Disaster Strikes Merzola!

Ok, so I am exaggerating a little bit, but the headline is quite catchy, isn't it? Last week, in preparation for a Thursday to Tuesday trip to the beach, I took the Merzola in to have an oil leak diagnosed and repaired. It turns out it was the rear main seal which means they had to take the transmission out to replace the gasket. Wednesday at 5pm, the shop called to tell me there was no way they could finish the work by end of day so I would have to make alternate travel arrangements. I still have my suv, so no biggie, right? Wrong. As I mentioned in my last blog, Atlanta is currently in the midst of a gas crisis. One in fifteen stations actually have gas and you have to wait about 45 minutes in line just to get your chance. Ridiculous! So Wednesday evening, I spent about 2 hours driving around to get $50 in gas (that's the pump limit). Luckily, outside of Atlanta, there is plenty of fuel to be had.

The trip was fine apart from not being able to drive the Merzola and get some free mileage. It would make the perfect beach car, too. Nobody drives fast at the beach except when they are first coming in.

On Monday, I got an email from the shop...the infamous "good news and bad news":

"When we were removing the engine mounts and getting ready to remove the engine to inspect/replace the head gasket, the mounts broke and we no longer had supporting structure to hold the engine while we attached the chain to lift from the car.

The good news is the steel rods which insert through the motor mounts only cost $11.65 each. The bad news is there are no parts here in the US so we have to order them from Germany. It will take 7-10 days to get the parts shipped in."

One word...Ugh! I was actually kind of relieved when I read the description. When I first saw "good news and bad news" in the subject line, I thought for sure the bad news = lots of $$$. I suppose I can live without the Merzola for a week or so. It just means I will have to limit my driving (i.e. work from home). I guess the bright side is I will have a few weeks to stockpile some veggie oil.