I shall sleep better tonight!

Last night, I had a terrible time falling asleep, due in part to having to get up early in the morning to get Justin's car to the repair guy. We had decided to leave here about 7:30 a.m. for our less than 30 minute trip across the bridge. We wanted to leave a large margin of error in case the car acted up. As it turned out, we left closer to 8 a.m. with his car starting right off without any problems. Whew!


Once we found the shop, actually a bus lot where "Pat", we found out, is the head mechanic for the school buses there. Pat, whom we had never met, is the gentleman friend of our teammate at Trivia, Justin's, mother. I know, right? Justin is Erica's boyfriend, and Erica is my friend, Stephanie's, daughter. Victory friends! When Justin S. sent me a message at CHRISTmas in WI, telling me that Pat could do the repair for cheap, my Justin made me laugh. He told the family members that his mom was her own social network, finding someone to fix his car for less. 


Altogether this repair cost far far less than what RPM told us they would charge. Pat also changed the burned out light bulb in Justin's taillight, and managed to get the hatchback open, despite the broken latch, to access the light bulb! He showed Justin which cable needs to be replaced in order to make the latch operative, and offered to install it for him (takes 10 minutes according to Pat) once he has the replacement! Nice!


While the car was being worked on, Justin and I went to Publix to pick up a few things. He stocked up on some noodle meals (perfect college student food!) on sale for 45 cents each. Both the cashier and the bagger remarked about how good these are, and how they eat them a lot as college students! Justin bought another confetti cake mix and a can of frosting to make treats for his friends, plus the little cups for lining the cupcake pan. We found some break and bake cookies on sale, a strange brand, plus some cleaning products, real miscellaneous shopping, just to pass the time.


We were unfamiliar territory on that side of town, but thanks to Justin's cell phone, he got familiar! Besides Publix, he found us a McDonald's where we got breakfast and sat down inside to eat. They had TV's on there so we could watch/listen to the news as we wiled away the time. Justin had his iPad with him on which he played a game. My book was left in the car because I didn't really feel like reading, and talked with Justin instead. We got a text message that the engine mounts were installed so we headed back to the shop. Pat was still doing the lightbulb thing so we stood around and watched/chatted with him while he finished up. 


With renewed confidence, we headed back to Orange Park, Justin so glad to have his car up and running again. We got our groceries upstairs and put them away, then we retired to our own rooms. He was glad to have that broken-down car burden behind him, and I was just dog tired! After our little rests, he came into my room and relocated the router and modem to hopefully allow him better reception in his room. He got busy baking and, after my rest, I did a load of wash. Instead of making the confetti cupcakes, he made red velvet ones which smell and look great! His friends were not doing much so he was not going over to Mandarin. 


Feeling somewhat celebratory and a bit relieved about his car, I suggested we go to Manny's Bistro for dinner. The 'family' has all been asking about him, so off we went. The parking lot was nearly full when we got there and I joked that perhaps we'd have to park at La Nap and walk over. (In 2010, my friend Judy C. and I had our cars towed from this same parking lot when going to La Nap!!!) Because they were so busy, it was hard for the family to hang around to visit at all, but he got a couple of nice hugs. 


Rosaria reminded Justin about how he grew radishes in his backyard garden more than 10 years ago. Wow, even I had forgotten about that!!! She was struggling for the right word in English to describe what she was telling about, calling them 'pomadoro', for the color, before he recalled the radishes. Such fun that was! "Oh, you so handsome, honey, so handsome..." Yeah, that won't get old any time soon!


The rest of the evening will be spent watching the returns out of South Carolina and reruns of "Big Bang Theory", bouncing back and forth, waiting for the results. Who will be the next to leave the race? Any bets?