In so many ways, the title of my blog has hit home over the past ten days. As many of you know, my Dear Husband is an avid sailor. He has a 32-foot sail boat moored in one of Chicago’s harbors and between May 15 and October 15 he spends as much time on the boat as possible. I do not do well on small boats. I tend to put my foot on the deck, and turn green. A moment later, I’m checking out the path to the head, or hanging on to the side of the boat as I heave. I just wasn’t meant to be on small boats. I’ve named my blog in honor of the boat, the “Arr!!”
The past ten days or so it seems that a black cloud has been following the captain of the Arr!! He took off for what was to be a three day weekend on the boat. He needed to stop at Crowley’s to pick up a part for the diesel engine, which had developed a leak. Crowley’s is clear down at the south end of Lake Michigan, near Calumet City. Shortly after picking up the part, DH stopped for a hot dog, and when he tried to start the car….nothing happened. He managed to find a towing company, and a recommendation to someone who might be able to look at the car. (Note….tow number one)
The mechanic finally got the car running, but told DH he would need to have more work done on it. DH started home. Halfway through the trip he realized the battery wasn’t charging, so he left the tollroad. The idea was, that he would be more accessible if the car quit on him. Sure enough….it did. He called and had it towed to our preferred mechanics. (Note….tow number two)
I needed to use our car on Saturday morning, to meet my sister and Mother at the Farmer’s Market and then go on to lunch. Dear Husband joined us. I thought he might take my car to go to the lake on Saturday afternoon, but he chose to be a couch potato, and let a storm front move through. The mechanics called Saturday afternoon to say the car was ready to go.
Sunday morning, early, I drove DH to pick up the car. Before we parted, I kissed him and kiddingly said…”If you have any trouble with the car or the boat, find a hotel and register…..don’t call me!”
You guessed it. About two hours later he called and asked me which hotel in Westmont I wanted him to check into. He was probably twenty minutes from home. He’d stopped to pick up things for breakfast and lunch on the boat, and when he returned to the car it wouldn’t start. (Note….tow number three.)
The repair guys had a go at the car and it seems to be working. I think we scared it with discussion of whether it was time to turn it in for cash, and buy a newer car that got better mileage. DH voted to wait a bit. This car has been pretty darned good, and I think if you averaged the expense of maintaining it out over the years we’ve had it, it’s been a reasonable expense. Of course, I’ll worry every time DH heads for the lake. I don’t have the cost of the three attempts to repair the car, or the cost of the three tows yet. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be a happy camper.
What I hope is the final straw in this saga came yesterday. Dear Husband came home and told me that he’d had to have the BOAT TOWED!. He was outside the harbor when his propeller became fouled with a line. He had to call a marine towing company because the swells were four feet high…..too high for another pleasure craft to risk giving him a tow. The man running the tow boat said that he keeps diving gear on the boat just to be able to clear fouls like this, but with the boat heaving up and down so much he wouldn’t risk getting into the water. We could have made a house payment with the cost of this particular tow.
I’ll admit that I didn’t take this particular news with good grace. I probably reined in my temper when I saw the bruise on Dear Husband’s arm. His left bicep is black and blue. He was hurt somehow when trying to free the anchor before the boat was towed. I’d like to take an ax to the boat’s hull, and end all this business of boating, but common sense (and love for my husband) has prevailed. If he were to ask me to give up quilting, I’d be devastated. Just because I’m here in the house when I quilt, doesn’t mean that I am particularly good company. I’m distracted, and want periods of uninterrupted time to work out designs and piece them together. Dear Husband helped me to care for my mother for the past 20 years, and he’s earned the right to do what pleases him. I just wish that I’d never heard the definition of a boat: “A Hole in the Water into which you throw large amounts of money!”.
After I’ve had a little time to let off steam on this, we’ll be okay. Of course, I’m worried about making ends meet in this economy. I worry about retirement, which is coming MUCH faster than I like….especially in this economy. I worry about grandkid’s college funds, and I worry about my husband’s safety. I suppose mostly I worry about his safety. Please God….keep him safe on his travels, and …No more tows!