It's June 8th. We're back in Texas and the saga of Tillie, the VW, has begun once again. But first, a tribute to Auntie Kathleen (from Brooklyn) & Sarah (from Boulder), two of Tillie's most faithful blog followers. I thought today might be rather uneventful for Tillie but...John & I were up at 3:30, that's a.m., (and it wasn't to pee either) for a very early flight to Austin where our nephew & his wife, Scott & Jessica, awaited to chauffeur us to Brady. For a minute we thought we'd landed in the wrong state when we saw those flamingos, but no, someone in Texas has just cornered the market on the pink plastic kind with a few old pickups thrown in for good measure. And in spite of all the things I've thought and said about Texas being dry, brown, dull and flat, they've actually had rain this spring. So the drive through Texas hill country was green and filled with beautiful wild flowers. And, best of all, the 100+ weather had passed so it was a cool 88.
Now for Tillie... I understand some of you are taking bets at the office for how many times she'll break down between Texas and Seattle. We'll leave it up to you to decide if breaking down in Mother's garage (while we were still in NY) and being repaired while she sat there (a ruptured gas line) counts as one breakdown. That brings us up to today. John, always the optimist, expected to start her right up. You're right. That didn't happen. That's JA & John with the battery charger with Mother looking on. Now, really, would you expect the battery (a new one) to remain charged after two months of abandonment? The answer is "Yes". The battery was not the problem. Tillie only started when Jessica & Scott, a.k.a. "The Pushers", lent their muscle to Tillie's behind. She finally started and ran long enough to get her gas tank filled. However, back in the carport, she's back to her old ways. You'll have to decide. Is the repair lined up for tomorrow considered part of today's problem or will it count as something new? Perhaps tomorrow I'll have to deliver the message 96 year old Aunt Doris from Syracuse sent to Tillie - "Behave yourself or I'll come down there and spank you!" Trust me, no one messes with Aunt Doris.
