And today's things

 Well, my tracing paper did come, so I can make the litter bags when I want to. 

Otherwise, other than getting in to turn off the drying oven, this was mostly a lost day.

- I had scheduled a TdaP booster at the local Walgreen's last night. Drove out there, big sign on the door: Closed until further notice. What? (later on apparently it was only the pharmacy was closed, but still.)

I stared at it in disbelief for a minute - really? I work up the courage to get an unpleasant intramuscular vaccine and now I CAN'T?

did not want to go to CVS, they are always always understaffed. Didn't want to go into walmart for it and who knows, they might not have it in stock. I knew I didn't want to go to a doc in the box and sit for an hour in a waiting room with people who might be sick and contagious.I thought about calling the campus nurse and seeing if SHE could do it, and then I remembered the little mom and pop place that I use for my prescriptions does shots (though the last one - a covid booster - I got there wasn't given well and hurt a lot). I also figured they'd tell me I needed to make an appointment but oh well, I could always come back

So I drove over there. As it turns out, they keep that (and also the shingles series: I asked, that's next up) on hand, you don't even need an appointment. So I got the shot. It hurt, but I don't know if that's just that TdaP always hurts, or if they aren't as expert/don't use as small needles as Walgreens does. 

Then, driving in to campus......the NOISE was back. The sloshing chatter in my AC system. I turned off the radio to be SURE, and then cursed a little and wondered if they hadn't found the problem, after all. (But it was fine for almost three weeks!). So I called the mechanic to let them know. I was adamant I could not LEAVE the car, graduation is Saturday, it's going to be 105 out, I CANNOT walk the mile and a half to the basketball stadium, especially not carrying or wearing my regalia.

They said "well, bring it out at 1, we'll look at it and see"

Mid morning in my office I also remembered this is the fourth anniversary of my dad's dying. In 2020 I went up to Chickasaw (well, the parts of it not closed by the pandemic), in 2021 I think I was in Illinois with my mom, last year - I guess last year my house was being worked on. So maybe I guess I don't have to do anything to mark the day (I know some traditions do things, have a Jahrzeit candle or something)

But anyway - went home at noon, ate a lunch without much appetite (at this point envisioning another big bill, or maybe that I would need a new car), drove out there. Got there just as the head tech was coming back in from lunch.

And he told me something he hadn't before - "oh," he said "it could be mud daubers again"

 

Mud daubers AGAIN?

Yes, that was what plugged the hose the first time. I kind of wondered; a friend of mine on the CPAAG Zoom has a car guy for a husband and she speculated that maybe it was mud daubers. But they had only told me "the line was clogged" and I didn't know if was dust/dirt, or a broken bit of line, or what. 

If they had told me, possibly I could have prevented it happening this time. My best guess is, when I come home and know I am going back out (like I come home for lunch), I just leave the car in the drive, and where I leave it is very close to the drain for my neighbor's air conditioning unit, so there's always a little water and mud in that area. And I suspect that's what's attracting the daubers, and they may have been trying to build a nest up in that little drain hole. (It's also possible it happened out in the field yesterday, though I can't control that so well)

Anyway - I should have realized when I didn't see ANY drain water under my car this morning I should have realized that the line was plugged again.

the good news was they didn't charge me; all they had to do was aim an air hose at the line and the water emptied out. And the head tech said that (a) if it does it again, I can just bring it back out, they'll hit it with the air hose again, no charge. (I asked if I could get under there and do it myself, the guy said you really have to elevate the car to reach the spot - and anyway, I'm not sure how comfortably I'd be able to get under and get out) and (b) it's no unsafe to drive when it does that but if I leave it go terribly wrong it could damage the AC.

He also recommended what I already suspected - don't leave it out in the drive any more. Which is inconvenient for unloading groceries, because it's a longer walk from my garage to the house, but whatever.

Then again: I wonder how likely it is to happen again. Because I've had this car 13 years and this is the first summer it happened, and then it happened TWICE in a month.

Almost like that Dr. Doofenschmirz meme: If I had a nickel for every time mud daubers blocked my car's drain line this summer, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird it happened twice.

Anyway, I'm BEAT. partly from the heat, partly from the stress/having to run around, and maybe partly from the vaccine.