August 26- 31, 2024 - Homer Transmission Woes Plus a Brake Problem and Exciting Time for Kelly

 My Blog Reflection

Law of Physical Displacement:

Sometimes you are the dog.

Sometimes you are the hydrant.

August 26, 2024:

I called the transmission shop in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Homer had been there for a week. They said they had time to look at him and that he is fixed and had been test driven three times. They said when the new transmission module and switch were installed at the shop in Leopold, Missouri, last fall, they did not clear out the codes. The computer still thought there was a problem with the neutral switch. I hoped they were right and this is all behind us. 

The shop foreman said that while test driving Homer the right front caliper was sticking and heating up. This caliper has been fixed three times since we've owned Homer, as well as a new brake lines installed. This will be the fourth time. I don't understand why this one caliper keeps sticking. In any event, they said that if I found a place that could repair the caliper they would take it over there for me. What a great service! I called Jim and he stopped by the Meineke Shop he deals with near his home. They said they could fix it and had time. I then called Russ Moore Transmission and told them where to take Homer for the brake repair. I asked if I could pay the bill over the phone with my credit card. They said "NO CHARGE". Really? They diagnosed a problem, test drove it three times, then delivered it Meineke for the brake repair. Unbelievable.

August 28, 2024: 

Wednesday Jim picked up Homer and brought him back to his house until we could get him. The transmission was fine when he drove but I now had a $806.00 bill for the brake repair. 

August 29, 2024:

I now must digress.

We couldn't head to Fort Wayne on Thursday to retrieve Homer because "The New York Times" was doing a photo shoot of Kelly! 

Several weeks ago a "New York Times" reporter, Michael Wines, contacted Kelly about a piece he is doing regarding the lack of contested races in rural areas. Kelly is the Democratic Chair for Perry County, which is overwhelmingly Republican, so he sought her out. Pretty exciting stuff! I'm telling you it doesn't get much bigger than "The New York Times"! Mr. Wines came to the house and interviewed Kelly for an hour. Upon leaving he said that she would be contacted by the photo editor about scheduling a photo shoot. A week later Kelly received an email stating that a photographer would be contacting her. 

The contact was made and the photo shoot took place Thursday, the 28th. The photographer took some photos in front of the big window in our bedroom because he liked the light. I took some pictures of him taking pictures. Here are a couple.

He then wanted to go outside and get a few more pictures. For all the pictures Kelly was instructed not to smile. He said "these aren't wedding photos". Again, I took a couple pictures of him taking pictures.

This was so cool. I hope the piece runs and that we can get copies of it.

August 30, 2024:

Now, back to Homer. 

Friday morning we headed out early for Fort Wayne. We spent the night in Homer in Jim's driveway and got up early Saturday to head home. I drove five miles to a filling station and the transmission was fine. I got back on the highway and before I could get up to full speed it dropped into neutral and was very stubborn about dropping back into gear. I coasted and moved toward the side of the road to get out of any traffic. I dropped it into second gear and it caught. I drove about 1,000 feet and put it back in "Drive" and it shifted into high gear. We went back to Jim's house, picked up Jim, and headed to the transmission shop. I was on the Interstate a couple of miles when it quickly dropped into neutral and back into gear two times. It acted fine the rest of the way to the shop. We dropped Jim back off at his house and headed home. I will call the shop on Tuesday and let them know what happened. Three different transmission shops have test driven Homer and it never acts up for them. Maybe it is just me!  It is not my imagination because Kelly has been with me numerous times when this happened. I sincerely hope they can find the problem.