Bad Timing

So, my hubby had to go to Florida for work this week. We didn't find out that he had to go until late last week, so it was very short notice. He is going to be gone until late Thursday.

Of course, it couldn't have come at a more awkward time. My neice is having having her bridal shower on Saturday and on Sunday we are having a birthday party for our son. I am one of the brides maids for my neice so I have to finish getting some things for the shower this week and I have a young son to try to drag around while I run these errands.

So, yesterday on my way home from work my van dings at me. I was going around a corner when it dinged at me so I didn't look down at it right away. I assumed it was dinging at me because I either needed windshield washer fluid or I needed gas. When I looked down I saw that my check engine light had come on.

Now, the van was running just as smootly as ever (which is saying a lot since it has over 100,000 miles on it), so I wasn't sure what was wrong. Since I don't know a lot about what the sensors are hooked up to, I was a little concerned.

Normally, I wouldn't have been so worried, but since I am playig single mom this week, I only have one vehicle and taking the van in to get it serviced is much more of a deal. I didn't want to have to rent a car and I certainly didn't want to drive the van to the airport to get my husbands car since I didn't know what was wrong with it.

I was hoping that I might be able to find a dealership that had loner cars (I know this isn't something that most dealerships do anymore, although they used to). I tried the dealership closest to me and, of course, they didn't offer that service. Plus they weren't sure if they'd be able to fix some things on my van since they are not a Dodge dealer.

So, I decided to call a repair shop that is pretty close to where I work and I'd just walk a few blocks into work. I called them up to see if I could drop it off and they said that they should be able to take a look at it.

The guy I talked to on the phone was very nice and he asked me if I had gotten gas lately. I thought this was an odd question, but I told him no. He proceeded to tell me that sometimes on newer vehicles there is a sensor that can notice that the pressure in your gas tank is less thatn it should be if your cap is not on tight. So, on a whim after I got off the phone with him I went out and checked my gas cap, even though the mechanic didn't think it was the problem since it had been several days since I had last filled up.

My gas cap was a little loose so I tightened it up and turned the van on. I waited a couple of minutes, but the light didn't go off, so I was sure that I was going to have to take the thing in to get it serviced.

This morning, I woke up and got my son ready for pre-k and dropped him off...it's only a few blocks to his school. The light stayed on. When I left from dropping him off...the light came on, but after a minute or so of driving it went off. It has been off since! Thank goodness that the mechanic was nice enough to have mentioned that.

I am not sure what I would have done if I had had to drop it off and they couldn't fix it before 5 (since I need to pick my son up before 5:30)!