When Things Go Wrong

Ever have one of those days or worse yet several?

We've had a few lately, starting with last week's report from the NTSB (national transportation safety board) that certain year models of Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty were prone to catch fire and explode in rear end collisions. Jeep maintains the vehicles are safe and so far has declined any recalls.

Both Grenville's Grand Cherokee and my Liberty are among the vehicles/years cited. This was NOT the sort of news we needed to hear before heading out on a family visit(s) road trip. Wonder if a rear sticker "Fire Danger — Stay Back" or "May Explode on Impact" would work to keep other cars at a safe following distance?

Then came the GPS unit that didn't want to stick to Grenville's windshield. As it came unglued, so did he and ranting and yelling at it didn't seem to work. So, we wondered, what would YOU have done given these choices — all of which we tried, except one.

(1) tape it with duct tape?
(2) try masking tape?
(3) use a glove to hold it in place? (this worked once)
(4) throw it out the window? (remember to unplug from the car or it could come back and injure you)

In the end, NONE of these worked this time — NO we didn't try #4 as we really needed the GPS for our trip. What DID work was using the dash mount from a previous unit and cleaning it and the GPS suction cup with window cleaner and then it finally held in place — who knew?  We do, NOW.

That problem solved, then came the road trip from VA to PA and as luck would have it (or not) we were driving in the path of tropical storm Andrea. It was a weather day not fit for cars or horses.

We safely made it there safely. Thankfully the weather cleared enough for us to do visiting and train exploring which Grenville will be posting about later, of course.

Checking in at our PA hotel, we were informed that the internet connection worked well with PCs and Mac computers, but not so with iPhones, iPads, iPods. As luck would have it (or not) we were traveling with the last 2. No problem that a call to the hotel's internet provider could not solve we were told. And, it did — some 30 minutes later as we learned that the provider's servers were having problems with recent iOS updates. YES, we had the same opinion — that the hotel should get a NEW provider.

THEN, as we reached out next stop in NJ we discovered that we had forgotten our small cooler at the last place we stayed. Now, of course, we could easily replace it with a new one, but this is a favorite that has travelled on many road trips. A phone call to the PA hotel solved the problem. Yes, they found it and could mail it to our home at a cost of about $10. Sometimes, things are just worth the cost with NO logic involved.

Today, was another rainy ride with the news of tornado warnings back home along the VA eastern shore and the east coast as well.

We hope that this bad weather is NOT affecting your area  — things are getting better than for us as. Our next stop will be RI to visit with the grandkids and other family as we celebrate a milestone event — more on that to come.