4 December 2023
To make a 7 am appointment with the jeep dealership and have time for some coffee and cereal before I left the house, I got out of bed at 4:30 am. I pulled into Hollywood Chrysler/Jeep a little before 7 and the gate was locked. I pulled out my iPad and started to read when I noticed a car that pulled in behind me backed out and went to another entrance and got into the lot. I carefully backed out (SR 441 is quite busy in the morning) and pulled into the second entrance and lined up behind two other vehicles.
At 7 am, I guy comes to the window and asks why I’m in and when I tell him a recall, he directs me to the right place. I pull into an empty breezeway and a second guy asks why I’m in. He says he’ll be right with me (he’s blowing leaves out of the double breezeway). A young lady walks up and talks to him and he yells over at me I have a burned out headlight on the passenger side. She apparently saw it on the way into the breezeway. She ended up being my rep.
Apparently, my 7 am appointment was just to find out what I needed. They have to order the part for the recall and it’ll be at least three days. If I had known that (I did tell the person who set the appointment it was for a recall) I would have scheduled the appointment at a more humane hour.
Anyhoo, two years ago, I was doing a mid-drive stretch when I put my hand behind the headrest and pulled. That popped the headrest “air bag” out. I’ve lived with it ever since. However, during my last jeep recall, I asked about getting it replaced since it was still under warranty. The jeep representative said he ordered it and would call when it came in. I never received the call. Today I found out why – they had my phone number incorrect by one digit.
I asked again about the headrest and she checked and said it was still covered under warranty and would cost me nothing but that Chrysler/Jeep could only order 1 headrest replacement every 21 days. She put the order in and will call me when both parts come in. She also said unless I do a lot of night driving to wait on the change of the light.
She then told me in order to change the headlight, they had to pull the bumper. I checked YouTube when I got home and one video I looked at said that’s what the dealership told him but he proceeded to show how to change the bulb without pulling the bumper. I gave up on the video after he had significant trouble trying to change it out. The guy on the video said the dealership would charge around $300 to change the bulb. Considering what the YouTuber had to go through, the $300 is worth it for the dealership to do it.
After leaving the dealership, I came home and took a two hour nap. I needed it.
I’ve been trying to pay Amy Sear for her 1 1/2 hour acupuncture visit. I was to call the main office and offer my credit card. When I did, their computer system was down and they couldn’t take the card. They said to call back later. I did the next day and got the same response. Today, I got an email to sign in to MyChart. It was to pre-sign in for the Wednesday acupuncture visit and, lo and behold, I could pay for the first visit online. Not sure that’s any way to run a business but at least I got her paid.
Generally speaking, I feel pretty good. Not great but pretty good. The biggest problem is the peripheral neuropathy seems to be increasing in my hands and fingers. I had a real problem buttoning the top button on my jeans this morning. I also have a problem typing. My feet still feel as though I’ve just walked across a bed of hot coals. I’m hoping the acupuncture will eventually help.
I’m not sure whether my clumsiness walking is due to the neuropathy or if it is my back problem. Either way, I still stagger all over the place, bump into walls walking down the hallway, or misstep when turning around in the kitchen. The manipulation the chiropractor did last Monday seems to be holding but I have to sleep on my side. For the first few days it had to be the right side and for the last few days, it has to be on my left side. Otherwise, I get that numbing feeling in my butt, thighs and calves which then becomes painful.
The pool guy showed up around 1:15 pm. The top third that almost took my head off was simple to fix. The screw nor the nut was stripped. The only thing it needed was some lube on the o-ring that fits to the top. I can’t believe it was that easy. Fortunately, the guy didn’t treat me like an idiot.
He told me to check my warranty on the pool heater. He thought there was a 3 year warranty. I checked and of course, it was a 2 year warranty that ended in May of this year. Designed obsolescence!
I left early for my chiropractic appointment so I could have a short visit with Judith and Chris and return their insulated container they left me filled with home made chicken soup. Judith had just gotten back from grocery shopping and Chris had been hauling wheel barrows of sand from point A to point B. It was good to see them.
I decided to go Griffin to University and made the mistake of taking the Turnpike prior to University. It was stop and go traffic. I may change chiropractors simply to find someone closer. It’s miserable making that journey to Pembroke Pines. I did it for over 20 years on my way to the college and I still don’t miss the drive. Judith recommended her chiropractor who is on Davie Blvd. near me.
The chiropractor office was full of people. Even so he got me in within 5 minutes of my appointed time. He put the TENS pads on my back and when that stopped, he did his manipulation of my spine. I’m scheduled for another appointment at 10 am on Friday. Friday will be a busy day with an infusion at 2:30 pm.
To continue the newspaper thread, another paper I learned to check on while I worked periodicals was The Delta Democrat Times, published in Greenville, Mississippi. According to the paper’s web site, Hodding Carter, Jr. started the Delta Star in 1936 and it was later merged with the Daily Democrat Times to form the still published paper of today. In 1946, Hodding Carter, Jr. won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on Japanese Nissei soldiers serving in the European theater. The paper was later run by Hodding Carter III and today is run by the three generation Emmerich family which owns and runs Emmerich Newspapers, Inc.
The reason I mention The Delta Democrat Times is that it is considered the most liberal newspaper in the state and in the South. I remember the paper getting bomb threats and there was always hate mail going to the offices. The name Hodding Carter was dirt in Mississippi. It was the lone voice of liberalism libertarianism in the state. We did not put that paper out for the general pubic in the library reading room. It would have been shredded.
Hodding Carter III eventually went on to become Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs under Jimmy Carter.
Stay tuned!
