http://www.cmog.org/
Got the scooter uncovered, let the lift down, took the scooter off, and the lift would not go back up. I did everything I knew how to do--turned it off and turned it back on again, hit it a few times, shook it a little, nothing. So, I thought I'll go in, see the museum, come back and, if it has some rest time, it will recover and come back up.
Off to the museum. Got to the second (of about seven) sections of the museum, and my scooter starts to act like it is out of charge. (It should go a whole day on a charge.) I had charged it two days ago by running an extension cord from the van where it was into my room. It was charging when I hooked it up. I closed the door on the cord. The next morning when I opened the door, I noticed that the door had rubbed the outer covering from the cord, but hadn't worried about it. Now, I decided that I had probably broken and destroyed the extension cord and that the poor scooter did not get any charge at all that night.
So, I took her back up, put her on the lift, and the lift wouldn't come up. So, I turned the lift off and on again, hit her a few times, shook her. Nothing. So, I called The Scooter Store (where I bought the lift) and they had my account and number and everything. They gave me the number of Harmar (the maker of the lift). Called them and they gave me the numbers of two companies qualified to service it--one right there in Corning, one about 9 miles away.
I called the guy in Corning. "We are sorry we missed your call. Please leave us a message and we will get back to you." Then the machine hung up on me without giving me a chance to leave a message. Tried again with the same result. Called the other number.
This person picked up immediately, but he was in Rochester (about two hours away) and had about three hours left on the job he was doing. Then it would be two hours to get back to home and another half hour to get to Corning. It was about 11:30 at this point. 5:00 before he could get there! I gave him my phone number and asked him to call me if he thought of someone who could get to me sooner, I would keep trying the other number, and I would call him if they could get to me.
I tried the other number--same result. I figured I'd wait until one--they could be at lunch. I sat at a table under a shade near my van and read the rest of a chapter in my book. It was about 86 (would be a cold wave in Dallas), but more humid than I was used to, and I decided I'd take the scooter back into the museum and see if I could plug it in somewhere. I grabbed the charger from the van.
All this time the greeter person standing between the parking lot and the museum right near me had been most helpful and supportive. His job, I think, was to greet the tour buses, as well as other visitors and generally answer questions. I also think he was there to call for help in the case of car problems. But, he'd never seen a lift like mine and was interested and pretty good at commiserating with me.
I headed back into the museum and asked the guy at the info desk at the door if I could plug the scooter in for awhile. "No problem" he said and showed me a plug back behind the desk that is "never used anymore." I plugged her in and headed back to the museum restaurant. It was pretty impressive. I had a bowl of cream of broccoli soup (yes, I had a bread stick!) and a Greek salad with shrimp (but no croutons--a total waste of calories). The info guy had told me about a shuttle that picks people up at the museum and one of the stops is a pretty little shopping center. The shuttle has a lift for my scooter. I began to contemplate asking if the shuttle could take me to a hotel for the night.
At 1:00, I called the closer repair place again and got a busy signal. I decided that was an improvement. I waited about 5 minutes, tried again, and got someone. I explained the situation and she called her husband on a CB or something similar so I could hear the conversation. She called me a "little old lady!" SHE NEVER EVEN MET ME!! That was a first.
I told her it was a white van with Texas plates sitting in the parking lot of Corning Glass Museum with the lift down, and she asked me the license number so he could identify it when he got there. I asked if she honestly believed there would be more than one white van with Texas plates in the parking lot in Corning New York with its lift down... I mean, I could give her the license plate number, but it sounded like overkill.
She said he would call me when he started toward Corning, but he called me from the parking lot. (He'd had no trouble figuring out which van was mine.)
I raced back out and gave him my key. He tried it, turned it off and on again, hit it and shook it. Nothing. (It is always gratifying when the machine does what you said it was doing in front of the repair man.)
He opened it up, tried it, sprayed the connection with WD-40, cleaned the points real well, tried it, and it worked. Put it back together and called it "fixed." He explained that when it gets wet, the points can corroded. I made a comment that it looked like pretty much any electrician could fix it when that happens (thinking about who I could call if I could get a Harmar licensed repairman.) He said, "Oh, you are saying 'Any monkey could do this.'" I protested that I would never consider an electrician a "monkey," but I also thought that made us even for the "little old lady" comment. Eighty dollars later, I went back into the museum.
I thought, "Well maybe my scooter has charged enough to allow me to see the rest of the museum." Wrong-O. She gave out in the middle of section 3. (She starts to show yellow instead of green, then she turns to red and when she is really ready to stop, she blinks red.) She usually needs to charge overnight to get a full charge and I knew that--wishful thinking.
So, back to the van I went, put her on the lift, the lift went up and I drove to the information center in Corning to find out where the nearest winery is--if you can't see a glass museum, drink. I stopped for a cup of coffee, which had smelled better than it was, but I enjoyed it. While drinking coffee, it started raining again--a real downpour, however brief, it was hard. I was glad I'd covered the scooter, but they'd already told me I couldn't just cover the lift mechanism with plastic because of condensation. All I can hope for is that it has time to dry out after getting wet. It usually will in Dallas. Maybe not in southern New York.
I decided to come back to the motel I'd stayed at last night and get a room before going to the winery. By the time I got moved in and the scooter in the room, plugged in and charging, it was after 5:00 and the wineries would be closed. I then changed my decision that after that nice lunch, I didn't need dinner. A little cheese, a bottle of wine, would do fine. I pulled the bottle I had chilling in the cooler, some nice sharp cheddar cheese, and called that supper. Fresh Tracks Farm Frontenac Gris (Berlin--near Stowe--Vermont.) It is better that I'd remembered--probably the cheese.
I've talked to TR (he is getting bored, but is taking lots of Atavan and is staying calm--he is thinking he will be home Saturday, which I could make if I buckle down and go straight home), my sister, Amy, who hadn't known I'd uploaded the wedding pics to the blog and looked at them while I was on the phone, and Tom and Larry who had just looked at the blog and had enjoyed it.
I'm thinking I will continue to "wine" on the way home because I only have 9 bottles at the moment and really can't justify coming all the way up here and coming home with only 9 bottles to last us the winter. I'll probably get home around Monday. I'll be really glad to see TR.
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