No Boarding for You

Smokey and I decided to go snowboarding at the big resort this past weekend, I got a gift card from my work after all and it has been burning a hole in my pocket and we finally got some good snow.

*A small digression*

Sometimes when I'm at the dog park and I kick the ball it sails between many trees and lands a decent enough distance away from me that the dogs actually get up some speed going to get it. And then other times it hits the tree three feet from me and it's slobbery mass hits me in the face. Guess which one of these versions the rest of the story is like.....

*And we're back*

Earlier last week I stopped driving my truck because of several small but exciting incidents involving the temperature gauge. After some panic and with the help of my neighbor and my girlfriend in Texas and some detailed attention I was able to ascertain that I did not have the new frost plug installed tightly enough. I acquiesced and bought a torque wrench. Smokey gave me a ride to work on Friday night. When he came to pick me up he said his radio had just turned off for no reason. As we drove towards home I noticed that his dash lights dimmed and then went out. Followed by a distinct lack in power at the stop lights. Followed by the clock display going black. Hmmm......seems like you might be losing your alternator. I suggest you don't get on the highway and don't stop at any remaining red lights we hit unless there is oncoming traffic. And then the headlights went out. We did make it safely home, and the truck would not restart.

So Saturday started with me filling up the radiator in my truck and dashing to the parts store with back up antifreeze to procure the one socket I did not have in my toolbox (how does that happen? Honestly!) that I needed to tighten the frost plug with my pretty new torque wrench. Once I got home and got that fixed, Smokey removed the alternator from his truck. I would love to tell you that he listened to me and bought a quality socket set (my truck is foreign his is domestic so my tools don't work so good for him), but he didn't. And he broke one of my tools in the process.

Sunday he successfully installed a new alternator and I drove my truck up on the sidewalk and didn't hit anyone's vehicles and gave him a jump start. And then we went to the boat show. So tonight we are going to the tiny resort in town and going snowboarding because it is super cheap. And we can walk home if something goes wrong.