrived at the dealership only to find gates closed and locked.  Ugh.  U-turns in the driveway, a back street took us to the freeway, and finally at home.  It is almost midnight and I turn off the motor.

Icie the day we brought her home, 4-25-2014

Today we are kicked back in our recliners.  We'll have to contact AAA again to get the car going.  Tomorrow morning is a take E to her sister's morning.  Guess that will need to be done in the Jeep until we get our Icie back on the road.  And AAA is worth every penny we pay for the yearly membership.

The one plan that worked out last night was not taking Jacob to the airport.

All you folks stay sare out there.  

Janice