Time for a Major Make-Over!

Yes indeed . . . it's time. This month, my Land Cruiser, affectionately known as "Scottie," will be spending a few weeks in the shop. The 16 year old vehicle has been the least reliable of our 3 vehicle "fleet," and since I rarely drive far from home, it has been the one I use regularly. (Much safer to be stranded close to home and available help.) With Ben in school now, I'm putting a surprisingly large number of miles on Scottie each week!

Ben and Scottie back in 2013, just a day or so after the kidnapping

Although we have been raising funds toward the purchase of newer vehicles, and have been able to replace one of the Land Cruisers with a newer (4 yr old) Toyota pickup truck, we haven't raised enough to purchase the second needed truck. Until that happens, we have to ensure that the older vehicles remain functional.

Scottie will have work done on brakes, suspension, the 4-wheel drive mechanisms, as well as other mechanical repairs that the menfolk probably didn't think it would be useful to try to explain to me. It will also receive new windows (the old ones couldn't be locked, and several were badly cracked) and will have a radio installed! Oh, and the driver's seat will be repaired or replaced - I'm not currently sure which. Much of the upholstery is gone from that seat, and a large chunk of the foam needed to cushion the driver's tush from the bumpy ride is also missing.

(I sometimes amuse myself by imagining what the kidnapper might have thought, when he climbed into my significantly run-down Land Cruiser, and saw that uncomfortable seat, and when he started driving and the vehicle kept spontaneously jumping out of first gear unless the gearshift was held in place. Did he consider the possibility that people who would drive a vehicle in need of so many repairs might not be wealthy enough to bother kidnapping?  Probably not, but one does wonder about these things, LOL.)

In a few weeks I will be driving a much spiffier (and more reliable) 16 year old Land Cruiser, and feeling quite spoiled. Try not to feel too jealous.