"I'll Sue Them!"

 

Pig art on display in the hospital. I delivered flowers to a patient and had a chance to view the pig and some gorgeous flowers. This pig was crafted by a local artist and set in the hospital for all to view. 

Wow. What a day Monday was. Along with a few floral deliveries, I was kept busy with food and medication deliveries too. Mallory decided she enjoys coming with me on my daily excursions, so she joined me Monday. 

We picked up several deliveries and headed out to faraway lands such as Myrtle Creek (23 miles away) and Oakland (16 miles). A pack of medications went to someone in Winston, which lies about seven or eight miles from Roseburg. It was a busy day with mostly smaller offers in terms of pay, but I took them all, being the trooper I am and all. 😒😏

If you follow the blog, you may recall that I have another replacement car for now until our car returns from the shop. The loaner is another Sportage and seems to be running well enough. I do miss the gas mileage our car provides, however, since this one is not a hybrid, the gas mileage isn't as good. We delivered our goods and hit the freeway to return home. 

The loaner Sportage

I tapped the brakes at one point due to another vehicle in front of me pumping their brakes. I heard a small "thud" on my side of the car as the brake pedal went down. At first I thought it may be a case of my seat moving back or forward, possibly, or some other simple causation. I was curious and tapped the brakes again. Thud. There it was again.

Mallory was chatting with me and I didn't want to interrupt, so I remained quiet. I kept us on the road to our home base and let the noise go for a few miles. Once we came around the corner to Roseburg, I asked if she heard the noise as I tapped brakes to bring the car to a city street speed of 30 MPH. She said she had not heard it, so I hit the brakes again. Thud. There it was. 

I began to sing the song, "Whoop, there it is! Whoop there it is." Mallory giggled but she could hear it now and was just as concerned as I was. 

Now, I have to admit I am a bit leery of the Sportage since our car of the same make and model has been in the shop four times now, for over a month each time. Keeping this in mind, the sound could not be ignored. Each time I heard the thud, I also felt it under the car seat and flooring beneath me. It was definitely on my side. 

This time Mallory became aware of the thudding I was describing to her. She heard it loud and clear. Her recommendation of taking it to Les Schwab to be scanned came immediately. Great idea. Maybe we should. Then the anger welled up in me like no other burst of anger had after thinking this through. I felt defeated, deflated, and so angry that I had to let it all out. 

"Those bastards! I will sue them! We will own everything they have. What is happening? A loaner breaks down on us too? After paying out $50,000 you would think the car would run with only 14,000 miles on it! It's time I drive to Eugene. Your dad is going to lose it over this. I'm going to lose it. I'm done. Your dad is going to be done. We have been beaten down long enough in the Kia realm. We tried to be nice. This thing was low on air in the tires and barely had any windshield fluid in it. Ready to go my ass, and now the brakes too?" My hands wrapped tightly around the steering wheel, creating two fists that were white after I squeezed the blood from them. 

Mallory was still suggesting the Les Schwab option. I did agree with her but pressed the brakes periodically to see if it was making the noise. "They owe us a new car!" is all I had running through my mind and I do believe it came out of my mouth a few more times. The thud was still there, as loud as it was in the beginning of this trip. I pulled into our base store parking lot to figure out what we needed to do. Suddenly another order came through on my phone. I accepted it and off we went, bitching all the way. We were soon judging the driving of others as cars swooped past us. The color of the car wasn't good or look at that idiot driving! Judging much?

As we were driving, we listened to the noise as we stopped at lights or behind a line of cars on the street. Mallory mumbled something about it sounding as though it was coming from under my seat as she reached behind me. Suddenly I heard, "Mom?" I turned to look ...

My daughter had pulled out a Sparkling Ice drink bottle from under my seat. My mouth fell open. I couldn't concentrate on my driving, I was so stunned. Pulling over, I took a few moments to compose myself. At first I was ashamed of the fit I threw. That lasted all of three seconds, then a burst of laughter so hard I couldn't breathe came pouring out. Mallory joined me in a 20 minute laughing spree until our sides ached. Our latest catch phrase became, "I'll sue them!" 

The bottle behind my lawsuit rant

For the rest of the day, we laughed so hard we were crying. It was a good day in terms of feeling great but made it difficult to drive with tears in my eyes. We both needed that laughter and that experience together. Mallory told me she laughed over that on the way home that evening. I found myself giggling about it during the evening too. I know releasing a lot of the tension around the car issue was needed and it happened.  

Lesson learned as well. Stop your bitching until you know what is happening and even then, relax. This too shall pass. Nothing you can do about it besides laugh. As they say, "Laughter is the best medicine." It helped both of us that day, that's for sure. I could feel the stress leaving my body. After losing a friend recently, the car breaking down, and life's other little annoyances, I truly needed that laughter and the good time had by us both. I just wish Terry could have joined us. 

Even during Terry's absence, his daughter and I experienced quality time together. Between our laughter over my goofiness and forgetfulness over leaving the bottle in the car and the rant that followed, we decided we were grateful. Grateful that we did not end up at Les Schwab, asking them to check the braking system while the noise-creating bottle lay in the space under my seat. Grateful too for the lesson we learned. It was a great day, a fun day, and a memory that brought Mallory and I closer. I am blessed to have my family and friends in my life. To me, this is what life is all about. I just wish my other girls lived closer. I miss them.

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As for the rest of the day, Mallory and I were left with some other awesome memories. We saw beautiful hillsides, animals galore, gorgeous flower arrangements, and even met some new people. Dogs were patted, flowers sniffed, and in general it was an amazing, fun-filled day of joy. Then I was able to go home and have salad with Mallory and my love, Terry. The days of my life cannot be better spent.  

To show what joys we shared through the day, I have a photo dump to drop in the blog today. 

Two floral arrangements to be delivered. These were crafted by the Safeway floral department here in Roseburg. They always do an amazing job. 

A turkey takes time out to preen and show off a full set of pretty feathers to the females surrounding him. I'm not sure if the hens liked them, but we sure did. 

One male was heading toward the females (behind the tree), while the first boy ensured each feather was seen by all.

Side by side, the two fellas strutted proudly for their female companions. 

They both turned and faced each other as if they were ready to duel. 

But then it turned into boys on parade. 

After watching the turkeys strut, we delivered this beautiful basket of flowers. 

The new stray kitty that has finally come to realize that we feed her (or him). She walks with me now as I walk the dogs and stands on her hind feet for love. She is adorable but pretty beat up at this point. We are hoping to change that.

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Terry has been sick for about three weeks now. I feel awful for him. He caught the cold from me, I am sure. I tend to get sick often due to the restaurant and store visits I make daily. Mine lasted a good two weeks but his seems to be hanging on longer. He is still hacking up a lung each time he coughs. Sounds awful. Be careful out there! Nasty stuff going around!

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This blog post will end here. We are grateful for each and every one of you for reading the blog. Shine bright this week. The world can use every light we can share. Thank you again for reading our life story. Be well. Until the next post, take care!