Quite the adventure yesterday, I tell ya. We were all set to head up to Michigan for pre-New Year's Eve at the Pinksters, but we didn't make it. At least not on schedule. We made it about as far as New Paris when the truck started chugging, the dials went wacky, the interior lights started going on and off, and the truck died. Right there on the road. We coasted in to the parking lot at a gas station and we were stuck. Turning the key was met with silence. Dead like fried chicken. Now I have been in a vehicle going down the highway before when the alternator died, and that was all the classic signs of the alternator dying. The same alternator which I had had replaced barely 3 weeks ago. Man, I was hot. We had to call a tow truck, actually a flatbed, to come haul the truck all the way back to Warsaw. We left it at the Ford dealer (closed because Sunday) and headed home, then carried out the plan of the day in the other car. We got to Michigan a few hours late, but we made it. We had 2nd Christmas with the family for the day (including Trevor getting the doggie doo game, which made Marve laugh so hard that everyone else cracked up) and headed back home in the late evening. The Ford dealer was open today, so I was all set to go read them the riot act over the brand new alternator crapping out after 3 weeks, but as it turns out it wasn't the alternator, it was the wires leading to the alternator, which had been chewed through by a rodent! Again! Well, at least this time it was only $65 to get it fixed.

We had a nice post-Christmas visit with Laura and Thomas. After taking the kids to see "Rise of the Guardians" at the Rave yesterday we met them in Fort Wayne, then stopped at Barnes & Noble and Coldstone Creamery before heading to the Coliseum to watch the Komets game. The Komets lost to the Toledo Walleye, 5-2. But tempering the loss was the crazy t-shirt guy working his way through the crowd. I assume it was a Komets promotion or something, but this guy wearing what must have been dozens of Komets t-shirts was walking around, dancing to music over the PA, and every minute or so pulling off a t-shirt and throwing it to someone. Alex ended up catching an orange Komets shirt, which made him very happy, and Laura got a white one which she gave to me. They stayed overnight, then we took them out to lunch at Southside Soda Shop in Goshen. Thomas got the chili that was featured on Diners Drive-ins and Dives, which was pretty good, he said.

Today the Cub Scouts had our last get-together before breaking until after the holidays. We met up at Courts of Colfax, which is an assisted living apartment complex, and went Christmas caroling. It was nice and the residents enjoyed it, but the logistics are not great for it. The hallways are pretty narrow, so if you have a large-ish group it's hard for everyone to stand together to sing, so the ones in the back are pretty far away from the ones in front and it's hard to see and hear what the front of the group is doing. We tried singing as we walked the halls but that doesn't work too well either. But, it was appreciated. Afterwards we had a carry-in type banquet at Pleasant View church, where we handed out awards and badges and had a nice Christmas dinner. The Lemps worked pretty hard to organize and get everything decorated, and it was a great event for the scouts. They also handed out appreciation gifts for all the adult leaders, which was a hand-lettered and designed decorative plate, very nice, I plan to put it up in the kitchen at home.

Hey, remember when the check engine light in the truck came on about 2 weeks ago? Well, now it came back again. I was hoping for another simple fix but this time it was actually something. The alternator. Nothing for it but to have it replaced, for $465, ouch.