Just My Luck

My feet hurt. I’ve driven over this stretch of turns and straight-aways on this parcel of road many times. It seems a ways to go by car. Now I’m on foot. If I was wearing some decent shoes for this trip, instead of my tried-and-true sandals, my feet wouldn’t be hurting. I think I’m developing a blister on my right foot. Ouch. The 3-minute drive looks like it is going to turn into a 30-minute walk.

No one is stopping to ask if I need a ride. If you are on the side of the road, as I was about 10 minutes ago, there is bound to be someone who stops to ask if you are ok. Two people did stop as I was futilely turning the ignition in hopes that my Volvo had become the physician that heals himself. I thanked them, but didn’t take any offers for help. After all, my car always magically starts to run again after a few choice words and turns of a wrench on an unrelated part of the problem. I did accept the offer of one dude to help push my car out of the road and into a lot just up the road. Little did I know that he wanted to push me with his car. I should have had a hint of unconventionality when he asked if I wanted a push, then before I could decide and say “yes”, he started asking, “Yes? No? Yes? No?” I said yes, and then he got in his car. “Boomhauer” came right up to my bumper, and by that point, I knew what was going to happen. And I let it happen…minus one bumper sticker from his bumper rubbing on mine, and I was off of the road.

Glad I brought something to drink. Food Lion Diet Green Tea with Citrus Flavor. I’ve never tasted anything as tasty as this drink tastes right now. Plodding on, step by step.

The Green Tea was left over from yesterday’s “Day Trip, Morphed into Sleepover” at the lake. I was only going to go for the day, so I didn’t take the normal camping gear. I did put some things in the car, for “just in case”; A pillow, a blanket, a cooler for some water (and the Tea, as it turned out), and a bag of Cheddar Cheese Rice Cakes. I was glad for these things, for the “just in case” turned into “reality”. That was decided as soon as the second shot of Rum was burning down my throat…taken for medicinal purposes only, mind you. I was practicing the art of self-healing and trying to clear my lungs of excess muckiness as a result of a sinus infection. Worked rather well too, I must admit. And of course, there was a campfire there too, for the sole purpose of inducing a cough to help rid of said muckiness. Nice…

Stupid car…I love it. I hate it. I had only had it back on the road for a week. The last problem had been resolved by replacing the in-tank fuel pump. The periodic stuttering and stalling had stopped and Patty (as is her name) had been running like a dream. And as in all dreams, they end when you wake up. I’m awake now…and not knowing that the dream is over.

Before the walk started, I had checked a few things under the hood. There was a loose ground, so I tightened it. For some reason, even though the plug wires were in their correct order, the distributor cap was on backwards. User error. Got that turned around and the wires re-directed. Perhaps that was the problem? Rrrrr-rrrrrr-rrr. Nope. No-go. Not out of gas. I had just filled up two days ago and the needle still said over ¾ of a tank. I smelled gas, so that told me that the pumps were doing their job (without tools or the proper testing equipment, a guess is all I have). All hoses, fuel and vacuum, seemed OK and connected to their respective fittings. That leaves only one possible and most likely culprit: Gremlins. Oh, how I hate those things…

Oh yeah, I do have my cell phone. Why don’t I just use it to call someone and have them pick my up, make this walk a little bit less? Phone is in pocket, hand is about to retrieve it…oh yeah…no good. Since I was only going for the day yesterday, I didn’t bother to bring my phone charger. Many texts went to and fro last night, and sometime, in the hours between waking and eating breakfast and getting in the car to leave the “camp”…the phone died. It didn’t even have enough power for me to look up numbers to use someone else’s phone to call for help. I was supposed to “be somewhere” at 5:00 PM today. It is now after that time and I have no way of letting the other parties know that I won’t be there. Sadly, it was an appointment that I really, really didn’t want to miss.

Oh boy. I’ve reached a busy road. Closer to my destination, but the cars on this road go faster than the 30mph. limit of the subdivision streets. At least I am closer to where I want to be.

I do have a blister. I can feel it. Sigh.

My mind wanders to the night before. After a round or two of mental adjustments and male-bonding, our thoughts and bodies leaned towards the two man-powered watercrafts beached just a ways from the campsite. Paddles in hand, we headed to the canoes and pushed off. The water was a shimmering sheet of glass, broken only by the emergence of water plants touching the surface in patches. The waxing moon reflected on this surface, bright enough to show us where to go, yet dark enough to not always be able to see where to go. The horizons reflected on the water looked like islands floating in space and the water we were on was cosmic matter. Hey…it’s how I saw it. Nothing extra to induce this vision…not needed anyway. The night and the euphoria induced by just being out there made it all happen. It was grand, paddling all over that lake, listening to the slap of paddles on water, the frogs croaking and peeping, and the occasional flapping of the insect-hunting bat overhead. Nice…

Glad that happened, cause now is far from then. I’ve crested the hill and can see my destination. I can see some people sitting in the driveway, some shooting hoops. They see me and wave. And I know what is going through their thought processes. “Hey, that looks like Travis walking this way. I’m gonna wave…” I wave back.

I’m met with a welcome and a barrage of questions. Matter is, I broke down, ended up walking 2 miles to get back to where I had left 45 minutes ago. Back to where I got help from someone who cares about me; from someone who cares enough to take me back over to my car to see if we can get the car running again; someone who cares enough to use their own towing service through insurance to have my car towed home once the trying ended.

It just hasn’t been a great couple of days for me, at least mentally and physically. I’ve been fighting a sinus infection, got $190 worth of bad news about my phone bill (Oh, how I love Verizon and their “overage” charges. I ♥ them!), and now, just when I thought I had the extra money to pay said phone bill, my car breaks down. I just can’t get ahead. The Morton Principle is in full action once again. Just my luck…

But there’s the one who loves me. Calling the towing company. Doing for me because she can and wants to. That feels good. I’ll get the phone bill paid for. Somehow. I’ll figure out what’s wrong with my car. Eventually. This sinus infection is still around, but diminishing. Soon it will be gone.

But the little things that count? They’ll stick around.

It’ll all work out.

09-20-10