Nostalgia
Home for the holidays early this year, taking advantage of the freedom and flexibility that a professorial job offers. Hey, seeing as it looks like this will be the last holiday season/winter break that I spend in academics, I might as well live it up.
Living it up today consisted of cleaning out my grandfather's car. When my grandfather passed away last August, I was home to help Mom with a lot of nuts and bolts of dealing with the estate. Since the car was considered an asset, it couldn't be sold until the will was probated and the estate was settled, which just happened about a month ago. So, back in August I drove the car down from the assisted living facility where my grandfather had lived and put it into my Mom's garage.
In his declining health and with his poor eyesight, Pop-pop didn't do such a good job keeping the interior of his car that clean. There were a lot of crumbs, water bottles, garbage, wrappers, old paperwork, tools, and a fine layer of grime over everything. Mom just hasn't had the willpower, physically or emotionally, to go deal with it sitting there in the garage, but it needed to be cleaned up so that it can now be sold.
Well, I guess I should have asked about it a little more often, because I don't think Mom has even started it in six months, so I'm pretty sure that every fluid in the car settled into a viscous pool of goo at the bottom of whatever holding tank it was in. The battery appeared to be fine, though, as all the dashboard lights came on, but the car literally sounded like someone had taken a box full of metal parts, dumped them where the engine should be, and then started mixing them vigorously. FYI, this is a 1996 Chevrolet Caprice Classic. Like the state troopers used to drive.
Anyway, after about 10 minutes of coaxing, and giving it a little gas, the engine finally turned over and sputtered to life. It was touch and go there for a little while, and there was virtually no oil pressure when it first got going, but everything did even out and settle into a reasonably smooth idle after about 20 minutes. I let it run for over an hour while I set to work on cleaning the interior with spray cleaner, windex, and the vacuum. Pop-pop had apparently spilled some soda at some point, because there was a lot of brown sticky goo over a lot of the dashboard. I found papers from years ago, old prescriptions, a doctor's appointment card for mid-September 2005 (he passed away August 12th), old tapes, glasses, and, most poignantly, a shopping list in his handwriting. I can see why Mom was not anxious to jump in and do this.
The one thing that wouldn't go away, however, was the 'Check Engine' light. My guess is that it probably has something to do with the emissions system and having sat unused so long, because operationally, everything seemed fine. The registration and inspection have both expired, so I didn't want to take it out on the road, but after I got it cleaned up, I popped in one of Pop-pop's Dean Martin tapes and drove the old boat around the block a couple of times, and everything seemed fine. It's back in the garage now, but I will probably see if Mom wants me to take it to the dealer and get it inspected and the 'Check Engine' light figured out, so she can finally sell it and reclaim half of her garage, which is where the patio furniture usually goes.
It is strange having him gone. This is the first time that it's really hit me, since it is the first time that I've been home again since his funeral. I would always go and see him and have lunch with him when I came home to visit, which is now obviously missing. Somehow I think it's easier to lose one's grandparents at an earlier age. The younger you are, the less you understand or comprehend death and dying. I lost my grandmother at 16, my great aunt at 22, and now my grandfather at 29, and I've felt each loss more acutely, which I attribute to having a progressively more adult relationship with each of them in turn. I realize, only too late, how little I really knew about them as people, outside their roles as my family members. It really serves as a reminder to me that life is fleeting, we only go around once, and so appreciate the time you have with people and don't forget to live and enjoy life.
Perhaps the last blog before the holidays. If so, may everyone have a warm and safe holiday spent in the presence of family and friends.
Living it up today consisted of cleaning out my grandfather's car. When my grandfather passed away last August, I was home to help Mom with a lot of nuts and bolts of dealing with the estate. Since the car was considered an asset, it couldn't be sold until the will was probated and the estate was settled, which just happened about a month ago. So, back in August I drove the car down from the assisted living facility where my grandfather had lived and put it into my Mom's garage.
In his declining health and with his poor eyesight, Pop-pop didn't do such a good job keeping the interior of his car that clean. There were a lot of crumbs, water bottles, garbage, wrappers, old paperwork, tools, and a fine layer of grime over everything. Mom just hasn't had the willpower, physically or emotionally, to go deal with it sitting there in the garage, but it needed to be cleaned up so that it can now be sold.
Well, I guess I should have asked about it a little more often, because I don't think Mom has even started it in six months, so I'm pretty sure that every fluid in the car settled into a viscous pool of goo at the bottom of whatever holding tank it was in. The battery appeared to be fine, though, as all the dashboard lights came on, but the car literally sounded like someone had taken a box full of metal parts, dumped them where the engine should be, and then started mixing them vigorously. FYI, this is a 1996 Chevrolet Caprice Classic. Like the state troopers used to drive.
Anyway, after about 10 minutes of coaxing, and giving it a little gas, the engine finally turned over and sputtered to life. It was touch and go there for a little while, and there was virtually no oil pressure when it first got going, but everything did even out and settle into a reasonably smooth idle after about 20 minutes. I let it run for over an hour while I set to work on cleaning the interior with spray cleaner, windex, and the vacuum. Pop-pop had apparently spilled some soda at some point, because there was a lot of brown sticky goo over a lot of the dashboard. I found papers from years ago, old prescriptions, a doctor's appointment card for mid-September 2005 (he passed away August 12th), old tapes, glasses, and, most poignantly, a shopping list in his handwriting. I can see why Mom was not anxious to jump in and do this.
The one thing that wouldn't go away, however, was the 'Check Engine' light. My guess is that it probably has something to do with the emissions system and having sat unused so long, because operationally, everything seemed fine. The registration and inspection have both expired, so I didn't want to take it out on the road, but after I got it cleaned up, I popped in one of Pop-pop's Dean Martin tapes and drove the old boat around the block a couple of times, and everything seemed fine. It's back in the garage now, but I will probably see if Mom wants me to take it to the dealer and get it inspected and the 'Check Engine' light figured out, so she can finally sell it and reclaim half of her garage, which is where the patio furniture usually goes.
It is strange having him gone. This is the first time that it's really hit me, since it is the first time that I've been home again since his funeral. I would always go and see him and have lunch with him when I came home to visit, which is now obviously missing. Somehow I think it's easier to lose one's grandparents at an earlier age. The younger you are, the less you understand or comprehend death and dying. I lost my grandmother at 16, my great aunt at 22, and now my grandfather at 29, and I've felt each loss more acutely, which I attribute to having a progressively more adult relationship with each of them in turn. I realize, only too late, how little I really knew about them as people, outside their roles as my family members. It really serves as a reminder to me that life is fleeting, we only go around once, and so appreciate the time you have with people and don't forget to live and enjoy life.
Perhaps the last blog before the holidays. If so, may everyone have a warm and safe holiday spent in the presence of family and friends.
posted by Professor B at 1:52 PM
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