Dutchess County Fair 2019

It looked like The Dutchess County Fair 2019 was not going to happen. Teri was tired of going. Her reason was it was always the same. And it was, but I wanted to go and Nastia wanted to go and Elena gave an enthusiastic I don't care so we went. Sally Ann and her family were thinking of going, but as the day dawned we'd not hear from them. Teri would call, but Katie had a sleepover and they stayed up most of the night and were too tired to go.
     We finally learn after all these years the best way to go, the way the GPS tells us to go, up the Thruway cross at the Kingston Beacon bridge and come in from the north.
       It's a beautiful day, warm, not hot, sunny with a few bright white clouds fronting a beautiful blue sky. It couldn't be a more perfect day. We get in the car a half hour late (930AM) and go to pick up Nancy and then Teri puts in the Fair address and the GPS has us going across the Tappan Zee bridge. We ignore it and go up the Thruway. Traffic is a

little heavy in Rockland, but after a few minutes it breaks up and we are moving again. The mood in the car is very happy and positive. We stop at a rest stop after about an hour. We hit Kingston go across the bridge and follow the signs for the fair. We come up to a bunch of traffic cones and Teri decides to go to the right to avoid the cone. We needed to go left because the cones were set up for everyone who was going to park in the free parking. Teri has some issues with turning around and going back. She considers going to the $10.00 parking lots. I tell her the public lots are free and we head back. We park near a pole with an F on it. I look around to get an idea where we are and see two other F poles, so we are parked at the second Fn' pole.
       We walk into the fair with our pre purchased entrance tickets. I didn't pre-purchase any ride tickets because the girls were unsure the danger girls would show up this weekend. Their getting older now and danger is no longer their middle

name.
       We wander along the midway the girls finding interesting things to distract them as they wander. No one purchases anything. it's too early to carry it all day long. After the long trip everyone is hungry. When we stopped at the rest stop I bought a soda and was aiming to buy some cookies at the farmer's market until they ran out. I am tired of buying a soda in a refillable cup for $6.00 and getting refills for $4.00. It's not a bargain.
       Nastia gets some shrimp and spaghetti, Elena gets a bean burrito. It looks so good I decide to get one, except I get beef and bean. Her's is $8.00, MINE IS $9.00. not too bad. It's the first decent food I've overpaid for in a long time. That includes the shore earlier this month and the fair for the last three years.It was filling and good. Teri doesn't find anything interesting to eat.
       After eating we do do the same old thing,we go visit the life stock barns. We start with the cows, we see the sheep, lambs and pigs. We end with the chicken. We don't see the horses.

      After the barns there is this station where you can milk a dairy goat. It costs some money, but both girls give it a try. I've got the video and they got buttons. It was different.
       With no ride tickets the girls want to do games. Ever since I was a kid I've looked at these games, played a few and as I've grow up I realized how fixed these games are. The basketball shot game, the bean bag throw to knock down the bottles. All have/ had a gimmick. And when you do win, you get a fifty cent prize. The girls want to play. Nastia starts with the game with the balloons. It's three for $5.00, or seven for $10.00. Nastia slips the guy a ten without me knowing then wants me to ask him for her money back. I say no. She chickens and wins a small prize. They had over to other parts of the midway. Elena tries the machine gun game. Her first attempt she shoots high and does poorly. Her second attempt about ten minutes later she does much better, but still doesn't win. They go over to another balloon game. This one has bean bags. Elena goes three for three. Nastia goes two for two missing on her last shot. Elena wins a two foot or so Pikachu. Nastia is jealous. It's time to go. We walk out past the booths were some wanted to buy thing, but they have forgotten. Maybe the purchases were not really important.

     Just before we leave we walk past the Skinny German juggling man or something like that. Every year we stop to see him. Originally he was in the center of the fair, For the last two years he's been at the entrance to the fair. He juggles and jokes around it's a great act, but the last two years we've encountered him just as we are leaving. Like last year we stop and watch him. Some of his jokes are the same, but he tells them in such a way to make them seem unrehearsed and fresh. We were all tired, but we stayed to watch. Near the show end Teri drifts away. I go and sit down on a flower bed wall. The girls sit up front until its over. Elena hussles to the bathroom and the rest of us wait or drift out to the car.   
   We head down Route 9 with the intent of eating at the Olive Garden. I think they have forgotten my comment about head on my beer from last year or the year before. We eat a good dinner and end up at home about 9:30 at night. A long good day.

















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Elena's new car

Well it finally happened. Elena has an other car. In a sense it is new, new to her. It's a 2003 Ford Taurus. It has 91,000 miles on it about. I drove it and it is quiet and a very nice car. With the money she got for them totaling the Toyota, $1,846.83 and $553,17 from her savings she will be the proud owner of this car.
       It's been a bit of a long and winding road to get here and if it wasn't for Teri's dogged determination we would still be looking for cars on the internet and at gas stations.
       This all started back on June 16th, I think. I'm at work and I get a call from Elena she's been in an accident. She is ok, but suddenly the distance I work from home is very great. It takes me half an hour to get to where the accident happened. When I got there both cars were in the parking lot of a dentist office on Rt 304. Her car had a crumbled front fender and two flat tires. It didn't seem bad. Chris Kelly towes the car away and so begins the long drawn out process of solving this car problem. Teri calls Franchino's Allstate office at some point and they tell her the money will be put in our account in a short while, I'm amazed at the speed. That person also didn't know what they were talking about. That phone call makes me think it's done and I ignore the calls from Allstate. When I do answer them a week later I'm told no such payment is on the way and Elena and the other driver have to make statements. Elena and I call one day and she answers questions, I clarify them when necessary. The other driver, a sixteen year old driving with only a permit and no licensed driver ignores all requests to be interviewed. It's mid-August by now and we are starting to get anxious about what Elena will drive. Nastia has been a trooper about sharing her car. When they both work and I get home after they have left there is no problem, they have worked out a driving schedule and who has the car picks up the other one. They've been true sisters during this, never a fight over it.
      About a week ago Allstate says the other side never responded to requests to be interviewed and because of that they are accepting 100% responsibility for the accident. We start looking for a car. Cheap cars, but a little more then her first budget. I get a little gutsey and bring up a subject that caused a nasty fight between us several weeks ago. I say why doesn't she take out a small loan. Teri doesn't think it is a good idea still. I still disagree, but resist going further.
   A day or two later Teri says she has found a car. It a 2003 Buick Alero in Pearl River. It was made during GMC's bad period  in the early 21st century six years before they declared bankruptcy. The guy wants 3 grand for it. We look at it and it is nice. I don't take any pictures of it. The interior is clean and the car looks very well cared for. The radio looks a little beat. Dan, the owner gives his speech about his little old lady grandmother driving it and they wanted to use it, but they have one child and his wife is expecting twins in a little while and it is too small for his new family. Elena and I take it out for a drive. In retrospect that was a mistake. I should have driven. She drives around the block and when she is going slow I hear a clunking sound. I've heard that sound often on cars and it is never a good sound or cheap fix. After losing cars because we've waited I've gotten a little quick to pull the trigger. I negotiate a price of $2,400.00 A good price if there is no problem with the front end. Teri is not happy. Nastia calls David who will be in town the next day and he agrees to go see the car. When We get home I call Eric and he tells me it could be a CV joint or something like that. Parts would cost about $400.00 then labor.
     So the next day David goes with Elena and Nastia to see the car. They get there and it pours, so they don't see much and don't drive it. I call later that evening and tell Dan we are backing out of the sale.
       A few days later Teri sees another car online. Her and I go to see it. It's a Ford Taurus just like my mothers car. It's blue and very clean. I drive it around the block and I listen for any odd sounds. The car is very quiet and I hear nothing. It is a very quiet car for having 92,000 miles. This time with Teri's permission  I ask the couple, whose daughter owns the car what is their best. They say $2,500. I hold out my hand to shake theirs and say $2,400.00 They wait a moment and say yes. So Elena owns what looks like a nice car.















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