Monthly Archives: March 2025

A Sunday of ups and downs

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Last Sunday I took R down to MA to catch his bus back to college. He had a very busy spring break, so it was nice to have some time to catch up with him before he left for school again. We had a good trip down, despite the on again, off again rain.

After dropping him off, I made a spur of the moment decision to zip over to Worcester to watch Lex march in the St. Patrick’s Day parade. It was a total spontaneous trip and I loved it! The weather was perfect, the crowds were varied in all ways, and suitably drunk for noon on a Sunday. LOL. The WPI marching band was early in the parade, but I parked near the end, so I walked along with the band as they finished up the route. There was another band mom there too (probably more than one), and she was following the band the whole way. We joked that we are “with the band” and therefore must be cool. 😂

This is a playlist with five videos. Not the best quality, but fun anyway. Dad — watch until the end! I took a video just for you! :)

I met up with Lex at the end and we got bagels for lunch. He said several band members didn’t make it to the parade, the bus never came, and he had to play two drum parts, but otherwise he had fun. Alan had just brought him back to WPI on Saturday, so it hadn’t been that long, but it was still nice to see him. 💗 I also enjoyed the walk back along the parade route. The energy was high and it was fun to be part of it.

On the drive home, things took a turn for the worse. I was routing to a charging station, cruising along, then suddenly started getting an error message saying “Vehicle may not restart. Service is required.” Umm… ok. I kept on to the charging station. When I got there, I plugged in, the car said “charging” for a second, then “stopped charging.” Threw a few more random error codes. I unplugged/replugged a few times, but no change. So I decided to move to a different plug, but when I tried to put the car in drive, it didn’t work. Just threw a bunch of more errors. So now it won’t charge, won’t drive, and is spewing error messages across the screen. I then spent the next few hours researching error codes, calling Tesla, calling my insurance company, calling Eve, calling Alan, and calling a tow company. Not necessarily in that order. In this time the battery died completely, with the window down, and the wind whipped ahead of an impending storm.

Eventually, about four hours later, the tow truck came and towed the car to the nearest Tesla service station. Alan picked up Eve and they came down to pick me up. Alan thought maybe we could replace the 12V battery and get the car going again, so we went to the service station. He and Eve braved the winds to do some diagnostics, then we went to WalMart (the only place open at that hour) to buy a battery and some tools. Back at the dealership we got the old battery out, the new battery in, and the car started. Yay! Lights on, screen on, windows up… but still no drive. Each time we tried to put it in drive, we got all the same slew of error messages. So we gave up and Alan brought us home, after a quick stop to recharge our bellies and his car. We drove home in heavy wind and think fog. It was a late night for us, especially him!

The Tesla service center was able to diagnosis it today. I was hoping it was a big battery issue, because I have another year left on that warranty. But, alas, it was not. It’s a “PTC heater failure.” Apparently that’s an important thing and part of the “high voltage” circuit thing and no longer under warranty. 😭

Tomorrow, E and I are taking the day off from work/school and going back to MA to pick up the car. Maybe we’ll swing by and see Lex again. LOL.

Life update

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Hey all, it’s been awhile. I’m debating if I should keep the blog going, now that everyone is almost off and away. Maybe through E’s graduation, then stop. I’m not sure. Anyway, for now, life has been busy. Somehow I got a calmer job and feel just as busy — though I am getting more sleep than before, so that’s good!

Here’s a photo gallery of updates. E is at an FRC event (she’s loving FRC this year!) and I’m on my own for the weekend. I’m celebrating that by doing practically nothing at all! LOL. I turned down a few plans and have been enjoying the day at home.

We’ve had a very wintery winter this winter! Los and lots of snow!
We took the ferry to Plattsburgh. Half the lake is frozen, but they broke enough ice to keep the ferry moving!
SUNY Plattsburgh
We visited Lex and saw an excellent WPI game and pep band. :)
Love these kids <3
I ran a most excellent puzzle competition at work.
And a most excellent spelling bee!
FRC requires closed toe shoes, so I bough E a pair of Cons and she decorated them.
Sharks…
and dinos.
Acrylic on canvas

I got a new job in the summer of 2023, then I got a new job at my job at the beginning of this month. I’m now the head of the tech services department with two people reporting to me. It’s actually a pretty high up position at the library. It’s keeping me way busier than my previous job at this library, though not as busy as teaching! Not many professions keep you as busy as teaching! I had a few programs left to finish up as part of my old job though. A puzzle competition that went super well and a spelling bee that was a blast. Now it’s all tech services from here out. I’m learning, on the job, that tech services really involves a lot of accounting!

We’ve been busy visiting colleges for accepted student days and to watch awesome music. We watched the WPI pep band support their basketball team to a win, then watched Lex perform with his Video Game Orchestra at a WPI talent show. It was a busy day for music and we loved it. I always love watching him perform!

Eve has been accepted to all four of the colleges she applied to. One she changed her mind on, but the other three are still contenders. We are doing the “Accepted Student Day” for all three, then she’ll make up her mind.

I’m driving a giant rental SUV again. This time is a brandy new Chevy Blazer EV. The Bolt that I bought for the kids last February died. Apparently Chevy is having a problem with the 2020 Bolt batteries giving out. The dealer didn’t have an rentals available and their reimbursement rental program was a total joke. It would have cost me over $5K up front and only about 70% of that reimbursed. It was super annoying and frustrating, but I channeled my inner “Um actually, I need to talk to your manager” and got things sorted out. However, because the teens are teens, they can’t drive the rental, so I’ll be driving it for the next few months while Eve drives my car. I kinda want to swap out the Tesla for something else anyway, but that will have to be another day, and after another raise.

Eve is off at an FRC event this weekend. She tried to join the team a few times off and on over the years, but didn’t feel welcome. There are a few new coaches now that made a difference to the team dynamic and she’s really liking it this year. She’s been doing some social media, some hands on fabrication and mechanics, and some logistical organization. She has come home from each practice in a pretty good mood and her texts from this weekends events have been positive.

Hmmm…. what else? I think that’s going to be it for tonight. Let me know if I should keep blogging. Maybe June is a good time to wrap it up? Maybe not? Thoughts?