Some progress and a setback

Progress (Wednesday)

Okay, so it's been a few days since I've written but I've been busy. On Wednesday, I spent the day working on the power chair. I've had it since my dad passed away 4 years ago, but we never really used it. Now Scott is getting worse and if we go somewhere that there will be a lot of walking, we have been bringing his regular wheelchair. However, I can only push it on even surfaces. If there's even a bit of an incline, I can only make it a few feet before my back screams at me. The problem... The VA Hospital has an incline at almost every entrance. We first solved that problem by bringing our son with us. That was great until he had to work the next time we went he had to work. So this time we took our daughter. I figured between me and her, we could get it. And technically we did. I was able to get him down the incline with only a little difficulty, my hip didn't like it. So, when I tried to push him back up it, I only got about 10 feet. My daughter was able to get him up the incline but by the time we got to the car, she needed her inhaler.

So, on Wednesday I went and spent a hundred dollars on batteries for the power chair. I really hadn't budgeted for them but we had the money. So, I got the batteries installed. Made the covers for the seat. And got it charged.

Setback (Thursday)

We've decided that we are going to do something fun as often as we can. Rather than the only place we go when we leave the house is doctors appointments. Monday went well, after Scott's doctors appointment, we met up with a friend of ours who we haven't seen in about 5 years. We talk to her on facebook, but you know how that can get. A few short sentences back and forth with no real connection. We missed seeing her so we made plans to meet up on our way through Columbus and have some lunch. This was all great. So our next venture out was going to a concert. This has been planned for over a month. We budgeted for it and everything. The concert was 3 hours away (according to GPS), so we knew we it would take us closer to 4 hours with needing to stop several times. We got almost to Columbus when the car starts dinging. Usually that means that Scott's left the blinker on, but not this time. The temperature gauge was all the way up. We get to the next exit, which thankfully was only about 1/4 mile away and stop.

The coolant looked to be empty, and we only had a little splashed around the radiator cap. So, we let it cool down a little bit, and pour some coolant in the over flow, mainly to see how much there was in there since we didn't see anything. We get a 1/2 bottle in before we hear it splashing on the ground, so we stop. Now, neither of us are car people. We know the basics, how to change the oil, spark plugs, wires and things like that, but we don't understand why we have coolant on the ground. Scott is getting upset because he thinks the car is hosed and I'm trying to get him to calm down until we figure out exactly what's going on.

So, once I think the car is cooled down enough, I get the cap off the radiator and start pouring the coolant in the radiator. I get almost the rest of the bottle in, and no more leaking on the ground. I'm encouraged by this, so I put the cap back on the radiator, check the overflow which reads full, and have Scott start the car. Immediately the temperature gauge starts dropping to normal. Great. We turn the car off and I double check the levels in the radiator and overflow and they look good. Now, I'm one to do things "just in case", so we grab another bottle of coolant "just in case" we do have a leak and it's just not leaking now. (BTW, the coolant is $17.00 each at the gas station, which we didn't budget for.)

So, we hope for the best and continue on. Before we get to the next exit, the temperature gauge starts rising again. Scott is stressing even more now, but I'm trying to keep calm and get him to calm down.

So we stop at the next exit and I suggest checking not only the coolant, but also the oil. Scott heads in to use the bathroom, while I check the car. The coolant levels in the overflow are still full. So, I check the oil and sure enough. We are low. So I send the boys in to get oil, and they come out with 2 quarts. I start putting them in, but send them back for another quart because I know if the oil is out, it usually takes 3. Now there was some in the car, it wasn't completely gone, so it only took 2 quarts but I had the 3rd, "just in case". So, 3 quarts of oil is more money I hadn't budgeted for. So now, we are $60.00 at least over budget. But we continue. Luckily, that seemed to fix the issue, but it was a big setback for us. Car Issues = Stress + Money = Setback. We are still okay on money for the rest of the month, we just have to tighten our belts a little.