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As those of you on eNews already know… Our RV leveling system malfunctioned and we were unable to go on our Regional Conference mini-tour this month. We and our concert dates were very disappointed but we can only believe that there must have been a reason… but in addition to the RV issue, it feels like we are on an emotional and financial rollercoaster of late. Let’s go back a few weeks and I’ll explain…
It was the first of June and we were in Rochester, NY… We were parked in the Open Arms MCC parking lot and had just finished a concert that morning. I (Carolyn) was suffering from a nasty cold and cough. Miraculously, I had managed to sing the concert that morning and was exhausted. We had not had much rest because of my cough and were ready to head home. I checked email using my cell phone and began reading a note from our friend Paula, who keeps one of our cars for us while we travel. She explained that our 1997 Camry was overheating and that for now our mechanic thought just checking the fluid levels daily would suffice.
A day or two from home, we called Paula for an update… the problem was worse. So we made arrangements with her and the mechanic to take the car in for a diagnosis. You may not be aware, but when we return from tour we usually don’t have much money left. Pat has not been working and the funds we get from love offerings are usually used for getting us home. Foundation 100 funds are earmarked for certain bills and therefore not usually budgeted for travel purposes. So needless to say we were concerned about a car repair. We do have another car, so Pat was able to get to work, but that means that Carolyn was stuck at the RV park about 45 miles from church and friends with no transportation. The RV is NOT a good way to get around town. It is cumbersome at best and costly to use for that purpose. And remember Pat works 10-12 hour days when we are home… so being stranded means not only a stir crazy Carolyn but no way to get to the post office, grocery store or anywhere else.
Anyway, after a week and a half of “stir crazy” Carolyn, we have a car back and a $750 repair bill… Oh, it might be interesting to note that we had spent $550 on the same car in April for tires and brakes. But I digress… It is now late June, all the funds I earned from my seasonal IRS job are gone, but Pat is back at work and we are looking forward to our next trip in July.
On June 21st we were given tickets to the “Our Song” concert. Our Song is the LGBTQ mixed chorus in Atlanta. We have worked with and know a number of the chorus members including our own Pastor, Rev Tessie Mandeville, so we were excited! The concert was incredible. I am not one to rave about a musical performance or recording but their performance and new CD are remarkable! It is some of the best choral work I have heard in a very long time.
Atlanta Pride was held over the 4th of July weekend. Since Pat’s work clients were out of town and she was off, we decided to go see what was going on… we wandered around the booths and saw so many people we knew from Our Song, the Atlanta Feminist Women’s Chorus, and church members from all over the southeast that had come to town for the event. It was well worth the trek into the city.
We were planning to leave town for our Regional Conference mini-tour the following Tuesday. So we spent Monday, July 7th running errands with our final stop to drop off our car at the home of friends for safe keeping while we traveled. We finally got home around 8:30 that evening to find that one of our cats was sick. We watched our little Gizmo for a few hours and at 1:30 a.m. decided that we needed to get him to a vet.
The ER vet didn’t really have a diagnosis, other than Gizmo’s tummy was upset (which we already knew), but he gave him some fluids, antibiotics and something to settle his stomach, charged us $250 and sent us home. By the time we got home, he was acting like himself again so we were hopeful that he was on the mend. But the next morning, we awoke to more evidence of a sick cat. And again, after watching him for a couple of hours, we decided to take him to his regular vet. So I loaded our sickly kitty, Gizmo, in his crate and left Pat at home to finish the preps for our departure.
I took Gizmo into the exam room and, for a cat that complained so much about getting into the crate, he really seemed to want back inside now! Anyway, Doctor Mary examined him and gave me the options… one: give him more tummy meds and fluids and then let him be to see if it passes, two: take x-rays to see if there was any blockage or three: do a GI study… “OK and how much does that all cost”, I asked. After pulling myself off the floor upon hearing the price for a GI study, we decided on options one and two with meds for the road. The x-rays showed nothing… And as I wrote our second check to a vet in less than 24 hours, I told our little furry child he was very lucky he was so cute!!!
At this point we were still planning to leave that afternoon, so I took Gizmo (who was very quite and happy in his crate now) to our friend Paula’s to drop off our second car. It was now around 4:00 in the afternoon when I arrived home. I was tired. So after a short discussion, Pat and I decided to get up early on Wednesday morning to start our trek to Milwaukee. That would give Gizmo another night to get well, and us a night of rest.
The next morning we were up at 7:00 a.m. making the final preps for departure. Belongings stowed, check… RV slides pulled in, check… water, sewer and electric disconnected, check… oil level checked, check… levelers retracted… levelers retracted?… um… levelers retracted?! No… After some manipulation, all but the driver’s side leveler retracted but you can’t move the coach with a leveler on the ground without causing major damage to the chassis. So here we sit… ready to roll and can’t move an inch. I called our RV dealer and asked what to do… they gave us some things to try, like “get a board under it and push it up!” Did we tell you that it rained the night before and the front tire and leveler were sitting in a big puddle? Ok, we have a concert to do in three days that is 800 miles away… we’ll try it. The RV park lots are packed gravel… try as we might, there would be no digging out under the leveler. We managed to get a shovel under it, but that didn’t work. Next step, call a mobile RV repair person. The park office suggested a couple of repair places and we started at the top of the list. First we called, Dan. Dan, as most repair men do, asked if my husband could tell him what type of leveler we had? I said there was no husband and I was it for crawling under the coach. So I told him what I knew and he said he would stop by and drain the hydraulic system to get the leveler in the up position so that we could get on our way. We liked the sound of that and waited. He arrived around noon. Remember we started the day at 7:00 a.m. He and his helper, didn’t seem to be very “on the ball”... and after I had told him I didn’t see any hydraulics only electric earlier, he announced that we didn’t have hydraulics… it was an electric motor… thanks Dan… ugh! They then decided to try to “jump” the motor. They stripped the wires and attached the jumper cables. When that didn’t work they reversed the polarity on the cables… I was concerned now. These guys don’t really have a clue, I thought. They were en route to another call and said they wouldn’t be able to stay and diagnose the problem and, at this point, I was sort of glad.
Ok, on to repair man number two… it is now 1:30 and we have miles to cover!! This time we called Roger. He told us he would be there is about an hour… 2:30 rolls around… then 3:30… then 4:30… about 5:00, Roger arrives. We explain the situation and he immediately goes to work. And it was obvious that he had some knowledge… he tried a couple of things and in about 10 minutes diagnosed it as a bad motor. He explained that he had to order a new one and, because of the hour, it would be tomorrow before he would know when it would arrive. His best guess was Monday or Tuesday… maybe later. We were stuck. The RV wasn’t going anywhere for a few days and based on experience with ordering parts, we knew it would most likely be longer than Roger estimated.
We had to cancel our appearances. We couldn’t afford to pay rent for the RV lot and pay for gas and hotels to get there… so I started making calls. Everyone was understanding and sympathetic, but we both felt like we were letting everyone down. Not that we had any control over the situation, but none-the-less, we felt bad. Not including these, Pat and I have only canceled 2 other bookings in the past 13 years of ministry.
So we are home, both of our cars are parked at friend’s homes, our finances are depleted and Pat has no work because she had been replaced for the 2 ½ week time we planned to be on the road. And as of the date of this newsletter, the RV part is still not in… Please see the following section for more information on our needs. Thank you so much to all who have already pitched in to help!
