Head Gaskets and Hernias

Yes, you read correctly. Today’s topics are Head Gaskets and Hernias. They deserve capitalization due to the price that each commands. About a week ago I took my truck “Chucky Bob” in for a standard oil change. I decided not to do it myself for two reasons; I don’t like working in the cold and I was sore. I have a naval hernia and felt it tear a bit a day or so before.  I got bad news on Chucky Bob, he has blown his head gasket. This explains why I sometimes smelt radiator fluid as the coolant can pass into the cylinders. Unfortunately, this is not a simple fix. You have to pull the head, the top of the motor, along with all of the pieces parts that attach to it, like the injector system and air conditioning. Then you can replace the gasket. The head needs to be machined to get a perfect fit, the timing belt realigned, the head reinstalled and torque to the proper tension, and then you put back on the pieces parts, including the AC unit, which requires a full recharge of refrigerant.

Now doing such a job might be fun, if I were retired, had lots of time, another working vehicle and good friends to work with in a fully heated and outfitted garage. I don’t and so the boys at C.J.’s Automotive got the job, and enough money to take a nice trip with the family to Mexico.  C.J.s is a good shop here in Bountiful. Not only can they replace your head gasket, but if want to buy a silenced firearm they have the licenses to do that too. They are a class 3 firearms dealer: machine guns etc. I wish I could spend the money on the head gasket on toys. It would be much more fun.

The day I took the truck in I saw my doctor. He recommended a surgeon, who recommended a Friday surgery.  Since a simple cough could cause enough pain to nearly put on the floor, I decided to take his recommendation. So while the truck is having the head gasket replaced, I was having a bellybutton nip/tuck. That is even more expensive than a head gasket. Another family vacation down the drain; however they did give me drugs. Of course I don’t like the drugs. They make my head groggy. Today is day five and I have taken 7 pain pills. I guess I’m doing well, but am surprised how tired I am. I suspect that is as much from the surgery and the pain as from the drugs.

Andrew is very worried about my Steristrips. He keeps signing ‘no IV’ and ‘Dr.’ in the past tense. He makes notes for me that saw “Bandaid off”. He will be very relieved when these come off. I did a nice job of keeping it from him for two days, but I shower him most mornings and Monday am he spotted it. There is not fooling him when it comes to Drs.

All in all it has been an expensive week! I guess I just high maintenance. Who knew?