Lucky Dorito

Monday arrived with sort of loose plans to go shopping… in no hurry and on no set schedule. As we were eating breakfast - the plans changed a little. Shannon somehow managed to swallow her temporary crown (and although I assured her she’d find it again later… hehehe) she quickly got on the phone with her dentist back in her hometown and arranged to go in and have it replaced.

The girls and I went to eat lunch while Shannon was at the dentist (and by the way…. how stinkin’ funny is that?? - that I would drive all the way here and end up at a dental office!) After she finished, new temporary crown securely back in place, we stopped by her school to see her classroom and I got to meet Joycette! Loved that…

We shopped a little and went to see Kung Fu Panda (which was way too cute - we all enjoyed it!) and then after dinner, headed back here to the country house we’re staying in. All in all, a good day!

I was thinking as I drifted off to sleep last night that I hadn’t blogged about the drive here (yes, the INSANELY long drive here!) and the tears I shed along the way. We just took my old van to be serviced before we went to the beach a few weeks ago and then had the tires rotated just before I left for here last week. I left home with a big mug of coffee and I refilled it about fifty-hundred times Friday… which means - MULTIPLE potty breaks along the way. I must say, in retrospect, that probably wasn’t the wisest thing ever because the more I stopped, obviously - the longer the drive seemed.

At one of our stops, in Bryant, Arkansas - as I exited the ramp, I heard a very funny noise. I was braking to a stop and heard this…. whoosh, whoosh, whoosh noise. I said to the girls - do you hear that? I accelerated across the road when the light changed to green and went towards an Arby’s I saw across the road. The girls were hungry and I knew they’d have a reasonably clean restroom. As I slowed to enter Arby’s I heard the noise again… whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. I rolled through the parking lot very slowly, still hearing the noise and feeling a knot start to form in the pit of my stomach. I pulled into a parking space and got out, looking under the van. (As if I knew what I was looking for under there!) We went on in, grabbed some sandwiches and used their restroom and as we left the noise was still happening.

I saw a gas station down the road and I went directly there, asking them inside if they knew where I might find a mechanic on duty. The man directed me to an Exxon station nearby. We went there and I got out and walked up to the big bay doors. The first gentleman I spoke to directly me inside to speak to the man in the striped shirt. I went in, realized the man in the striped shirt was on the telephone so I stood there reading signs on the wall until he finished his phone call. Overhead, was a sign with large printed letters that read: MINIMUM $39.00 CHARGE FOR DIAGNOSIS OF ANY AND ALL AUTOMOTIVE PROBLEMS. Lovely, I thought.

The man looks to me as he hangs up and I told him my van was making a funny noise. He said, “Let’s take a look.”

We walk out to the van and not 30 seconds later, the tire is off and he’s looking both at the tire and at the place it attaches. (Whatever that thingamajig is called that the tires attach to on a vehicle!) He says, “I don’t see anything.”

Well, isn’t that lovely?

The knot that had been forming in my stomach was reaching a crescendo, me thinking here I am with these two young girls in the car traveling halfway across the country and what the heck will I do if I breakdown on the Interstate??? Can you say, that thought SCARES ME to no end???

Of course, you know what happened next. Yep, I burst into tears. I didn’t plan them but I think the thought of breaking down on the interstate so scared me that I just lost it. Not sobbing *lost it* but…. tears flooded my eyes and rolled down my cheeks while the man in the striped shirt was looking at me with his shoulders shrugging. And of course, he saw that. I couldn’t hide it. He softened and said, “Tell ya what. If you can give me about 20 minutes to go drive this car (pointing to one in the bay) then we’ll go drive this van and see if I can hear the noise you’re talking about.”

I said, “Ok, sure,” sniff, sniff, wiping my eyes so that the girls wouldn’t see me crying. I knew if they saw me scared, they’d get very upset over it.

I pulled the van off to the side of the parking lot, in a semi-shady area and called my hubby. He asked about a gazillion questions and was more than a little alarmed and concerned about the situation. He advised me to just patiently wait to see what the man had to say.

The striped shirt mechanic returned about 10 minutes later and I moved to the passenger seat to allow him to drive. We circled the neighboring streets and NOT ONCE did the van make a noise! Not ONE time. Tell me, WHY does that happen? Is that some sort of cruel joke??

We were chatting about the noise I’d heard and he was giving me hypothetical theories on what it could have been. As we circled back around to the parking lot, he summed it up by saying basically that without hearing the noise, he couldn’t say with any confidence what it might be but that - it could have been nothing more then a rock stuck in a tire. He must have been able to see in my face that I remained unconvinced because he went on to explain that if it was a wheel bearing or something that was going to become a serious problem, it would continue to create ever-increasing noises until I KNEW for certain there was something wrong. He talked to me for a good 10 minutes, I bet. Ending with *if it were me, I’d go on to Texas without worrying…*

As he got out, I grabbed my wallet and asked him what I owed him - thinking of the $39. minimum charge sign. He said, “Nothing”

I said, “No, really. Let me give you something for your time, at least.”

He said, “No, you girls just go to Texas safely and have a great time.”

I got back in the van and Beebo said, “Sheesh - he didn’t have to give us a 20 minute lecture! He didn’t do anything but TALK!”

I said, “You know what, honey? He can talk all the wants. The sign inside there said there was a $39 min charge for diagnosing any and all vehicle problems and he would NOT take any money from me just then. He gave us his time and didn’t charge me a dime - when that was the perfect opportunity for someone to take advantage of a woman… like I’ve had happen before. I’ll take his 20 minute lecture any day… because I feel much better now, hearing his advice. It was worth the TIME we lost here to not feel sick to my stomach any longer. “

So, to *Pat*, the mechanic in the striped shirt at the Exxon station in Bryant, Arkansas - I sincerely thank you for your time, honesty and integrity. You were very kind to this wayward traveler.

(By the way, the noise returned. Every time I exited the interstate - almost like it took the car being *heated up* to cause whatever it was to make the noise. I have no idea what it was. The van hasn’t left the place I parked it since I got here. Thursday, I’ll be picking up my darling husband in Austin. He is flying one-way so that he may drive home with us. Isn’t he the best? If any issues occur along the way, I’ll at least have him with us to take care of it!)

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