Quick run down of the day.
I went over to a friend’s house to help with a computer problem he was having. Ended up being that his DSL modem was fried by lightening. While there, I stopped at the transmission shop next door to have them top of my tranny fluid and tell me I really need to get the fluid changed before I go on my trip. I decided against it. I hope that does not come back to bite me.
I then came home and picked up the wife so that we could do some quick running around. I needed one part for the truck. We swung into a parts store that has always been pretty good about having needed parts for my Chevrolet. They did not have it, but they recommended another store. Even told me which part number I needed. I decided to pick up a fuel filter. I have replaced those way too frequently since being here.
We did more running around and then came home for lunch. I also changed the fuel filter.
I headed downtown to the parts store that should have the sensor I needed. Grabbed the part and looked under the hood to see if I could match it up and change it myself. My mechanic is the one who told me what I needed, therefore I was clueless as to what it did or where it was. Unable to find the part on the truck, I buzzed out to the mechanics house.
The mechanic was home, thankfully. Wrong part. I even looked in the book at the parts store and verified that it was the right part number for my truck. But, that was not it. So with the truck running horribly, I had to go back down town. I got most of the way there and decided to go home and pull the part off the truck since I then knew which part it was.
After stopping at the house and getting the car I then went down town again, but this time with part in hand. They did not have the part. Better yet, they don’t give you your money back either. You only get store credit. That’s not a huge deal since I get stuff from them somewhat regularly, but I was counting on that cash to be able to buy the new part. They had no recommendations for who might have the part, but my mechanic had suggested a place (almost an hour away).
On my way to my mechanic’s suggestion, I decided to try a place where I had scored pretty well before. They did not have it, but recommended two other stores. I hit one and the other was closed. Off to find the store the mechanic suggested. Long story short, after an hour of driving around in the approximate area, I never found it. Really it did not matter. Most parts stores close at 5:00 and it was well after 5:00 by this time. I was just hoping to locate it so that I could make it there tomorrow morning.
Since lunch it has been a 5 hour quest to find this part. Nothing.
Why not call? Well, every parts store I went to shows in their books that my truck needs the exact same part as what I originally bought. If I don’t take in the physical sensor to do a part comparison with, then I won’t get the right part. They can say they have it, but no one really knows until I go in with what I have.
That’s just the way it is. My “to-do” list for today included about a half a dozen things. I accomplished three. 1). Telling my friend that I could not help him fix his Internet connection. 2). Changing the fuel filter. 3). Complaining to you as to how hard it is to get anything accomplished around here.