Weather, Roger... But wait, there's more!

Pretty ice patterns on my car... I think it really brings out the blue.



It's been cold lately.



I mean, we don't have inches upon inches of snow, but it's cold! Last night I woke up to the sound of rain. I knew it would be freezing rain, and when I got up in the morning I was right. Here's a close look at my car:



A little more?



So anyway, I thought this would be a good time to take Roger out for a drive. Now, I haven't driven Roger in a while because his battery (which was about six years old! Yeah!) had finally cranked it's last start and I hadn't gotten to a store to get another. After finding out school had been cancelled however, it was time. I got the old battery out and went to a parts store for a new battery. No problemo. I took it back to Roger's house (aka "the garage") to put it in and go.

Problem.

Let me first say that I hadn't had a cup of coffee yet because I wanted to go get one in Roger so I could drive him around a little. So I was hurting. But I thought it would be a quick thing, even though I've learned that with Roger, nothing is a quick fix.

I tried to cinch the retaining bracket down when suddenly, "Kink!"



As you can see, the J-hook on the right is considerably shorter than the one on the left. The threaded bracket broke. It had corroded quite a bit on that side and was just too far gone. So I went to Les Scwab, Knecht's, Napa, CarQuest and finally the Jeep dealership. The dealership was kind enough to inform me that the part was discontinued. This was not helping my lack of caffine!!! So I went back to one of the car part places and bought what I knew would fix something on a Jeep... besides duct tape.

And here ya go:



Oh yeah... can't believe your eyes?? Want another look?



Oh, it's REAL Baby!!! Those are indeed zip ties (or wire ties as some call them)!

We drove around - first stop: coffee. Of course. Then we got gas and headed over to the grocery store for nothing in particular. I just wanted to spend some time with Roger. As I drove and sucked in the precious aroma of gasoline, grease and oil, my love affair for Roger bloomed anew. I love my Jeep. That's right, I said it! When we got home, I didn't park him in his house, I left him outside. Because by golly, I'm driving him tomorrow too! Heater cranked up!