This morning, I had an appointment with my cousin, who had replaced the water pump on my van a while back.  That would be the one that the garage is saying needs to be replaced, and that it was loose.

The water pump is fine.  And if it weren’t, it’s still under warranty, and he’d be fixing it, at his own cost.

Also, that small coolant leak?

Has stopped leaking.  This one, I saw leaking myself.  I guess it just needed some time after work was done.

I told him about what had been happening with the coolant, getting the thermostat changed, then discovering the coolant had been leaking out the back.  He commented that it was too bad they’d changed the thermostat – but it still might have needed to be changed, considering the age of the vehicle.

Everything checked out fine.  My alternator is making a slight whining noise.  He told me that I only needed to be concerned if it started to get louder.  Which might not happen for a year, even.  It would be an expensive job to do, because of how difficult it is to get to, so there’s no point in doing it now.

I also asked him about the stalling problem.  When we first start the vehicle, it sometimes stalls right away.  I start it again, while giving it a bit of gas, and it’s fine.  He talked to me about the sensor and how, on starting, the onboard computer checks all the sensors.  It could just be reading a lack of oxygen or something, but if I just give it a bit of gas while starting it, it should be fine.  Nothing wrong; just a bit inconvenient.  Replacing the sensor would be very expensive.

His recommendation?  Change nothing.  If there’s a problem with the water pump, which he can’t find, he will change it, at no cost to me.  There is nothing to prevent us from taking longer trips, like going to the city and back.  Not that we can do that, since our budget has been completely blown by all the work done on the van, but it’s a relief, to be sure.

I’m going to have to have a talk with the garage about that water pump recommendation.

As I was typing this, my husband just updated me.  We got a notice in the mail from our satellite internet provider.  They have access to a new satellite, which can offer increased upload and download speeds and less stuttering in service.  There is also the option to upgrade plans with higher data.  Which we don’t need right now, since we got two accounts to get the higher data that we do have.  I don’t mind that too much, since one of the accounts will be something my daughter can claim on her taxes next year.

In about a week, we’ll get a call from a technician to come over and align the satellite dishes to the new satellite.

So that’ll be nice.

After I got home from getting the van checked, I was in my crochet corner, working on a new basket, when I noticed Hungry Girl coming up to the feed.  And oh, look – there’s Barbecue over by the trees.

No.  That’s Barbecue coming up now…

They brought a new friend with them!

A strange new friend…

My first thought was that was an odd sun dappling pattern.

Where there is no sun to dapple.

Wait a minute…

Sure enough, it turned out to be a piebald deer!

Clearly, a deer they were completely comfortable with.  There was no animosity of any kind, like we see when Mama and the Twins or Detail and her boy come by.

There’s even a little big of it on her other side.

What a remarkable looking deer!  I’ve never seen anything like this before.  I’ve seen photos of albino deer, but that’s it.

Eventually, they left because of the cats.  I hope the new one comes back!  We’re thinking of calling her Patches. 😀

The Re-Farmer