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Countdown to Depature: T -1 Days
Jul. 12th, 2023 11:33 amThis is our final full day and night at home before casting off for Canada tomorrow afternoon after I get off work. Tasks for today include packing our COVID-19 tests and N-95 masks, and also packing our costumes.
Yesterday, Lisa cleaned out the Astro and vacuumed it thoroughly. The clean-out also cleared up a worrisome mystery. For the past couple of weeks, I kept hearing an intermittent clunk coming from the back of the minivan when accelerating from and coming to a stop. It did not always happen, and it seems unlikely to be anything that had routine maintenance lately, like the rear differential and transmission fluid. Lisa chocked the front wheels, jacked up the rear wheels, had me put the van in neutral, and we tried to recreate the sound by rotating the left rear wheel: nothing. But we both had heard that noise.
We lowered the Astro off the jack and Lisa returned to clearing out the back of the minivan. She opened up the compartment where the emergency jack is stored. "Well, there's your problem," she told me. The jack is supposed to be held in place by a nut. The nut had come loose, and the jack could slide back and forth freely. She tightened it down and closed the compartment.
This morning, I took the Astro out for a run, deliberately trying to cause the clunking noise by accelerating and decelerating harder than usual. No clunking. Hooray! That's a load off our minds.
Now back to deciding how to fit everything into boxes, including a 2002 Hugo Award trophy and a 1994 Hugo Award base, neither of which pack easily.
Yesterday, Lisa cleaned out the Astro and vacuumed it thoroughly. The clean-out also cleared up a worrisome mystery. For the past couple of weeks, I kept hearing an intermittent clunk coming from the back of the minivan when accelerating from and coming to a stop. It did not always happen, and it seems unlikely to be anything that had routine maintenance lately, like the rear differential and transmission fluid. Lisa chocked the front wheels, jacked up the rear wheels, had me put the van in neutral, and we tried to recreate the sound by rotating the left rear wheel: nothing. But we both had heard that noise.
We lowered the Astro off the jack and Lisa returned to clearing out the back of the minivan. She opened up the compartment where the emergency jack is stored. "Well, there's your problem," she told me. The jack is supposed to be held in place by a nut. The nut had come loose, and the jack could slide back and forth freely. She tightened it down and closed the compartment.
This morning, I took the Astro out for a run, deliberately trying to cause the clunking noise by accelerating and decelerating harder than usual. No clunking. Hooray! That's a load off our minds.
Now back to deciding how to fit everything into boxes, including a 2002 Hugo Award trophy and a 1994 Hugo Award base, neither of which pack easily.
