Those kids will never forget that either. There are some great true stories, of acts of kindness, out there. Your Father sounds like a good man too.
He was a Shriner. Like many folks (including you), lots of good has been done that others will never know about. I was at a friend's father's funeral a year or so ago, and my friend & I were walking through the cemetery as he told the stories of the local families buried there. There was a couple buried side by side. My friend's father bought those plots for the couple when the husband got terminally ill and had nowhere to turn to avoid a pauper's grave for he & his wife. The man who was our lead contractor-type at that non-profit also did a bunch of similar stuff through his church, where he led a lot of projects. There are so many good people out there.
So true there are many good folks and as you said, people will never know about all of the charitable things they unselfishly did for others. In a way it's sad, but they will get their reward in heaven.
One of them had black hands to the wrist from frostbite, remember her? We gave her a huge garbage bag to reflect the cold, gloves and blanket, she refused to go to er.
Made a trip across town and back in the van, at least 80 miles there and back, so far so good. Acted a little squirrely once on the way, but I think it's just that everything is adjusting itself. Did great all the way back and only used 1/8 tank of gas. So we did make it.
I am so glad, don't think I could take all the new bad news plus stuck for another month. It was so nice to see the traffic, wild drivers and city again. I read once beg=fore that people who lived in places like NYC, Chicago use to record city sirens, traffic to be able to go to sleep at night, now I understand.
"Squirrelly" = Shifted funny? Kinda like the fluid maybe still getting distributed throughout the thing or valves being sticky? I picked up my truck yesterday. The front end is definitely tighter, and the brakes are firm again. The mechanic said that the parasitic draw is coming from the radio, so I'll likely have a kill switch put on it rather than replace the radio/keep pulling the fuse. I might take it to the dealer to confirm the diagnosis before I have a switch installed. I've have other things cause this problem, and with things running through the Body Control Module (and the security system being housed in the radio), they're not always easy to trace. I'm glad to have it back. Sitting in my Mazda with the new tube sticking out of me is fine sometimes and painful others. I think I set things back a little bit on Tuesday. Sitting upright in my truck seat is waaaay better. I'll be driving it for a while.
I think you're right because when I took it 10 miles to town this morning it never waivered a bit, ran out and shifted a new van. It was only on 2nd trip that it acted up a little then did perfect all the way back home over 30 miles and lots of red lights traffic and other reasons for slowing down, stopping, etc. Glad you got you're truck and agree it will be much more comfortable for you. I once pulled a hamstring and it never healed until I started driving my truck and sitting straight up. Shorts can be a pain for sure to find sometimes and hope the draw gets found quickly. Seems most times, it's ground instead of firewire.
I don't know if I mentioned the last time they found the problem was a short in the door/window control panel in the driver's arm rest. The thing was fine for several years after they fixed it, then the draw came back. The first go round, a generic shop mechanic said "radio and BCM" just using a test light at the fuse panel, but the dealer traced it to that control panel. So I'm not sure I trust this diagnosis. As I said, the security system is part of the radio electronics, so like the BCM, other stuff is tied into it (like the doors being locked.) This all started when the battery was dead one morning and--being late for work--I put the "quick charger" on it. The ignition was off, but I could hear a high-pitched squeal through the speakers. Not a good thing, huh? It was a high pucker-factor. At least it still runs. There was no smoke.
Doesn't sound good, when it makes a squeal through speakers. Never know what causes it, until you finally find it, huh/ But it does sound like you're on the right track to solving it.
All the new computerized cars and trucks present a different problem for diagnostics. There once was an easy way to quickly track down those hard to find draws. First just use a 12 volt test light either positive or ground on the battery placing it between the connection battery to cable. If your system is turned off and there is still a draw it would have to be 3 volts to light the bulb in a test light. From there if you know there is something making that 3 volt draw then pull one fuse at a time and see if the test light turns off. When you find the right circuit that turns off then there is where you start looking for the grounding or short. Fuse panels can do very strange things also, at times a fuse that has opened will effect another circuit. Now we have all these relayed starting procedures to accommodate the always interfering insurance companies, no starter, no fuel pump etc etc every thing is more complicated than the space shuttle just to keep the thieves from stealing a cheap built car. The Cadillac was the first to use fuel injection and it was a mess, more of a test bed for the future I like to think. Most of the later problems with those particular series of Cadillac's started showing up when one had a lot of miles and had set a long time with fuel in the tank. The injector did not like dirty rotten fuel. Alternators are also a number one cause of mis diagnosis for voltage drains. One easy test to spot an alternator that is bad but still showing a charge is to simply take a wrench and touch the alternator and see if it is magnetized. If it is magnetized then it is bad and has a bad diode or the winding. It is a generator of A/C current and often only the D/C side is dead so it continues to show a charge but the battery doesn't store A/C. A shorted cell in a battery will also cause you to pull your hair out, the best way to check a battery for a bad cell is to turn on the headlights before you crank the engine and if the headlights go completely dead when spinning the engine, then you have a shorted cell and it will most likely clear itself up and then happen again until the battery is replaced. I have seen a lot of crazy stuff happen the past 52 years. Most recently the Fords are known to burn your house down because of over burdened wiring harnesses. I forgot to say on the alternators a brush sticking can cause that intermittent problem of no charging. And this is as close to one of those problems I want to be at in this stage of my life. I feel like I'm being punished when I have to repair my own old vehicle.. especially with the cost of parts today.
I had to chuckle at this because I am on the Next Door forum (are "local" neighborhood thing.) For the past year there have been lots of posts about stolen catalytic converters in Charlottesville. They are expensive and the process is fast & easy...and they are not an option.