Beating Back the Crab Grass and Wrench Work

Armed with a pump action sprayer full of Round Up, I filled the sprayer and stood over the crab grass and did battle. Within a few hours I had a long wide strip of bright golden grass. My neighbors weren't impressed.

Ok, so it doesn't look the best but neither did the crab grass which seemed to shoot upward past it's neighbors, the St. Augustine.  With the drought we have been experiencing, the only thing in that lawn that needed cut was the clumps of crab grass. 

Today I took the weed eater and mowed off the gold deadened grass until I could see some green growth. This made my neighbors happy but caused some disappointment to me. To me this means the crab grass is also still alive and waiting to attack the St. Augustine. My life has deteriorated to the point that I am now watching the interaction between two brands of grass.

Did I mention the truck? Ted's truck has developed some unhealthy behavior and is suffering from failure to thrive. Sure she cranks right up but then things quickly start downhill. No power and the engine runs smooth until it suddenly dies. I don't even attempt to do much to a vehicle now. Too many computerized parts and sensors under the hood now which require diagnostics to check them. I went looking for a mechanic and accidentally found Craigslist where mechanics were advertising. My advice. Don't do it. Do not make that phone call to one of them. They will come to your house and run a diagnostic or guess as to what the problem might be and charge a cool 50.00 t0 80.00 to tell you what they think the problem is and if you request they do the repairs the diagnostic charge will be waived. The only problem is they are not there to fix your vehicle but to collect the diagnostic charge. Nice scam if you can get it.

He showed up and after an hour I came to the conclusion that he was guessing about what the problem might be. I don't think he expected a woman to ask the questions I asked. He escaped without a dime promising to call the next day as he had another call to make and he would be back to pick up the truck...blah blah blah...and I never heard from him again. No money exchanged hands.

Tuesday we took the truck to Culotta's. We again accidentally stumbled upon this place. The truck has been down for a month and finally the daughters' boyfriend said his father and his brother who both work on their own vehicles will take theirs to Culotte's in the event they can't fix them. Suddenly more friends of the daughters were admitting to using this place and raved about them. We were off and running. 

I drove the truck there. Nobody else wanted to and I didn't trust anyone to get it there. With one foot on the gas and one on the brake, I had to keep it reved every time I had to stop to keep it from dying. There was no pickup when I would floor the accelerator. It would creep upward in speed so getting across an intersection was a bit nerve wracking.

 A day later the mechanic called with his verdict. The fuel pump needed replaced and it, of course is located in the fuel tank. I didn't even flinch at the cost nor the diagnosis but was just relieved that they were sure. Thinking about replacing sensors or computer parts until they figured it out was my biggest fear. I'm very relieved that this didn't happen. Changing out a fuel pump was never that big a deal back when I wielded a wrench but those times are gone. The days of the shade tree mechanic are past. I can still do oil changes, brakes and water pumps or replace hoses or belts. The rest of it I'll have to leave with the pros. 

I really don't mind. Wielding a wrench is hell on the manicure!