Moral of the Story: Don't take your car to Jiffy Lube

A few weeks ago we finally decided to get our oil changed. We had been neglecting this important action because Mr. Bluth did not want to spend money on getting the oil changed when he could do it for free. One minor problem with him doing it is the fact that we lack a garage and just park on the street. We also did not know where to take our car and, with a transient ward, it is hard to get good recommendations.

Time passed and no action was taken and so that left Mrs. Bluth with finding a coupon for Jiffy Lube and making the assumption that getting your oil changed would be the same anywhere you take your car.

One cheap oil change and a few weeks later we find ourselves at church. Mrs. Bluth stayed after to help teach a lesson with the missionaries while Mr. Bluth took our dear friend Mattie home. Now if you saw the news from last weekend you will remember that the Mid-West was hit with a powerful storm. The Chicago Tribune said that 80 tornados hit the Midwest with a lot of damage in downstate Illinois. Mrs. Bluth is in Primary which meant that she missed Relief Society when everyone's phones were going off about weather warnings and so did not know much about what was happening outside. The lesson with the Sisters was a great one and the invitation to be baptized was accepted. After the lesson, Mrs. Bluth phones Mr. Bluth and he proclaims "I am trapped in the car, you are going to have to run for it." The rain was falling from the sky so strong that it felt like you were underneath a waterfall. Mrs. Bluth offers everyone a ride and preparations were made to run to the car. As they are running to the car Mr. Bluth is shouting something and it is not until everyone was in the car that they realize he was telling everyone to stay inside because the car would not start.

All five of us sat in the car and Mr. Bluth continued to have no luck with turning the car on. Unfortunately we sat for too long in the car and almost everyone had left the church, but we did find one brave soul that tried to help us jump the car. After a few minutes of standing out in the rain and no luck with the car, our friend took everyone else home. We then proceeded to call AAA and found out that we would have a very long wait. We then spent the next 1.5 hours in the car watching the storm pass through along with stressing and laughing about the situation with our stomachs growling for food and our bladders ready to burst. When AAA arrived the sun was out and he find the issue with our car in about two seconds. He opened the hood and saw that our battery had too much corrosion built up on the battery terminals and it could not recharge. He cleaned off the battery and jumped in and the car started with no problem. Mr. AAA man was very helpful and when he found out that we had just taken our car to Jiffy Lube, he looked us in the eye and said to never take your car to Jiffy Lube. Our rotting battery should stand out like a sore thumb to any mechanic and yet somehow they missed it.

Lesson learned.

Another adventure to add to our books.

October 31

Mr and Mrs Bluth survived one of the least survivable holidays. I guess, at the end of the day, it's not so much what you are celebrating--it's with whom.

A few of our firsts.

--Mr and Mrs Bluth volunteered to make homemade root beer for the ward Halloween party. Bought the root beer extract, sugar and started mixing. For some reason, the brand of root beer that we used does not add any artificial coloring. So the root beer looked kind of like watered-down cream soda. But it still had plenty of sugar and dry ice, so it tasted just fine.

--Mr and Mrs Bluth also dressed up in a costumes couple. Neither of us are huge Halloween aficionados. Actually it is a tiny bit of an annoyance for both of us. Mr Bluth just isn't plain creative enough and gets grossed out by gore. Mrs Bluth gets startled easily. Nevertheless, the Bluths dressed ourselves up as Salt and Pepper (the seasonings, not the 90's R&B trio Salt-N-Pepa). Because he's the salt to my pepper. The apple to my pie. The smoke to my high.

--Mr and Mrs Bluth went to their first married couple Halloween party. A married couple Halloween party is very different from a singles/Provo party. This party increased our desire to participate more in the festivities and we are determined to be more creative next year. Hopefully in one year we can come up with a costume that is clever, easy to wear, and that requires little preparation to make (oh, and cheap).

And now to conclude this post with a little poem that describes what is currently happening in Chicago.

What is this?
The cold air whips as it passes
This is. . .
When the city gets more and more
nippy for the masses.

Has it already arrived?
This weather that,
Harshly and Hopelessly,
Forces us to cover up.
But summer was short lived.