Wednesday, June 30, 2010
About that Saturn I mentioned in the last blog . . . . I sit here in the car dealership, waiting.
It is a rule of life for the struggling masses that if One Of The Struggling 1) is arrogant enough to plan a trip, and 2) is prudent enough to have his/her car serviced prior to that trip, said car will require extreme repairs before the trip begins.
Quote of the day from a very nice man at Asheville Chevrolet (which now repairs Saturns): "Whew! I'm shore glad you didn't take off on a trip to Austin in that car! You'd be broke down somewhere on the side of the road in the middle of Arkansas, wondering what happened." An image flashes across my mind: Me. Broke down on the side of the road in the middle of Arkansas. No cell phone signal because of the Ozarks surrounding me. Wondering, "What happened?!?"
Looks like the bill will be about $700 unless the warranty is still in effect for some of it.
I drove a rental car all day as I dashed to appointments, meeting deadlines.
["Deadline" was a word originally used in Civil War prisons -- I think places like Andersonville, Georgia. (Should I try to visit that site as I drive to Austin?) The "deadline" was the line beyond which no prisoner could crawl without being shot. Particularly appropriate to this day.]
The nice man just approached and asked, "What time did you say you was wantin' to leave on that trip in the mornin'? We ain't got the right axle. They was boxed wrong."

I got my problems: the heat, the pressure of the job, the broken car, the desperation to Get Outta Town and Head West. And they got their problems: Wrongly boxed axles.
So I may not get started as early tomorrow morning as I had hoped. But at least I won't get broke down on the side of the road in the middle of Arkansas. They promise.