02/18/2021
So, it's a tough time for the bookmobile right now. We're not sure we'll even be able to drive back to Gainesville, but we're still trying to get in better condition.
{The next 3 or 4 paragraphs are very detailed and boring. The last one is more to the point.}
Basically, the night we left town we expected to get halfway to our next stop, Savannah. Instead, we started experiencing some transmission slip only half an hour to the north. Luckily we were close to a Walmart, so we pulled in and spent a few days replacing the transmission fluid and filter.
We had to replace one of the solenoids as well, because it was old and brittle and broke apart. The vehicle was built so that only a mechanic should work on it, and we had to use a jack and move part of the chassis just to take down the transmission pan. I got absolutely soaked in fluid more times than i can count, we had to buy a bolt extractor set for a stripped bolt, etc. Once we got everything put back together, the engine started up with an absolutely horrid roar, both in the body and out of the muffler. I'm concerned that perhaps i put one of the solenoids back incorrectly? But i have no idea how, i tried to make sure it was all correct.
So the engine starts. But I'm worried that if i drive at all, it'll absolutely destroy itself. We're going to spend another day or two trying to resolve the problem, but we've been in this Walmart parking lot for 5 days now. Soon we may have to give it to a junkyard for free.
We're considering trying to limp back to Gainesville, since we like it there anyway, and find a place to park the RV to turn it into a unique, stationary office. Any locals have an idea where we might be able to put it??
Either way, in the end we're still moving forward with the publishing house this year, and I'll be opening a brick and mortar location sooner than later. If you pursue unusual ambitions and take unusual chances, inevitably the odds will occasionally fall out of your favor. That doesn't mean it isn't worth trying those unusual things. I'm stressed and disappointed, and we've been doing alot of crying. But we're alive, and the sun will rise. What more could we need?
