Monday, January 14, 2008

Manifold Part 3

The manifold saga continues! They welded the crack in the old manifold and promised to have it back the next day. They did not show so I called the next day and was told they decided to send it to a machine shop to be re-surfaced. This was good news as that is what I asked for but was assured was not necessary. Well that took two more days and they finally arrived at about 4:30 and worked until after dark putting it back on. It quickly became pitch black (remember, we are in the Tropics) and I ended up holding a flashlight for him to finish the job. We finally fired the engine up and it purred like a kitten!

He then showed me the spark plug wires that were damaged by the heat from the leaking manifold and told me they had to be replaced. The rubber coating was falling off in his hands so I agreed. He went away and promised to be back in the (Saturday) morning to finish the job. Well, you guessed it, no show. We waited all day for him and when I finally phoned at about 4:00 the shop was closed. Sunday is "Family Day" here so I knew they would not be here then. Today I called after breakfast and was assured they would be here at 3:30. They had to order the spark plug wires.

I find all of this very frustrating but no one else seems to. "11:00 tomorrow" could mean 11:00 tomorrow but it could just as easily mean 3:00 tomorrow or noon the next day. I still have no idea how much all this will cost me except I am sure it will be much less than it would cost in Canada. I have $6000 Pesos ($600 CAN) hidden away and hope that will cover it. If not, he will just have to trust me to drop it off later after I hit the ATM again. I am getting used to the "Cash Economy" here and am less dependent on my credit card, although I am going to miss the points I am no longer accumulating.

It is cloudy today and a little warmer than it has been. My indoor/outdoor thermometer says 24 outside and 26 inside. If the sun was out it would be a good pool day but if I can't expose myself to a little skin cancer, what's the point?

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