Cold with a chance of damage

It's a cold morning. Deceptively so because it is beautiful and clear. In fact I highly recommend sleeves. That recommendation comes from experience. I dropped the van off at 7:30 AM to determine the source of the troubling noise. The gas station is about a mile from here and Brisco and I walked home together. I am wearing a fleece vest and a long sleeved t-shirt. My arms are freezing.

The noise in the van is directly related to the loud clunk I heard as I hit a manhole cover last week. Maggie was with me in the car and we were driving through an area that was getting re-paved. There was no pavement and the lanes were set by cones. I went very slowly because it was tricky. Good thing. I didn't realize that without pavement the manhole cover was sticking up several inches. My van is lowered to accommodate the wheelchair lift.

All of a sudden - wham! there was a huge noise right beneath Maggie's wheelchair. She thought that was HILARIOUS. She was laughing so hard she was straining her body. I thought she was going to break through the harness on her wheelchair.

I didn't hear any problem initially, so we just kept on truckin. Over the next several days I noticed a noise emanating from the rear right tire when I started and stopped. Hopefully it's as simple as a shock absorber, but that takes the kind of luck that generally eludes me. I probably messed up the suspension. I have visions of the car getting worse and worse until the wheel just falls off while on the freeway. Hence it was time to get it checked out. I will know soon enough.

In the meantime I walk. Keep a good thought that whatever this problem is it's not too expensive.

Today I'm thankful for long sleeves on a cold day and for pavement. Ok, I'm a city girl, so I'm always thankful for pavement, but today more so because of the dangers it hides.