I got a rather stark reminder this past weekend that this vile pandemic continues.
My daughter's 22 year old Chevy Lumina has been problematic lately. So I called my trustworthy 80 year old mechanic to tow it in with a flashing (not good) check engine light on October 12th.
He changed the spark plugs and wires which stopped the flashing check engine light, but it was still coming on and throwing codes related to ignition system.
So I took it back a few times over the next 2 weeks so he could check the code and see what he could do about it. He would clear the code and try to make a repair. Changed a coil under #1 plug and it seemed to work, no more codes at the moment.
So I picked the car up on the 28th after it was in and out of the garage 3 more times to check the latest code.
But on the 28th, my 80 year old mechanic who I've known forever was noticeably flu like sick. I put on a mask the split second I noticed he was ill which was fairly quick. I just got the covid booster a week earlier on the 21st. He was saying he just had a cold or something. "Something" was right.
I called him back the next day to tell him the code didn't come back and maybe it's fixed? But he sounded worse on the phone and said he was shutting down a few days because of fever and chills. I asked if he was vaccinated and he said no. I wished him good luck and told him to consider going to the ER before he winds up with pneumonia.
I called back the next 8 days to check on him, no answer. Dark.
Monday morning I stopped in at my lawn tractor dealer for a couple parts. Where I found out my mechanic died Sunday morning. Of double pneumonia. That started with those flu like symptoms on the 28th.
So sad, so sickening. Such a nice guy who just didn't take things seriously enough.
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I'll miss you Jim. A lot.