Men Are Morons Sometimes - Yes, I'm Venting

At this point, I'm not really certain what's wrong with me. My mood has gone from bad to worse this week. It started out with my mini-strike, which I'm fairly certain didn't go unnoticed. When I arrived home Friday evening, James had kinda straightened up the house (i.e. he did the dishes and wiped down the counter) and much to my surprise he'd decided on his own accord that he was going to make dinner.

That's an incredibly rare occasion and typically his idea of "making dinner" is ordering a pizza. Instead, he made tacos. I was both stunned and grateful for his little surprise.

I'm not one to question sudden sweetness, but it didn't really surprise me when he brought up a "guys day" after we finished eating. In all honesty, I don't really care when he goes out with his friends. Sometimes it's nice. And even though he just was out two weeks ago, I told him to go ahead and go.

My problems with him going really didn't start until we woke up to this...

In case you're wondering, our roads still aren't plowed
and it looks worse now then this morning.

See, I have a near paralyzing fear of driving in the snow (yeah, makes sense to live in the Midwest doesn't it?). When he started getting ready to leave the house around noon or so, not only was it still snowing, but it was pouring down sleet with it! There was a very distinctive tink, tink, tink, as it fell on the hood of the car. The idea of him driving an hour away  and staying out till 2 am when he didn't really need to made me uneasy.

I did attempt to ask him nicely to stay home today. I told him I really thought going out right now wasn't the best idea. I recommended waiting a little while longer to see if maybe the weather got a little better. Basically, he just laughed in my face. "I'll be fine!"

I showed him the post where our local police department had asked people to please stay off the roads. I showed him that 80/94 was shut down again, because of how slick it was out there and that there had been another accident involving a semi. Even though he'd be taking the express way, he continued to laugh it off like I'm just being crazy.

This resulted in my blood starting to boil a bit. And... And... Well... I lost it. I told him that it was absolutely stupid to go out right now just so that he can go sit in front of a TV with his friends for the next 12 hours. I know they do UFC Fight Night every month (though I usually don't find out until the day before when it is), but I just can't see how risking your life and the life of others can be worth it. Believe me, I recognize that I should probably be medicated for my fear of driving in the snow, but when the police tell you not to drive I believe you better damn well listen.

He didn't of course. My only debate now is do I wait up to make sure he gets home safe and potentially erupt on him like a volcano or go to bed and maybe lock the bedroom door because I'm truly still pissed about the whole thing.

Basic Car Maintenance is Worth The Time to Learn

For weeks now I have been asking James to take a look at my car. It was being rather picky about wanting to provide heat and here in the Midwest that's not really an optional function. Heat and AC are absolute requirements if you want to avoid things like pneumonia and/or heat stroke. For someone who used to be a mechanic, he sure hates working on any car but his own. When his car wasn't working right over the summer you bet your bottom dollar the moment he got home he was under the hood tinkering with it. When my AC wouldn't work and I needed him to recharge it, he waited through 2 months of my non-stop nagging before he took the whole 10 minutes to do it.

When the colder temperatures started creeping in a few weeks back (keep in mind I'm always freezing when it's below 75 out) I noticed that it would take longer for my heat to kick in even after having warmed up my car. I knew based on the whole AC fiasco that I better bring it up now so that maybe, just maybe, he might look at it before the first snow. No such luck!

We got our first dusting of our inevitable winter wonderland a few days ago and still he's not so much as opened my hood. Instead he saw fit to joke about how great it is to have remote start now (his old car didn't make it past July) and that he'd look at it this weekend for sure. Meanwhile, I've been scrapping frost off my window all week, shivering and shaking like a Parkinson patient, and swearing profusely while beating the hell out of my dashboard trying to will my heat telepathically to work.

Last night at 2:30am my sister called and needed a ride back from a party she was at. She was completely hammered and the person who was supposed to be the DD for her group had not held up her end of the bargain. First, let me say, I'm incredibly proud that my sister is smart enough, even when drunk, to not get in the car with some idiot and to call me instead. Getting up and rescuing her did not bother me one bit, the fact that it was below 30 and my heat didn't come on at all in that hour and a half span that I was in the car however made me furious! I decided right then and there at 3am that I was not going to wait around to see if James will maybe look at my car this weekend between our upcoming Thanksgiving/Birthday dinner on Saturday with his family and the Museum of Science and Industry trip we have planned on Sunday to see the Disney Archives exhibit.

Since today is my late day in due to the monthly sales meeting, I dropped Lena off at school and went over to the mechanic shop that I've been using in town for the past 3 years. (Yes, I work at an auto place and my boss would probably be terribly disappointed that I take my car somewhere else.) When I arrived I explained what had been going on with the car and he said it sounded like my blower control valve could possibly be sticking, but before he ordered any parts he wanted to just double check. He pulled my car into the garage and less than 10 minutes later he had my heat working and I was good to go. Want to know what was wrong? My coolant was empty! That's it! It cost me all of $8 to have him fill it up again for me and my heat is working like a brand new sauna.

I'm thrilled my heat is back, but I'm a little perturbed at both James and at my guys at work. For starters, I just got an oil change not all that long ago from work and they're supposed to top up all my fluids when doing so. Washer fluid, coolant, etc. None of which was done. I will be having some words when I get into work today to let him know that the general service guys are half assing the oil changes. Second, if James had ever bothered to so much as open the hood of my car like I've been asking, he would have spotted it right away and it could have been fixed already!

Ladies, never assume a man will take care of that kind of thing for you. If it doesn't effect them directly, it will end up on the back burner. Educate yourselves on basic things like coolant levels and you can avoid making the mistake of freezing unnecessarily like I just did!