I got up early this morning with Panna's help so that I could go over to the jeep dealership to identify the part I need. Hopefully, they'll have it.

I had to wipe down the side windows and mirrors of the overnight condensation so I could see when driving. I wish I had that problem back home. As the ground was wet, I tried out the 4-hi on my transfer case on the two-track dirt lane leading up to the gravel road, and then dropping back into 2-hi. This jeep doesn't slip around much! I like how it takes off slowly to keep traction. After a nice long drive that was straight and had only a few stop signs, it curved off in a new direction towards the town of Delaware. If you were to look back at a specific barn (you will see it when you drive back in a northeast direction north of Hwy 36 on Hwy 521), you would see the words on the side of it, "Every day is Earth Day to a farmer."

I got to the dealership in southeast Delaware, who said they didn't have the part available, but could get it by the next morning from the main warehouse in Cleveland. In fact, it would arrive before the shop opened again tomorrow morning. The mechanic suggested a quick fix; a short section of vacuum tubing with the same inside diameter as the boot being replaced until the part would come in tomorrow. It happened to be a BIT longer than the boot it would temporarily replace. Past experience taught me to drive and test everything that might be connected to the vacuum system. I had received email from the wrangler forum saying that the IAC (Idle Air Control) valve might be dirty, so I was prepared to ask that it be checked out if the quick repair didn't fix it.

I drove out, and while it fixed the AC vent control and the cruise control, it didn't fix the idling up and down, so I drove back and requested diagnostics to find out why it was doing it. I had to wait while the mechanic checked it out. He came back, saying no codes at all were showing up, and he couldn't get the jeep to idle up and down like it was doing. Immediately, I asked that he ride with me; maybe I could get it to do it if I came to a medium-hard stop. I tried and tried over a five-mile ride, and never again did it surge forward. It sounds like it not only controls cruise control, AC vent control, but also engine idle speed.

The thing is, once you replace the part, you have to re-establish vacuum pressure spec by driving for 5-10 miles (or running the motor long enough at a high RPM?) so the vacuum system sucks the air out. This means that you will have AC and cruise control working, but your engine will idle up and down at lights until the air is bled out. I could be wrong, but it makes sense. It's working fine now. I will come back in the morning to get the correct part and put it in myself. I drove it up to highway speed to the grocery store and stopped at lights for over 20 miles without idling up and down. It is a case of sufficient vacuum to run the cruise control and the AC vents properly, and yet not enough vacuum to accurately control idling speed. Anyway, the jeep runs fine now! I would just feel better knowing I have the correct part installed.

So, I went onto the grocery store to get more food and things for Panna before meeting up with Christelie for an early dinner prior to climbing at the rock gym. I brought my climbing harness for such an occasion! On the way back to the cabin, I stopped to take a couple of photos of the fields you see in the area. I just love the golden color of the "sea!"

I got back to the cabin with food and got laundry started while we ate. After we ate, we sat to wait on the laundry. It was at this time that I learned that this chair that is opposite the easy chair, a dark wooden desk, once was my uncle's homework desk! She asked me to open the drawer under the seat and take everything out. In there were precious documents, including a photo of my uncle when he was in the Navy, wearing his Navy uniform, a photo of my Mom and uncle outside playing with Grandma, sometime in the mid/late-20s, and a letter written by my uncle on an IMB PC Jr. computer in 1985 and printed out on a dot matrix printer, among other things. The photo of my uncle took my breath away, and I had tears... I had never seen a photo nor knew what he looked like in his 20s or 30s. I definitely could see him in another cousin, his daughter. It was also hard to see the photo of Mom and uncle playing with Grandma as kids. They are all gone now, so my memories of Mom and my uncle are all that I have.

We went to the public library so that we could check emails and allow me to report my repair on the wrangler forum. We decided to check online a couple of area attractions - The Wilds, a safari a couple of hours away, and the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus. Because of time, we opted for the Conservatory. The Wilds is two hours each way, so that will be for another time. Besides, the open-air safari is only during the summer season, and we were too late for that in September. Maybe next time?

I had a lot of emails to check up on and follow through on some goals. I think it might be a good time to announce something; some changes in my life. I feel like it's time to leave behind something that's been hard for me to deal with (but necessary to understand what is happening economically) on a daily basis, and focus more on enjoying life a lot more. By this time, I had already started to pull back from underground financial research by unsubscribing from many of my email subscriptions on my phone and deciding to keep maybe 2-3 sources to keep me on autopilot. I'll complete this process by bookmarking various tabs in the web browser I use at home, and then close that whole "financial window" of such tabs (I have a window for archaeology, one for outdoors, another one for deafness, and several other windows with their own related tabs, but most of these are bookmarked and closed to save on memory and CPU usage). The other thing I want to do is get more outdoors when the weather is nicer. I have to figure out what to do during the cold and hot times of the year, as it's not fun to be out, and yet, I need something to keep me occupied. My aunt and I had started talking about this. It feels different to not be keeping up with so many emails.

Anyway, we met up for dinner in the afternoon, and I tried to keep it light so I could climb. All of us met up at the climbing gym, and I got to climb six times on easy routes. I did not feel the least bit tight in my forearms. I hadn't climbed this much before and was still feeling pretty good. The funny thing is, unlike last year, I didn't slip and fall at all. Just surprised by it all. And I was the first adult Aunt Panna had belayed. She has belayed Sophie, but not an adult. I saw something there that was new to me; a "climbing treadmill." It's like a treadmill, only vertical and has handholds along the whole track, and there is a control panel with a stop button to one side, and another stop button on the other side, so you can climb forever at different rates and pause to rest your hands. I saw Christelie and Monica doing lead climbing, with Christelie doing the belaying. It was interesting to see Monica, who is much taller, slip and Christelie having to break the fall. They were both hanging off their attachment points, swinging back and forth. Not sure I want to do that.

We headed off to the cabin so I could get up early in the morning to put the vacuum boot replacement in the jeep and head back as soon as possible. I could barely hear the crickets chirping in The Forest at night; I don't know if that has to do with the time of the year or it being a very wet summer, which has unfortunately affected crop growth in the area. I didn't recall hearing much in the way of cicadas during the day, either, just the rustling of the leaves when the wind would blow through.