07 February 2012

Best laid plans

I had all sorts of plans in store for Sunday.  Superbowl Sunday was going to cook up some sausage, set out some dip, crack open the Affligem Noel I got for Christmas, and settle back to watch the game.  But, I'm getting ahead of myself.


Spend the afternoon touring a few potential places for a wedding/reception.  First we went to our church to scope out the venue.  They have a smaller chapel specifically designed for weddings/funerals.  Very nice, intimate chapel that can hold up to 150 people, not including the balcony.  Rebecca and Stephen were trying to find a good place to tie the knot and this looks to be a good option for their needs.  There are certain limitations (no room/facilities for a reception, no alcohol, no rose petals, no rice/birdseed) but it has a certain allure.  Next we drove out to a local wedding place located out in the sticks.  This is an old plantation home that was converted to a bed & breakfast that was reconverted to a wedding place.  Beautiful plantation home with a huge porch and balcony, lots of hardwood floors and a very nice yard/gazebo that has been set up for weddings.  One of those turnkey places that will do everything from the ceremony to the send off.  The kids were looking to this place for their reception.  Would be a nice gig if they choose to hold it there.  I think they liked the church, but they want to still explore their options for possible reception sites.  This one did look nice.   


Old school home

Outdoor ceremony (probably not a good idea in August)

Reception hall

Even comes with wedding cats
Got back later and Stephen was making plans to return his tux and head back north to Austin before kickoff.  He had mentioned that his brake light on his car had come on Saturday, so I was going to look it over before he pulled out.  Way low on brake fluid, so I topped it off hoping that was the issue.  Silly Rabbit.  I started rooting around under the car looking for the root cause for the low fluid when I spotted his brake line was cracked/leaking.  I cannot begin to tell you the words that went through my head at that point.  I can do some small automotive repairs and brakes is one I have down pretty well (I've done the brakes on his car several times), but there's no way I am letting him drive back to Austin with a leaking brake line.  So I jump in the land barge and roar off to the auto parts store at 5:00 pm (kickoff was at 5:20 pm) in search of a new brake line.  Able to score one and back home to start the repair job.  1.5 hours later, greasy, covered in brake fluid, I have the line replace and I am bleeding the brakes.  I got the brakes fixed, but the brake light was still on despite my repairs.  I looked it over and could not find what was causing the warning lights, even though the car stops on a dime.  Since junior needed to get back to Austin, I gave him momma's car to drive (big old Detroit made Cadillac) until I could have his car checked out by my repair shop.  He wasn't happy about driving the big car but, since his options were limited, there wasn't much choice.  He found out there is a slight difference between a 4 cylinder 2.2 liter Toyota engine and a V32 Northstar Cadillac engine.  He made it back to Austin in record time and I got to catch the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl.  Wasn't the way I wanted to wind up my weekend, but life has a funny way of changing your plans.  BTW - the light problem was a simple stuck electrical switch on the master cylinder.  

4 comments:

Abby said...

I guess yours and the Patriot's Super Bowl didn't go quite as planned. There's always next year!

I kind of had a feeling, as you reached the end of your story, that the indicator light wasn't indicating anything brake-related anymore. Good choice to err on the side of safety!

terri said...

The plantation home looks like a gorgeous place for a wedding. Whatever they choose, I'm sure it will be memorable.

Glad you got the car fixed. Sorry you missed most of the game!

meleah rebeccah said...

That "Old School Home" looks like an amazing place to get married.

Oh man, car problems are awful. I am very impressed with your auto-repair skills. But, I think it was much better for Stephen to drive the Cadillac back home.

I'm glad you at least got to watch the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl.

And hooray for finally finding out WHY the beak lights were still on.

ShadowRun300 said...

Aww..maaaannn.. if I had known you were quite the mechanic I woulda driven my Mustang down to you to fix. Although I would have kindly waited until after the super bowl to have you work on it.I probably could have saved a few bucks AND been in a warmer climate!! Good thing you didn't speak up sooner. :)
I love the plantation home, by the way. A church is always nice, but a place like that would be just as intimate and far more memorable.