7-7-21

Crisis management protocols in effect this day and I must admit a bit lost and confused with new-found ‘free time.’

The Plan early this morning on rising was to head east to gather a second batch of blueberries from Echo Springs and meet with Zeke in Edom for a business lunch before heading home.

But yesterday a warning light lit up that checked out to be the battery was not charging. When I took it to local NTB where I purchased the battery, the alternator was bad and needing replacing.

Fine.

Do it and get it done and I can wait.

About 45 minutes and $500 later I am on my way. OR so I thought.

I drove to Allen to pick up some Markers as I am now dangerously low and it was my last errand of the day. Before I get home, the dash gauges ALL light up and Houston we have a problem.

Stopping back in at NTB before landing at the casa, the staff there was very apologetic and got Silver right back in, opened the hood, checked the connections tightening the ground and I or WE thought everything was fine.

Until this morning.

I was headed east on 380 and warning lights and an audio alarm started going off. I pulled off to a shady spot and rang up NTB and message was ‘bring it in.’ I turned Silver around and headed to NTB and while limping back to McK in FULL diagnostic and crisis management mode running all sorts of algorithms and scenarios began sorting things out and a path forward.

One countermeasure was stopping at Ron’s Automotive for a ‘second opinion’. Ron was there, at the helm, as Collette the REAL BOSS as office manager had just left on a Family vacation.

I told him the story and we went out with an instrument to give it a quick check and look see. Things seemed to be ok so I went back to NTB where they again apologized and promptly swapped out what I then learned was a ‘rebuilt’ alternator with a brand new one ‘from the factory’.

I called Zeke while I was waiting to reschedule so all good there. Blueberries will be available to the end of July so no problem.

The new alternator worked and functioned well on the way home however now the reliability is suspect and I feel I need to do a couple of shakedowns before taking longer adventures and feeling confident that the electrical issue is indeed cured or fixed.

From experience, such electrical anomalies can be costly to locate and diagnose and THEN correct, fix or repair.

So that brings me to the here and now.

I have a couple of short local trips in mind to shakedown the new alternator which will build confidence at a low risk.

Things seem to be running fine but with such things electrical and electronics, one does NOT want to be stuck or stranded.

So projets artistique are being looked at and planned but no work.

Next take the first such trip to Plano and reserve a van for the trip to Houston and Galveston. I could call but the trip is just long or short enough to set things off iffen still not right.

I now have a backup Plan(s) in place so if any of this fails, then … we do THIS details of which I will spare the reader.

Bill out.

Keep your fingers crossed Fans that this latest remedy has squared the problem and will require no further investigation, labor or repair(s).