Such a small little sticker ... what a stressful mess! Landon's truck was up for inspection and registration. Landon took it in and it didn't pass. The "check engine" light had been on. He took it into our local mechanic for a fix.
It wan't a quick or easy (or inexpensive) fix.
Basically, one of the cylinders was misfiring, causing it to spew a little too much exhaust (nothing visible, but apparently above the standards for inspection). The fix? A new engine! Ummmm ... of course we had waited until close to the expiration of the truck before finding the motivation to get in and now we were out of time. Not only would the repair be costly ($5000+) but could possibly also take weeks! At this point we had to consider if it was even worth it to invest more money into the truck. Decisions, decisions, and no time.
I called and got some information and options ... apparently we could possibly get a waiver for the year if we showed we had attempted a repair and spent a required amount of money. We'd had the truck into the shop BEFORE the repair, trying to address the "check engine" issue but it hadn't fixed the issue.
Landon went into the DMV to apply for a temporary extension (two weeks) ... the truck had been expired for TWO DAYS when he was pulled over and given a ticket. SO frustrating for me! I am a bit OCD about registration and am aware of so many people driving around months expired. I couldn't believe the cop would be that mean to grab Landon who had expired over the weekend, when it was apparent we were aware of it and doing our best to remedy the situation. Grrrrrrr .... $90. Thanks a lot Sandy City Police Department!
After many more phone conversations, another trip to the shop, a trip back into the original location who had done some work ... Grayson went in and applied for the waiver. It was granted. Whew. It doesn't really solve anything, it just buys us a little time to decide what to do and make it happen. It will at least leave Landon with a car and a way to get around until he leaves on his mission, then we can stick it in the shop or do whatever we decide to do.
Callahan driving is just around the corner ...
He turns 16 just days after Landon leaves ...
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