Lost Morning to Chores

I lost my morning to this.

The plan was to have a girlfriend pick me up at the dealership and I would help her put her computer together. Then when my car was finished she would drop me off. Well that's not what happened. 

She didn't show up, but there was a funeral at our church. I didn't know the gentleman, but I do know the family.  I didn't plan on going to the funeral, I didn't know my friend decided to go.

So I sat for 4 hours while my vehicle got fixed.

A few weeks ago I had taken my Explorer into the Ford dealership because it was making a clunking noise when I turned hard.  They told me it was my shocks, so I had them replace both back shocks. $250 later. I drove home and it made the noise again the next morning.  Back to the Ford dealership. They decided it must be the ball bearings, so they repacked them or what every they did to them, it involved a machine shop due to rust or something to the tune of $600.  The next night my husband said that the noise was still happening. We had dropped off his vehicle at the Toyota dealership for a oil change. So when I went to pick it up, the service manager asked how my day was going and I told him that I was tired of vehicles being in the shop. He frowned and asked why? Knowing it wasn't his shop I was talking about.  I explained what happened at Ford and he asked if I had the Explorer with me. Yes, so he said lets go look. In the rain, he crawled under my truck and bounced the back a few times and said I know what it is. Joints like our knees hold the body to the chassis, and sometimes the vehicles equivalent of the cartilage get messed up. He was willing to order the part and schedule my truck in.  So my appointment was this morning.  After about 20 minutes, the mechanic came out from the garage and said it's not the joint, but a spring. The manager called the parts place and they ran a set over.  I had them replace both springs because they came as a set.
In the second picture, you can see where the spring is broken and there is rust build up, which means it's been broken for a while.  After the work was down, the mechanic and the manager told me that if the other dealership had my truck on the lift and the tires off, there was no way they could have missed the broken spring.

Because I have a boy scout meeting tonight, I didn't want to get into a project and have to stop to get cleaned up and change into my scout shirt.  I am the Advancement Chair for our boy scout troop. Tonight we have a Eagle Scout Board of Review. This is where the scout brings his completed application to become an Eagle scout before a Board of scout masters from the area, he answers questions and they review his complete package on his project, his merit badges, his volunteering and letters of recommendations.  Because I have been helping him write his eagle package and organize his book, I'm not a voting member.  I guide the scout, through the process, like telling him where to stand and what to expect. I make sure his uniform is sharp. I also bring all the paperwork for signatures by all the board members to send to the council for the official Boy Scouts of America for final approval. Tomorrow morning I will package up everything and send it in. Once we get his approval back from headquarters, I gather everything for the award ceremony. I also help  him and the scout master write invitations and the ceremony program. Plus I order all the actual award stuff, like pins, neckerchief scarf and patches.