RUNNING AROUND

SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 2004

Yesterday we had some running around to do. Art’s stomach has been acting up the past few days…I think it’s probably because of the antibiotics he’s taking. Today it seems to have finally settled down a bit…thanks in part to some Imodium and lots of rest. We needed to get my set of keys from Wendy, pick up a picture of Siobhan that was framed, stop at the garden center for the last plants, and go to the Ford dealership to have the hood latch installed.

This is the same latch we have been trying to get since March when we first discovered that we couldn’t open the hood to the car. The guys at the local garage were unable to get it open, and it took three mechanics about twenty minutes to get it open when we had the car in for service in March. We knew that Ford has written down our phone number wrong, so Art had called several times to see if it was in, but with no luck.

On the day we had left Italy to return to the states, Art had seen some oil on the floor of the garage, and once we returned home, we had taken the car to Ford to have it checked. Amazingly, they took the car immediately, and in less than thirty minutes the mechanic brought the car back to us. He said he didn’t see any leaks or problems, so we hope the oil was just a fluke. Art put down some cardboard on the garage floor so we could keep an eye on the situation. At that time Art asked once again about the latch, and after much discussion and confusion (they told us it had already arrived AND been installed!) we were told that it would be in by the end of the next week. Since we would be in Prague at that time, we planned to return to Ford after we got back.

So now, here we are, back from Prague, and we’re getting ready to leave the house. I ask Art if he thinks he should call to make SURE that the part is there, but of course he days no. I’m a person for whom the phrase “let your fingers do the walking” has always been important. Even in the states, I would call to make sure a store was open or that an advertised item was in stock, but not Art. Although he’s better than most men about asking for directions, this is one area that he just doesn’t see to get.

So off we headed towards Perugia. We stopped at the frame shop to pick up Siobhan’s picture, and to drop off a few other things. We had bought two small black and white postcards in Prague and wanted to have them framed, and I had brazenly taken a poster advertising the Paul McCartney concert off a wall in Prague. The concert was sold out, so I didn’t see the harm…Art was a bit nervous about the whole situation, but wasn’t HE the one who had taken the sign off the train in Austria a few years back? A sign that was still very much usable? At least this poster didn’t really “belong” to anyone, and was serving no useful purpose. I really would have preferred one of the signs that were displayed at the newspaper kiosks, but they were behind glass, and were put up and taken down by an advertising company, not the person selling papers. These signs had a burnt orange background and would have gone nicely with my décor, but I had to settle for the one I found. And after all that trouble, it seemed a shame to keep it rolled up in a closet somewhere, so I wanted to have it framed…no glass, just a simple black frame and dry mounting would be fine.

Our next stop was Gran Casa. The barbeque is still wobbly at the base, so Art wanted to tip the whole unit backwards and have me add some more mortar to the bottom.. this was going to be VERY difficult to do with the trowel, and when our new friend Frank was over the other night, he suggested buying a tube of exterior grade silicone and just squeezing it under the base. What a good idea! We found a tube of silicone, and bought a sunshade for the car, and that was it. Next stop: Ford.

We pulled up to the service area and I just headed for the waiting area. I was in there about five minutes when Art said, “Okay Barbara, let’s go”. Hmmmm…they must not have the latch in yet! Art said that they were still waiting on one additional piece, and that it would arrive next week. Hopefully I can persuade him to call first!

We stopped by Wendy’s office and picked up my keys that she had used to move our car from, and back to, the airport when we went to Prague. Now all we had to do was get to the garden center before they closed at one.

We found Antonella and she told us that the plant we still needed, a choisia (sp?) had just arrived the day before. It was something that I was completely unfamiliar with, but since it was only €6.50, I decided to get it. We also got the last four ground cover plants and a few more impatiens. I would have work to do when we got home!

We fixed a quick lunch of leftover pizza and pasta, and I went to the garden. Art came outside too, but quickly decided that it was much too hot and went inside where it was still nice and cool. We had previously dug up the spot where the new plant would go…Art had hacked away at a lot of tree roots in this area, and it was easy for me to get the plant in the ground. I planted the last ground covers and replace some early season pansies with the impatiens. The garden was actually finished! Yes, we still have to paint the barbeque, but other than that…FINISCE!!!!

I saw the painter, Rolando, working across the street the other day,. I want to catch him to see if he can hang the border I brought back from the states, and also to see if he has any tint that we could put in the white paint for the barbeque.