STRANDED

ericnliz

@dragonsdofly, Your awesome sense of humor in the midst of adversity is inspiring to say the least! Hopefully the problem can be found, and you can safely be on your way. Good thoughts & prayers are coming your way, and to the owner of the repair shop & his family as well. The folks on this forum are incredible, as I have known first hand.Helpful, thoughtful, generous, & just plain good people. Keep your spirits up, keep the big sheep away from the hubby & keep us posted as to your situation.
Best regards,
Eric

dragonsdofly

@ericnliz, thanks for the comment, especially about the sense of humor. Sometimes, you just have to laugh, the alternative is wet, messy and downright unattractive. 

To everyone else, dawns the 11th day.

Ratkity

@dragonsdofly I know you said you weren't destitute, but you alway can count on us. One way or another, we will take care of our own. You are important!!

ChanW

I doubt it's a carnivore, but you might want to be sure it's not a Ram. Longingly eh? 

dragonsdofly

To all forum members, thanks beyond words. Yes, Larry the Pastor dropped by and brought us a box of nonperishable food and was kind enough to give us a ride to a grocery store. We were also invited tomorrow to the church's annual Thanksgiving dinner. We have declined that oh, so yummy invitation because it places too much temptation on us very flawed humans. We can't eat most of that delicious food due to health issues if we'd like to remain upright and breathing. Besides, I think DH and the sheep have a little something going on.

To those of you wondering what progress has been made on vehicle repairs: it was a plugged catalytic converter, not the transmission. The mechanic is removing the honeycomb filters but leaving the converter in place to give us adequate back pressure so the engine can run properly.  There have been many apologies, but we understand all of us human, and thus, flawed. Mistakes get made. It's just that this is an incredibly costly as well as lengthy mistake.

jgram2

@tabiphile wins the “what’s wrong here” medal!

@dragonsdofly Yeah! The light at the end of the tunnel is shining! You’ll escape those pesky sheep shortly!

BrianZ

Wow, so @tabiphile & @Dalehelman were right!  I suspected as much.  Sorry for all that you've had to endure - what an ordeal.  Hope you all get back on track soon to recover from all these misfortunes.  Let us know if there's anything we can do to help.

Ratkity

@dragonsdofly, I am so glad the problem was finally properly diagnosed. Our forum members have some amazing auto and camper + engineering knowledge! 

Let us know when you get back on the road and get back safe.  

Ratkity

PS That sheep is scaring me. I knew there was a reason I've always felt uncomfortable counting them to fall asleep!

dragonsdofly

Yes to all, but I'm afraid to get my hopes up. Just waiting for the other shoe (or is that sheep) to drop. Resources as well as the air are getting thin, but you guys have been wonderful.

In the meantime, we've begun keeping all of our burnable trash, in case we have to send up smoke signals, or perhaps, roast a sheep.

Ratkity

You know, I had to explain what "field dressing" was to a Jersey city girl (I've never laughed so hard in my life). She has a quick wit and listened to what you have to do before "roasting a sheep". She said she liked her own definition "getting dressed early in the morning next to your tiny teardrop while everyone else is asleep".

If you know how to knit, you can start your own spinning yarn and knitting mittens and scarves for remaining sheep. LOL

dragonsdofly

@Ratkity, being from an urban area, you'd think I might have also been spared those details, however, my family was extremely active in the hunting and fishing arenas. I could field dress and skin a deer by myself by the time I was 10. I've plucked birdshot out of pheasants and rabbits, saving the feathers and (rabbit) skin for sale. I've caught and landed walleye that qualified for championship points. That sheep, although the largest I've ever seen, is really no problem. I do love the alternative definition of field dressing, though and I needed the laugh. Mea gratis.

jkjenn

Glad you guys are still in good spirits and that Pastor Larry was able to help you out. Also glad that you might be getting closer to being on your way home. This is a trip you will never forget! 

Homebodyatheart

@dragonsdofly I’m glad you are getting answers, company and food! Can’t help with the sheep much as I’m allergic to lanolin, but I saw(ok, closed my eyes for most of it) a sheep butchered when I was 10 and we were visiting a working ranch. I was amazed that the stomach was a brilliant turquoise blue! My brother took the head and was washing it off in the creek. Mom asked what he was doing. Answer from an 8yo boy... I’m taking it home for show and tell at school. Um, no! We were outside Winnemucca, NV at the beginning of a two week camping trip in July. Towing a tent trailer! Now way was Mom going to let that happen! We also rode horses, milked cows, fetched eggs and got fresh veggies from the garden. Fun times! 

BTW @ericnliz also gets a star and points for knowing it wasn’t your transmission. He had a few well educated hunches. 

Oh, and the SpoTab breakfast group all sent you both warm thoughts and wishes for a better stay! I’m pretty sure we didn’t discuss the sheep. Ok, maybe a bit. And your DH. And the sheep.

dragonsdofly

Daylight, day 12.
The sheep(there's only 1) is relaxing on the neighbor's lawn. There's a sprinkle of white stuff on the ground. The temperature is 13°F. And all of you are a very important part of our well-being and survival. You've reached out, made us laugh and kept us connected. While we appreciate some alone time (we're raising boys, 12 & 13 this year) this isolation has been difficult and frought with financial and logistical concerns. So glad to know all of you are out there, involved, committed and concerned. We're gonna get out of here, but keep an eye on the horizon, just in case we're reduced to sending smoke signals.!

tabiphile

Great news and the long distance diagnosis is FOC....the shop should have checked the cats before throwing a tranny in. There were no symptoms suggesting that the tranny was bad....hopefully you are not on the hook to pay for it because your fun is just getting started. When you get home you'll need to fix the exhaust and it is pricey. The cat less the guts will not get you through an emissions check. Many states do not allow the low cost cat replacements to be used because there are so many problems with them...they often last less than 20k miles. Once you find out how much the cat and exhaust costs you may decide that it's time for a new TV....

The critter must have a full curl!

Homebodyatheart

Good morning @dragonsdofly! Thanks for checking in with us. Sounds like things are turning around slowly for you. The Tab family is a very special one as we’ve learned here in town. Distance doesn’t always matter; you’re still family and there are others ready to help in many ways. Glad you’re doing ok. 

jkjenn

Spotted recently in Evanston, WY

Bill

I can't wait till the movie version of this comes out! In the meantime, we're wishing you both all the best and a speedy (i.e., more than 3 mph) return home! Keep up those positive spirits - it seems like that's one of your hallmarks!

atlasb

not sure if this helps, if you have your TV owners manual,  look at the emission warranty.  I think they are extended past the normal vehicle warranty.  Something like 75000 miles or so.  Just an idea to help with the cost.  Safe travels!

ChanW

But gutting the catalytic converter in order to get home would probably void the warranty! Argh!

atlasb said:

not sure if this helps, if you have your TV owners manual,  look at the emission warranty.  I think they are extended past the normal vehicle warranty.  Something like 75000 miles or so.  Just an idea to help with the cost.  Safe travels!

atlasb

Possibly They could keep the paper work for the repair and the statement they were stranded away for home.  Worth a try if they are in the repair time / mileage  period.

dragonsdofly

Again thanks to all for the comments. Our truck has a mere 170,000 miles on it. Purchased in 2016. A friend has suggested we abandon it, buy a replacement and come home. This is what we're facing: 2 more years of payments on this one, plus payments on  the replacement if we were to purchase it. $5000.00 of cc debt on our card for this now longer than a month trip. Repayment of a family members cc for the tranny and other repairs. Remember we're 2 old people trying to raise 2 just becoming teenage, eating machine boys.  That is a steep financial hill to climb, especially since we are older than 65 and the husband must continue to work because we cannot collect social security yet. So, we wait.......

tabiphile

dragonsdofly said:

Repayment of a family members cc for the tranny and other repairs. .......

You should not be paying for the transmission under any circumstances. They misdiagnosed the problem and threw a transmission into your vehicle only to learn that it was not the problem. Get a refund. Have them put your old tranny back in. Work something out before you pull away from there and head home. When a professional mechanic makes a major (and that is major) mistake, it is not your obligation to pay them. If you paid it on a card, protest the charges to your credit card company. Make sure that you have paperwork that shows what the real problem and fix were..plugged cats. Anyone that did not think look at the cats first on an 05 jimmy with that many miles is a fool...and it is not your obligation to make them whole. Seriously...sitting here 1,500 miles from your situation the problem was immediately clear from the description you offered and noting the age of your car. How you ended up with a transmission should be beyond any quasi mechanical persons imagination. Stand firm on this.

ChanW

@tabiphile's got a good point, sorry to say.

Keep in mind that the shop probably has some kind of protection against these kinds of mistakes, the parts are probably returnable, and he may only be out the cost of labor. Changing a transmission might be only a few hours labor (depending on the vehicle, of course)

dragonsdofly

Day 13. Still stranded.
Weather forecast says currently 10°F, but feels like 1°F. Just feels like far away from home to us. Sheep, horse and goats all have the good sense to stay inside this morning. This is the second time we've had frost on the inside of the windows, just around the edges. Last time, within an hour or 2 of sunrise, it evaporated. Because of the altitude, and extremely low humidity, we've had no condensation issues.
And now, in the too much information category, it's time to warm some water for "sponge baths". Yippee!
So much time, so little to do. Wish the miles we're rolling behind us. 

N7SHG_Ham

I spent about a year living about an hour east in Green River and about a month of that year living in a motel in Evanston on a work assignment. I know exactly how the weather can be there, pretty unfriendly most of the time so hoping you can get moving soon! Any updates on the mechanic health?

dragonsdofly

@N7SHG_Ham, the family of the repair shop owner has been informed that this has become a non-survivable medical event. Our mechanic, the owner's grandson, got to spend Saturday night and all day yesterday with his grandfather, who had been asking for him. I'm glad they had that time together.

But, he's back at work on the truck today, and thinks he'll get it completed. We're afraid to get our hopes up, but a little excitement has crept in. I can also see the sheep is out grazing. 

N7SHG_Ham

@dragonsdofly sorry to hear that news! Hope today is the day you guys get moving!

lkc001

Good information from Tadiphile and definitely worth considering disputing the charges.  The first thing that came to my mind when they immediately said "tranny" was to ask them if they were absolutely SURE that's what it was.  I always am suspicious when the first thing suggested is a major expense. . . .

Like they knew they had you over a barrel.  I would truly hope that is not the case--I'm just less trusting the older I get.