Lesson learned

Each day I learn something new, it's an ongoing process. My wife teaches me lessons in life all the time. Today was no exception!

A few days ago, I made a comment that ticked off my wife. (Lets call her Jennifer because that is her name) I don't remember what it was that ticked her off, but, there is a strong probability that it had something to do with money.

A few minutes later she (Jennifer) stomped off and jumped in to my Jeep Wrangler. She has her own truck, why my Wrangler? Anyway, when she grabbed the door handle on 'MY' Wrangler she apparently jerked it way too hard and broke it internally. I didn't find this out until the next day when I couldn't get my door to open :-(

I approached her with it the next morning, she was settled down by then, and she semi admitted to it. I chose the words "semi admitted" because she didn't deny it when I asked her about it.

So I'm forced to go all the way around to the passenger side of the Jeep, open the door, and then 'reach threw' and open the drivers side door and then walk back around to the drivers side to enter my Jeep.

If this isn't enough of a lesson learned then keep reading, it gets way better!

So I go up and help a friend roof his house this week and as I'm a bit tired from the job. I reach in (through the passenger side) and pull on the door handle, only this time it seems like a longer reach, must be because I'm tired. Take note that my Jeep is lifted. I jump up and grab the inner door handle on the drivers side and oops.. It breaks off!
Now I have no way in to my jeep unless I climb in and out of the passenger side.

Lesson learned? Not YET!

I ordered a new interior handle and drove my old Honda (back up car) until my interior handle gets here.

Night one driving the Honda I had a flat tire (brand new Schwab tire) in the parking lot at work.
Night two of driving the Honda the battery light came on and I ended up driving home at 1:30 in the morning with no headlights. They started getting dimmer and dimmer until they were gone. It's not the recently purchased $100.00 Les Schwab batteries fault. Instead, I believe that it is the recently purchased $300.00 alternator that is to blame, it isn't charging. You may be thinking he's making this up, alternators aren't that expensive. Look up the price of a Honda Accord Alternator and then add the cost to have it installed.

I'm still learning...

Finally my new interior door handle comes in and I installed it, but still no exterior handle yet so I'm back to that old 'reach through' trick again. After all that the Honda has put me through I made a decision to park it and drive the Jeep with no exterior handle.

I live on a dirt road that becomes mud bogging material after the first rain of the year. Our first rain has already happened, therefore, on the way to work today I threw her in to 4WD and did some playing in the mud. She was covered too... so covered that when I went to do my 'reach threw' from the passenger side I covered my (um.. gonads) in mud. You may find that as being funny but I didn't think so at the time.

If I were living on the income that I had two years ago I would have just taken it to a dealer and said FIX IT! but, since money is tighter now days, I want to order the exterior handle and install it myself. I called up the dealer this morning before work. It's $128.00 for the outside handle. Must be made of gold, or something.

Interior door handle... $18.00 (ebay, not bad)
Exterior door handle... $128.00 (Dealer. Sorry, not in stock, must order)
Gonads covered in mud, daily... PRICELESS!

LESSON LEARNED!