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MaamJay -> RE: june roll call (6/4/2009 9:02:53 PM)
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May was crazy with packing, trying to sort out which stuff to put in the 5th wheeler van and what should go into storage or get sold! It was totally exhausting and I spent the whole of the last night in the house cleaning (yuck!). Poor Master lifted about 5 tonnes of boxes and stuff in the last couple of weeks there and ended up fighting off a migraine. It was a hectic exit from the house as the new owners were storming through the door and I never even got to take a final pic [&:]
The first night we went all of 5km in the van to the nearest free rest area! Sorted some of the bags of stuff into cupboards, then went about 300km north for a week's R & R and to show off the van to His family. Teething troubles - cupboard doors flying open (child safety straps work a treat!), the awning broke in the wind (nothing a $230 new arm couldn't fix!) and He broke the steps (luckily didn't also break His neck ... so there's now a high tensile bolt in them instead of a rivet!). Headed back to the home town to catch up with friends we ran out of time to say goodbye to (and another trip to the chiropractor!), then set off on our grand adventure.
250km down the road ... the cat miaows for us to stop so she can pee (she's adapting brilliantly for a 20yo!) ... Master gets out of the car and says "Holy shit there's oil on the side of the car!" then sits in the gutter with His head in His hands! Not a good sign I figure! Turns out this model of Chev has an issue with the injectors (it's a turbo diesel) ... and one has cracked, allowing diesel and oil to mix and the pressure is causing oil to spew everywhere. BAD BAD news! Local mechanic didn't want a bar of it but got the gear out to dump the contaminated oil, put in new stuff and advised us to limp it back to the larger town we'd left only that morning ... where there happens to be a chev dealer (not common here in Australia!). So we did that ... however dealer turns out to be a total rip-off merchant who wanted to charge $8600 to change all 8 injectors! We nearly died, just don't have that spare at the moment. We phoned person we bought it off in desperation even though being a private sale it's not under any warranty ... he has sourced chev injectors from USA at half the price (well, he's not putting a mark-up on them) and his mechanic will do the work at way less labour charge. However, he's 400km further south and it's not driveable, so it will be towed there, while Master and I hole up in a wonderfully cheap and spacious caravan park that we found! It's likely to be less than half the dealer's price, and that's including Master's train ticket down there to collect the car when it's ready! Nicer still, the park we are in is attached to a truck stop where there's a really nice restaurant so I still get to be taken out to dinner for my birthday tonight, we can walk there! And being encamped for a week plus gives me lots of time to work on my PhD proposal and some other writing work I've been asked to do. So if you look hard enough, there's always a silver lining!
Master and violet are also celebrating their 5th year together 24/7 this week, and the 3rd anniversary of my collaring to Him, so it's a celebratory week all round. Don't think i could get through all of this without Him in my life. i am blessed. Still no luck on a male sub for Jay though!
Congrats to those getting married, and good luck to those who are moving!
Maam Jay aka violet[A]
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