Shots Across The Bow

Yesterday Was a Good Day

My car broke down.

When I started my car in the morning, the alternator belt gave a quick chirp, then went silent. I made a mental note to tighten the belt this weekend, and promptly put it out of my mind as I drove on to work. After work, I went out to start my car and was rewarded by a demonic shriek from the burning pits of hell.

Not good.

I shut off the engine and restarted the car, hoping that the belt would stop slipping, but no luck. To make matters worse, I had to pick up my daughters from school, and every minute made me later.

(How is this a good day? Wait for it.)

Usually, I keep a good socket set in the car for emergencies like this, but I'd moved it to the van a week or so back, so all I had was a Gerber multi-tool. (And duck tape, but this is one instance where duck tape is rendered powerless) To get to the alternator, I had to pull the air filter cover, and the upper radiator hose. This wasn't too hard, but then I had to try and grip the adjusting bolt with the pliers, and it just wasn't working. The engine compartment of my car is very tiny, leaving no room for me to turn the pliers after I got them on the bolt.

I needed a socket set.

Fortunately, there is a major construction project going on at work, and there are folks with tools running around everywhere. I tracked down a guy who loaned me his socket set and I was in business. The adjusting bolt was already fairly loose, and it only took a second to get the alternator loose enough to turn. I wedged a tire iron on the engine block, and levered the alternator back, putting tension on the belt. Then I started to tighten the bolt.

The bolt snapped.

Now I'm really stuck. It's 4:15 in the afternoo; my kids are waiting to be picked up at school; and I've got a broken bolt. I drove the car to a nearby shop, and the owner said he would have it for me by tomorrow morning. I called my parents, and my mom volunteered to pick up the girls, so they were taken care of, but I was still stuck 90 miles from home.

So how was this a good day?

A friend of mine from work took me to his home and offered me dinner and a bed. But when he saw how anxious I was to get home to my kids, he loaned me his car. Because of his generousity, I was able to get home.

I'm kind of a loner, always have been ever since I can remember. It's not that I'm anti-social, or don't like people, but I often feel awkward in social situations, so I sometimes tend to avoid them. (I just realized the irony here. Here I am, an admitted loner with social difficulties, but somehow I'm also the guy trying to arrange social gatherings for the RTB.) Anyway, it's easy for me to forget sometimes that there are other people in my life, people who would be glad to help, if I would only let them, from a stranger who loaned me his tools, to a friend who loaned me his car.

It's a good feeling to be reminded that they are there, and that's more than enough to erase the frustrations of the day.

So, yesterday was a good day, not in spite of the car trouble, but because of it.

Thanks Jerry.

Posted by Rich at December 4, 2003 3:11 PM | TrackBack