Back behind the wheel

Tomorrow just after 9:00 a. m. I will pull out of Bert and Pegs' garage and head to Victoria for Christmas with mom and dad and Barbara and Terry.  So far the roads here look a lot better than the ones around Sarnia that I saw on the news last night.  Heavy fog on the highway that connects Kelowna to Merritt seems to be the only foreseeable road problem.  Just in case, I'm going to be prepared as never before with sleeping bag, water, food, candles, matches, flashlight and even a cell phone.  I filled the gas tank and washed the car, a pre trip ritual with Jim, and it was then that I discovered the only possible spanner in the works.  The little red light indicating that a door is open is constantly illuminated.  I shut and re shut all the doors before phoning Mazda to see if that little light might run down the battery overnight.  The guy in the Service Department was thorough and only slightly patronizing, recounting how his wife had a similar problem but an inside light was on as well as the dash indicator light and the battery did die.  So when we get home from dinner with Jules and Carol I will check to make sure that no interior lights are on.  When I get to Victoria I will make an appointment with the Mazda dealer there; they did the 16,000 km checkup and put on the winter tires, so I know the place.  I hope I don't have to get to know them any more intimately.

I don't have a Mastercard to leave home with because mine was 'compromised' when I was shopping in Calgary with Jo.  They sent a new one which arrived by Canada Post courier today but nobody was home so now it is going back to the post office and I will have to pick it up when I get back from Victoria.  I've become quite addicted to it, but I can cope, I hope.  I'm getting better at that.

Time has elapsed since I began this blog, and I am now praising Bert and WD40.  He came by, and I told him about the door problem.  After a squirt of WD40 and one small panic on my part about how the hatch opens, all is well.  The dash light is off and now we leave for dinner with Jules and Carol.

More anon