2020-08-14 — Going For A Drive

Hey, everybody 🙂

Just one more day, and it is the weekend–at least for me.

Let’s see, what kind of a good day has it been today? Today has been an up-and-down good day. I ended up sleeping in, so I didn’t get gospel study and meditation stock done this morning. I had a friend having a rough night, and so I was up late talking, so, it was well worth the sacrifice.

When I got up in the morning, I was feeling pretty tired, having not slept very much. I was also feeling a bit discouraged with myself again. I would have explain why, but I’m so tired that I can’t do the abstract thinking that is necessary to explain how I was feeling and why. So… I’ll probably have to share another time.

Needless to say, I was struggling a good bit. I spent some time sort of letting it all out to my mom on the phone. I later sort of let the same stuff out to another friend as well. the second time through, the time with my friend, it actually turned into a really great experience. it wasn’t at all the happiest of conversational topics, but I was blown away by my friends and how she listens and didn’t even really bat an eyelash. On the contrary, she was super supportive and encouraging.

#bestfriends

As far as work was concerned, it was a long hard day. I spent nearly all of the first job I was on talking to my mom about all that stuff. I couldn’t recreate the problem that they were having, so I just decided not to charge them since they were a multi repeat customer.

The next job I went to fix my but pretty good. It was just putting the fuel tank and fuel lines and whatnot back in a 1992 Pathfinder, but it turned into a good bit of a challenge, as most cars seem to do 🙃.

I finally got that one taken care of, and happily, everything worked just as it should. After that, I drove way out to Gravette, where I felt lucky to be able to diagnose an issue that they were having. They thought that all they needed to do was reprogram the ignition switch, but it turned out that the connection to the car’s computer was bad. I was able to get the car to start by pressing hard on the connection at the computer. Finally, the last job was one I had diagnosed the day before, finding that the main battery fuse was blown, and having to order the new part from the dealer. I got the parts today and put it in, only to find out that the car still wouldn’t start. I went through or blown mega fuse. It is another fuse that will probably need to be gotten from the dealer, as it’s proprietary, I think. I did remove the key from the fuse block for him, though. These kinds of fuses are a bit different. I actually had to disassemble the fuse block, and unbolt the mega fuse from the block. Anyway, I gave him the fuse and explain how to fix the car himself, if you wanted to try that.

With the last car finally done, I headed home, with one thing on my mind–I wanted to take a drive–a long one. so, believe it or not, I am dictating this journal entry from my phone while on my lovely little Drive.

Probably a good time to finish up…

#1. I am grateful that I was able to get each of the cars done satisfactorily today.

#2. I decided to take my old beat-up Civic that I recently bought from the auction on my drive. Probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, given that I had never driven it more than a few hundred yards or so, but so far it’s done pretty well. It needs some help with the brakes (I think the master cylinder is blown out and the transmission whines something fierce the cruise control button doesn’t work, so I have to just watch my speed, which hasn’t been easy.. I found myself doing 25 over without even really realizing it.

Oops.

I’m grateful it hasn’t broken down, though. 🙂

#3. I’m grateful for gas prices that are going back down. I was able to fill up I think at $1.63 a gallon, or something close to that anyway. It’s not quite the $1.09 that I paid for gas several months ago, but it is nicer. 🙂

#4. I’m grateful my good friend, Brittani. She’s the absolute best. And speaking of her, she decided to take a stab at writing my journal for me today, since I was being a little crazy driving around late at night. I’m going to make my gratitude bullet number 5 her little journal entry she wrote for me, just in case my antics tonight made me a little too tired to write an entry myself.

Here is what she wrote for me:

“Hola mon peeps,

Unfortunately you won’t be getting a lot from me tonight. I’m headed off on a top secret mission to an undisclosed location. Hopefully I’ll have more of an update for you tomorrow.

But for tonight…

1 I’m grateful to have a job that allows me to take off like this when I need to.

2 I’m grateful for good friends.

3 I’m grateful for rickety cars that surprisingly make it more than a mile without breaking down. We will see how long that lasts.

4 I’m grateful for Powerade

What I need to do better

1 Nothing, I’m a human being and I spent all day long trying my absolute best to be my best.”

As you can see, she’s a very kind friend. I’m grateful to have good friends who support me through the challenges of life. Today I say thank you to Brittani, my mom, and Cory.

Well, folks! As always, thanks for being part of my journey. loves and hugs to each of you. I hope you all had beautiful days and that you will have wonderful happy dreams. Good night!

Lift the World

~ stephen