I’ve slept bad for a few days now and the closer I came to today the worse it got. I haven’t had especially many hours of sleep to be honest and the reason? The annual vehicle inspection 🙂 🙂 🙂 It doesn’t matter how new my car has been and also knowing there’s absolutely no wrong with it, I still have a slight panic when it comes closer 🙂 🙂
I had the appointment at 7 am today and my first thought when I woke up was, why didn’t I take one later in the day 🙂 🙂 🙂 Don’t get me wrong, I really think we do need this since I want my car and the ones with me in the traffic as good as possible but I just can’t stand it 🙂 🙂 🙂 I knew it wouldn’t pass this year because there’s a clonk sound when I drive over bumps or potholes, I didn’t know why though. Turns out the spring to the front right tire had broken. At the bottom and just a little so it is still safe to drive it. I was also tole that the Lamda value, something to do with the exhaust fumes) was a bit too high. 1,03 is ok but my car had 1,05. My car had that problem last year as well but and it takes a few minutes to fix so no bigger deal.
So now it’s over for this time and I know I’ll sleep like a baby tonight 🙂 🙂 Well below 0C (32F) this morning but there was no ice on the car! I had it on the inside instead 🙂 The humidity here is almost always high so it creeps in to the car and when one doesn’t drive every day it builds up inside and I’ll have to dry it off as soon as the motor works and heats up the ice. I drive perhaps once a week now so I’ve just accepted it 🙂 The weeks before when I drove to pick up parcels however I had no such problems at all.
The horrible wind we had yesterday was even more so today, not even the forest managed to keep it away. So I’m now for the first time this winter wearing my winter jacket. The wind will calm down towards Friday but instead we’ll get snow!!! I had hoped we had seen the last of that white garbage this winter 🙂 I know it was stupid because if we’re unlucky winter can continue here until early May but it was a long time ago that happened.
If I had known if we would have an early spring this coming year I would have started the sowing now. Some I think I need to sow now, perennials, bushes and trees that needs a period with cold temperatures to be able to germinate. I also have some things that needs a long growth period before they start to flower, like tomatoes for instance, but it is way too early to sow them now, too warm indoors and too little daylight so they grow slow enough. Not even having a greenhouse now will help a lot with that.
It is time for that last cup of tea for the day. I baked two loafs of bread earlier today. I’ve already had a couple of slices but one can never have too many when they are absolutely fresh 🙂 I haven’t caught a mouse in two days now. I know there’s at least one still here, I could hear it earlier today. I hope they haven’t learned that they’ll get caught in the box trap 🙂 🙂 The monsterkitten has been down in the cool cellar so I’m pretty sure she’s after it and hopefully successful in taking it.
Have a great day!
The Cottage by the crane lake. 
We have annual car inspections in Virginia, too, and I totally relate to your worries. Right now I have 2 cars (my 2000 Saturn and a 2007 Hyundai I inherited from my late mother). They are both due for inspection in December.
My father used to give me rides back and forth to get the Saturn inspected, but he’s been gone since 2023, so this year I decided not to bother anybody for rides and handle it all myself. It was like choreographing a ballet.
First, I drove the Hyundai to leave with the mechanics, then hired a Lyft to take me home. The Hyundai passed, which surprised me because I thought it needed tires, but they said the tires are fine. It only has 41,000 miles on it and my mother kept it in a garage (which I don’t have).
To fetch the Hyundai, I drove the Saturn to the mechanics and left it there. The Saturn has 103,000 miles. It passed, but needed a few optional things that I had them do while they can still get the parts. I love the Saturn and will hate to lose it, but one day parts will be unavailable because they haven’t made Saturns for many years.
To fetch the Saturn, I had to hire another Lyft to take me from home to the mechanics. In all, the 2 rides added about $50 to the overall expense, but now both cars have their 2026 stickers and I feel great relief that it’s all done and the cars are fine.
Periodically, they talk about doing away with inspections, but I’d rather have them because there are already too many cars on the road with burnt out headlights, directionals, and brake lights as it is. They’d get really dangerous if nobody forced the owners to get them checked.
LikeLike
Hi catsworking!
I laughed while reading how You managed the logistics of it all 🙂 🙂 Great that the cars managed to go through without any bigger problems. WE have special stations here where the inspection takes place and then we’ll have to take the car to the garage. The garage can then repair and sign the car as good again. We used to get stickers but they stopped doing that many years ago, don’t know why though.
They used to have the inspection every twelve months but nowadays we do it every fourteenth month. I really think we should have this but I still hate to get it done 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
If you don’t have stickers, then how do the police know the car has been inspected? That’s a reason a driver could be stopped and get a ticket here. If the car doesn’t pass inspection, it gets a reject sticker and then has so many days to be fixed and pass. I’ve never had it happen because I take the car to a place that can usually fix any problems so I always get the pass sticker.
LikeLike
They just check the license plate. All police cars have computers now days so it’ll only take a second for them to know 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person