I'm Trying To Keep The Car Happy (Day 3583 - 9/16/19)

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Stephen talks about how Mallory had some stuff that she wanted to bring back home from Mark and Rhonda's house. So, they went to put it in their car and realized that the car was dead. It was difficult to get vehicle close to the car battery because of where Stephen parked the car. Mark ended up pulling of his tractor close to the car and ran some jumper cables to the car in order to jump start it. Once the car got power, the alarm started going off which was unusual since it had never happened before.

Stephen hit the key fob lock to turn the alarm off. After he locked it, he shut the door and ended up locking the keys inside the car. He called AAA and they will be here in 45 minutes to unlock the car. If it doesn't work out, then they could always stay another day at Mark and Rhonda's house. Mal says that Coco would love that. Rhonda jokingly says that "Mark and Rhonda would love that". Then, Stephen received a message from Debra asking how they're doing this morning, so Stephen has to text her back and tell her about their current situation.

It took about 3 minutes for the AAA person to unlock the doors and jump start the car because the car was already hooked to the tractor. All they have to do now is to not turn off the car. Stephen mentions that Coco, Luna, Monkey, and Sasha are all by the window watching them. Stephen thanks Mark and Rhonda for their hospitality and for the trip. He says that the trip to China probably wouldn't have been something they would've done by themselves. Rhonda says that the trip was super fun with them and she always looks forward to having adventures with them. Stephen talks about how Mark has been saying a lot of good things about this car in the last 2 days. Mark explains that he's trying to keep the car happy.

On the road, they are driving behind a truck whose tire has exploded. Stephen is trying to change lanes because he doesn't want to be behind the truck in case the tire flies off. The truck driver knows about the exploded tire though because he has his emergency lights on. Stephen then talks about how he doesn't know what's wrong with the car. Before the trip, they had some issues with the car. But, they replaced the tires; got the air tank valve cleaned; replaced the car battery; and replaced the alternator. So, they are not sure why the car died. Stephen mentions that they have 2 cigarette lighter ports with only one being active and they have a Bluetooth adapter plugged into the active one. There has never been an issue caused by the Bluetooth adapter being plugged in and nothing was left on in the car as well. The car seems to be fine now after they jump started it, but they have the air conditioning; the radio; and the dash cam off just in case.

Their goal is to try and get to Chaz and Jeff's house without turning off the car. At one point, they will have to stop and get gas, but Stephen will not turn the car off. It's a 5 hour drive and Stephen believes that the battery will recharge itself on the way there. He then talks about how there's still a long drive home. Stephen and Mal talked about taking 3 days to drive home rather than 2 days, starting from Chaz and Jeff's house. They would drive 6 hours to Knoxville, Tennessee and then 6 hours the next day all the way back home. They discussed this because they just came back from China and don't know when they will get hit by jet lag. Stephen explains that jet lag isn't a feeling you ease into, but a feeling that just hits you all of a sudden. They aren't sure when it will hit and it is recommended not to drive while having jet lag. Stephen says that they were hit hard by jet lag after the Japan trip, so he hopes they don't get it during the drive to Chaz and Jeff's house. Suddenly, Mal points out to Stephen that the Google Street View Car is driving right next to them.

At Chaz and Jeff's house, they had some sausage pizza. Stephen and Mal say that they don't feel any jet lag yet. Stephen says that the jet lag this time might not be as bad as when they came back from Japan. Mal thinks he's speaking too soon. Jeff says that it sounds like he's jet lagged though. He then talks about how their car is not dead and as long as they get to their next destination before tomorrow evening, they will be fine. Stephen mentions that they haven't booked a hotel in Knoxville yet.

Chaz and Jeff helped set up for Breakfast Stream tomorrow. Jeff got some lighting and found some cables so that Stephen could use the vlog camera as the streaming camera. They have the necessary cables, but the cables aren't very long since they aren't intended for streaming. So, the length from the camera to the computer will be 4-5 inches. Stephen isn't sure how they are going to make that work, but they will figure it out in the morning. Chaz set the whole stream up from scratch and it's functional. Chaz also looked through his music list for some music to play during Breakfast Stream, but they can't use it because the music is licensed. He also made a custom Breakfast Stream logo. Stephen says that tomorrow's stream will have a special kind of charm.