This morning Bill and I made an early morning trip to Milford. Now his check engine light was on (remember mine was on several weeks ago.) Bill wanted to use a new garage because he lost faith in the garage (called "The Garage") I was using in Rehoboth Beach. Last week Bill took his car in to have the check engine light checked and get some other work done. He wanted an appointment to get his car fixed but The Garage said they don't take appointments. They take all their jobs on a first come first serve basis. After a frustrating two day wait, Bill finally went down and waited half a day until they finished the repairs on his car, vowing never to go back. On the way home he discovered.....yes....the "check engine" light was still on. Well, there was no way he was going to take his car back there. One gets jerked around just so many times before one loses faith.
Bill discussed his situation with our friend Bob C. Bob advised Bill to use the auto repair garage he used in Milford called K & S (for "Kent and Sussex County - the garage owners down here in Lower Slower are nothing if not original in naming their businesses) Repair. So off we go this morning to Milford. While we were there we would stop at the Super Wal-Mart in Milford, which was just a block away from the garage. A Dairy Queen was just across the street but we've sworn off Dairy Queens ever since we found out that the Banana Cream Pie Blizzard shakes we like have 1,100 calories. Slurp one of those babies down and you don't have to eat for a day
Bill doesn't like to travel long distances. Milford is only 12 miles away but to Bill that's like 30 miles. He's used to everything being in the range of 3 miles from home. Perhaps he had that luxury in Pennsylvania but one of the joys of living in Lower Slower is that to utilize just about any service from a grocery store to a fruit and vegetable stand, you're going to have to travel at least 6 miles and encounter a truck loaded with eight week old chickens who are unaware they are headed for their Final Journey to one of the local chicken processing plants. Delaware is the number one producer of broiler-fryers in the nation. Or used to be anyway.
So we're off to Milford which is a straight shot up Route 1. We turn at the Milford High School and we're on Rt. 13 (or is it 113? I always get them mixed up.) Bill drives in, parks his 90 Jeep Laredo and saunters in K & S Auto Repair. Bill goes up to the Indian owner (from India, not the local Nanticoke Indians) and tells them of his problem. I'm waiting in the Jeep. A young grease monkey comes out to drive Bill's Jeep around to a back bay to check it out. I have to get out. The picture you see on this blog is me shortly after I was evicted from Bill's Jeep. The famous Milford water tower is behind me. A landmark known well to the frequent summertime visitor to the shore points and beach areas of southern Delaware. Once they see the Milford water tower they know it's not long until they reach the white sands of southern Delaware's famous beaches.
Twenty minutes later the young mechanic (probably a graduate of Del Tech) turns in his evaluation of the problem with the Jeep at the front office. It turns out that the check engine light was programmed to come on automatically after so many miles (70,000) in order to get the owner to take the Jeep back to the dealer for maintenance. In other words, there was nothing wrong with Bill's Jeep. Total bill: $70.00. Nice touch from the American automobile manufacturers. No wonder they went out of business.
Needless to say Bill won't be going back to The Garage in Rehoboth Beach. Now he says his challenge is to convince Old Stubborn not to go back too and use this new garage, K & S Auto Repair. Old Stubborn, that would be me. Maybe. I'll have to think about it. It's a long trip to Milford.
Bill doesn't like to travel long distances. Milford is only 12 miles away but to Bill that's like 30 miles. He's used to everything being in the range of 3 miles from home. Perhaps he had that luxury in Pennsylvania but one of the joys of living in Lower Slower is that to utilize just about any service from a grocery store to a fruit and vegetable stand, you're going to have to travel at least 6 miles and encounter a truck loaded with eight week old chickens who are unaware they are headed for their Final Journey to one of the local chicken processing plants. Delaware is the number one producer of broiler-fryers in the nation. Or used to be anyway.
So we're off to Milford which is a straight shot up Route 1. We turn at the Milford High School and we're on Rt. 13 (or is it 113? I always get them mixed up.) Bill drives in, parks his 90 Jeep Laredo and saunters in K & S Auto Repair. Bill goes up to the Indian owner (from India, not the local Nanticoke Indians) and tells them of his problem. I'm waiting in the Jeep. A young grease monkey comes out to drive Bill's Jeep around to a back bay to check it out. I have to get out. The picture you see on this blog is me shortly after I was evicted from Bill's Jeep. The famous Milford water tower is behind me. A landmark known well to the frequent summertime visitor to the shore points and beach areas of southern Delaware. Once they see the Milford water tower they know it's not long until they reach the white sands of southern Delaware's famous beaches.
Twenty minutes later the young mechanic (probably a graduate of Del Tech) turns in his evaluation of the problem with the Jeep at the front office. It turns out that the check engine light was programmed to come on automatically after so many miles (70,000) in order to get the owner to take the Jeep back to the dealer for maintenance. In other words, there was nothing wrong with Bill's Jeep. Total bill: $70.00. Nice touch from the American automobile manufacturers. No wonder they went out of business.
Needless to say Bill won't be going back to The Garage in Rehoboth Beach. Now he says his challenge is to convince Old Stubborn not to go back too and use this new garage, K & S Auto Repair. Old Stubborn, that would be me. Maybe. I'll have to think about it. It's a long trip to Milford.
