Never EZ, grateful when it is

For some reason every thing that I've needed to work on lately has been difficult.  And to make it a bit spicier, I've been sidelined with this pain that when I get more active it gets inflamed and sends me hobbling and going backwards in terms of recovery.  

So for the last 2 months I've done oil changes, air filter changes, brake service including replacing rear rotors.  I even painted the brake calipers for kicks.  Made new panel doors for the fuse box.  I finally broke down and installed a trailer hitch on our other car, cuz i was tired of putting the bike on top of the car and storing the front wheel inside.  It was something i should have done long ago, but kept avoiding doing it. And then something always adds to my TO-DO list that I don't anticipate, like the downstairs light flickering, that needed to get replaced.

And then the gas filler door cable broke on the Venza.  That was a royal pain in the behind.  I was at the gas station and couldn't get the door open.  Apparently when this happens, the door fails shut.  You can't get it open.  I had to head home to get some tools to pry it open.  I thought I was going to damage something.  And there was no internet video on how to get it open on a Gen 1 - Venza.   To add to it, there's no video on how you go about replacing a busted cable.  I was on my own.  Like in the olden days.

And to really make things even more of a challenge.  The part was on backorder here in Canada.   So here is where it gets interesting.  I used AI to help me figure out where to get the part.  Cuz dealing with the parts guy at my Toyota dealership was a PITA.  We were going back and forth on confirming what comes with the part.  He then told me it was out of stock in N.Amer. 

Apparently warehouse parts stock is different in Canada vs the USA.  So in Canada, if something is on backorder with NO ETA, that means you are SOL and won't get the part until the orders for the part get to a certain quantity.  For a 15 yr old car, that means NEVER M#tha F-er!  In the USA since they are a much larger market, they will carry more stock.  I got it a week later and installed it today.  Sometimes the grass is greener on the other side.

On top of all this.  There's this robin that was relentless in building a nest in our grape vines.  And this year I printed a birds nest shelf for them to build their nest, and put it up in a corner that would keep their poop away from where we sit in the backyard.  I hope they are good with it.

I ended up watching vids of other cars to figure out how to do it for my car.  Grateful to my Toyota Tech/Mech contact for giving me some tips and guidance.  I still had to take pics and ask AI, which was giving me the wrong info BTW.  My tech guy was giving me the right things to do and I went with that.  Removing the front seat bolts helped give me some carpet slack to find the retaining bolt on the lever assembly that would allow me to reattach the cable.   I would still need to fish the new cable through.  Experience told me to use the old cable and use that to yank the new cable through without having to remove all the interior panels.   My tech guy said the same thing!  Which made me feel confident in moving forward with my next steps.  And it was the smoothest repair job I had done on the car in months!

Grateful for being spared any unnecessary frustration, and the really beautiful day.  But also for the miracle of life that I have, and that I am able to spend time, and to do the little things for the people I care and love.

Happy Fathers day!