2021 Life Logs, Day 92: Trip to Hyannis Honda
Date: Friday, April 2, 2021
Weather: Sunny, but Nippy; High 39, Low, 26 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I love my little Honda Fit. But two times in the last two years, I could have been seriously injured or even killed when first one, then the other drive shaft broke causing an instant loss of power. In both cases, the car just stopped dead in its tracks with no warning. I had a guardian angel with me on both occasions as I was stopped at an intersection both times. The power loss happened just as I moved into the intersections, but not far enough in that traffic couldn’t go around me. If this had happened when I was speeding down the highway in traffic, who knows what would have happened. When the front driver side drive shaft broke, my daughter Heather and one grandson were with me. I am just thankful that no one was hurt.
Last week I received a recall letter from the Honda Automobile Division alerting me that my Fit is under recall due to the fact that “the protective coating on the drive shaft may not properly adhere to it, causing the drive shaft to more susceptible to damage from road debris . . . de-icing agents used to maintain the roadway.” I was advised to call my local Honda dealer to have this checked. I called on Monday of this week and was given an appointment today. The good news is that Falmouth Motor Car that replaced both drive shafts did a great job and Honda says there should be no further problem. And Honda should reimburse me for both installations, each of which cost about $900. The only bad news today was the weather while I was waiting. I arrived at 10 am and there was a back-up. I was told there would be at least a two hour wait, not one hour as I had been told when I made the appointment. Because of the surge of coronavirus on the Cape right now, I did not want to wait inside. The temperature outside was barely above freezing, but the sun was shining. So, I went for a long walk, stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts to get a hot coffee and found a seat in an area protected from the wind at Barnstable High School. There are no students this week due to the coronavirus surge. So, I sat and read until I was almost frozen. I decided to walk back and check on the status. When I got there, my Fit was just coming out of the work bay and I was on my way home.
I went to Heather and Jed’s to pick up Ollie and Jonah who had said yesterday they would like to come to my house this afternoon to do some work for me as there was no school today. But they were deep into a Nerf battle and Ollie then had to go to a doctor appointment. They did not end up coming with me today. Maybe tomorrow. Ollie’s appointment was with the orthopedist for a Lyme disease update. The inflammation in his knee is still there after four weeks of Doxycycline. He will continue to take the antibiotic for another couple of weeks and if it is still not improved, at some point he will be referred to an infectious disease physician at Boston Children’s Hospital and probably have to have intravenous antibiotics. The doctor today said he needs to suspend all physical activity, keep elevating the leg, and keep icing it. He really has already limited his activities, but this past week he has been playing soccer with his class at recess. I guess that needs to stop. Poor little guy. How I hate that little tick that has caused Ollie such a huge problem.
