Around 30 years ago I knew a young lady who I'll call E.R. She moved back to Texas with her parents and I lost track of her. Due to the miracles of social media, I found E.R. living in Fort Worth with her own family now, and very cute Munchkin Scottish Fold cats. So, as I sat in my ailing truck in Fort Worth, I gave her a call. Her home was sadly enduring Covid, but although she couldn't help directly, she gave me the name of a trustworthy shop to call for help. I limped to a Motel 6 for the night and called for a tow in the morning. I had no idea of the seriousness that awful noise.
It is a small production to carry to the third floor: two cats, cat food and water dishes, a litter box, ice chest, plus whatever regular overnight items a person needs for a motel stay. Both cats immediately vanished under the bed. You would think that would be an inaccessible place because of the platform? No. It was pulled away from the wall, just enough to allow cats to squeeze under. I called the manager to help me rescue them from the dark recesses. Two men came in and helped dismantle the bed. I caught the cats, secured them in the bathroom and they reassembled the bed and secured it to the wall. They did not clean up the Doritos and other debris that had been uncovered during the operation. My advice is to never, ever, look under your bed in a motel. You don't want to know.
I turned on TV to pass the evening, and watched the shocking football game where the young Buffalo player suffered cardiac arrest on the field and the game was suspended.
In the morning a tow truck hauled me, the cats, and my truck to the independent repair shop my girlfriend recommended. They quickly diagnosed a bad wheel bearing. Since, according to the mechanic, if one front bearing had gone bad, the other would likely follow soon. I had them both replaced. It was very expensive. The office manager gal and the mechanic were both sympathetic to my plight. They went out of their way to get me back on the road quickly. The weather was 70ºF/21ºC and sunny. It was a nice day to relax in the sun as I waited for parts and the repair. This was January 3rd. I had 850 miles/1370 km to go. And I returned to the road with optimism and a big cup of delicious McDonald's coffee. Depending upon how much I needed to sleep, I could be home tomorrow at noon.
Previously I had arranged for my electric, gas, and water utilities to all be turned back on January 3rd. Therefore I could look forward to heat, and light, and if it was daylight, I could find my water valve and get that going. I didn't want the main turned on until I could be there to check for any leaks. My toilet flush valve was cranky after 10 months of drying. It needed attention so it is a good thing I didn't have the water going into my house or that toilet would've run non-stop. As it turned out, it would have been running for 3 days straight. But I am getting ahead of myself.
My neighbor said my refrigerator did start. So I was pretty confident that everything would be normal when I arrived.
As daylight was fading over the west Texas plains, I felt a peculiar jerk in the truck power. But it went away. Hmm. I wonder what that was? I looked out in the night at the flames off in the distance coming from oil or gas fields. I took a nap in a truck stop in Odessa. It was a cold night. Expected to be in the upper 30ºs (about 4ºC). I continued on in the clear night. Interstate 20 merged into Interstate 10. My house is only about 25 miles/40 km north of Interstate 10 in Arizona. I could feel excitement building!
According to my map, a large highway rest area lay ahead near Van Horn, Texas. I had driven 480 miles/770 km since I left the afternoon sunshine in Fort Worth. The engine power jerked off and on again. What was this? I definitely aimed for the Rest Area to park, use the rest room, and pray about this concerning behavior. It was the middle of the night.
As I slowed and pulled in to park, the engine totally quit and I rolled into a safe location. I decided to take a nap and try later. But I soon woke up due to the cold. Got out more blankets and tried to snooze again. In this mild part of Texas, they do not have heat in the restrooms. The "throne" is rather icy! Apparently it rarely goes below freezing there.
After some time passed, with temperatures getting frigid, I cranked the engine and it started. I put the heater on immediately! Then I decided to try for the Love's truck stop or someplace where there was heat and food. Pulled out and headed down the ramp back on the highway but the engine died again. There was no restarting it. I had rolled to a stop under a street lamp so I tucked in until daylight when I called for a tow. This was not what I expected to be doing on January 4th. I was cold, but I was safe. I still had some food in the ice chest. Things would work out. The shop in Van Horn would fix me up and I'd be home tonight. How bad could it be?
Worse than I imagined... to be continued.
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