Keep Calm and Carry On – Blue Blues
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With so much going on in our world… the pandemic, the election results, civil unrest… the problems in our own little world seem pretty insignificant. Blue was towed to the Ford Dealership in Camp Verde/Cottonwood, Arizona a few days ago. The service department is closed on weekends, so we had to wait till Monday for some news. Over the weekend, we found some walks and hikes to do around Phoenix and counted the minutes till we heard some news.
On Monday - Calls to the Ford Service Department at 11am and 4pm – No status update on Blue
Trying to be patient, David found us a good walk on the Galvin Trail to the Cross Cut Trail along the perimeter of the Desert Botanical Gardens to Papago Park past the Hole in the Rock and back again. We treated ourselves to lunch on the patio at Gertrude’s, the botanical gardens’ restaurant, a fine respite from take-out and hotel room picnics.
On Tuesday - Call to the Ford Service Department at Noon and an in-person visit at 4PM– No status update on Blue
Frustration is mounting, but we’re between a rock and a hard place at the moment. Phoenix’s urban trail system is extensive and David continues to search for walking paths nearby. Today’s walk on the Arizona Canal Trail was pretty lackluster along a dry flood control channel. When it rains here, it really pours just like in Las Vegas and the ground is unable to absorb it all, hence flooding, especially flash floods, occur in low-lying areas. At the moment, only tumbleweeds and trash occupy the canal. Late in the day, we the drove an hour north to Camp Verde to talk to the Service Manager in person and exchange our dealership rental car for a cheaper one at nearby Enterprise. The Service Manager was apologetic and understands our plight, but is unable to hasten the process and we need to wait our turn. Sigh!
On Wednesday – Calls to the Ford Service Department at Noon and 4PM – Damian, the Service Manager, recognizes David’s voice now and unfortunately, had no new update. We’re still in the queue.
We walked the same Arizona Canal Trail today, but in the opposite direction. We stopped in Colfax Park, a pleasant in-town park with a small man-made lake where ducks, Canada geese and several fishermen seemed to be enjoying themselves. We wondered what the anglers caught here, but didn’t wonder enough to ask. Despite the angst of waiting for Blue, we are enjoying being in ‘vacation mode’… no 0530 wake-up alarm to get our walk out of the way, no house chores, no projects. We decided that even if Blue was evaluated tomorrow, he probably wouldn’t be repaired immediately and since the Service Department doesn’t work on weekends, we were on our own for a few more days, so we headed further south to Tucson to see what we could see.
On Thursday – Call to the Ford Service Department at 11am and at last, an answer, but not one we wanted to hear. Blue has been evaluated and they think it’s an engine issue, but they don’t know what. The diesel specialist has been in service training school this week and will not return till next week AND there are at least two major jobs waiting for him. Realistically, Blue will not be thoroughly diagnosed until the end of the week of November 9th! OUCH!
We needed to give this problem a serious noodle. Should we have Blue towed somewhere else? to another dealership in Phoenix perhaps? We’d still need a rental car and we’d still be in hotels. Or maybe we should transport Blue back Las Vegas? We’d still need a rental car while Blue was in the shop, but we could live at home. Could another service department actually work on Blue any sooner or would we be at the end of another queue? So many questions… so many things to consider. What are the other alternatives? Grin, bear it and carry on? It was too much to digest all at once. We figured we needed a diversion and some time to think.
Join us next time for a decision… and a diversion.