stripethree

It has not been a kind month. My ankle is still sketchy at best, and I swear it bothers me more when I walk around with this brace that the doctor gave me. I go back in another two weeks, and I don’t know what to expect since even though there’s less pain, the range of motion isn’t there and it flat out doesn’t feel right. Also, another lesson learned, even with really good insurance and health benefits, emergency room visits are not cheap.

Work has been no picnic either. Next week I fly back to DC Monday through Friday for another software delivery and the work leading up to this delivery, and the official testing that is taking place this week, has been hellish. There have been a lot of 16 hour days, a lot of frustration, and a lot of, well, bullshit to deal with. I guess I feel like a lot of this hellish rush to the finish could have been avoided, but that’s for another time and place. I am hoping this will come to a graceful and positive end with the delivery next week, after which things will return to some kind of normalcy.

Last night was the culmination of the proverbial shit storm, as I left work at 5:30 to have dinner with Summer and friends only to get a phone call asking to come back and fix some absolutely necessary things. I got back there at 8 and was there until 12. Finally sniffing freedom and anxious to get home and try to get some sleep, the R32 crapped out on me about a mile away from work. It crapped out in a big way; something internal to the transmission, possibly the differential, failed and locked up the transmission. A few AAA calls, another to Summer to pick me up, and a trip across town to drop off the car at Stuttgart Autohaus later and we didn’t get home until 2am. Sleep, ha! I was simply way too stressed now having to deal with facing a car repair bill that will, without a doubt, be well into four figure territory. Turns out the R32′s return to the road was short lived and it’s next return, well, who knows. Luckily the GTI is in good shape only needing tie rod ends and an alignment to be tip top. Hopefully I can hopefully get to that stuff this week, provided I get home from work in time. All I want is for the GTI to keep on keepin’ on. The first parts off the donor Corrado, the front brakes, were installed last weekend and are working great so far. Looks like the rest is going to have to continue to wait.

I realize things could be much, much worse and all this crap will pass with no real lasting damage (other than to my bank account, so much for looking at houses… ) but man is it frustrating.mu