Life In The Slow Lane...
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San Diego, CA, United States
This is a commentary about the slow lane, about the slowing of time since I suffered a severe brain injury while skateboarding with my dog. This is a blog about recovery; about our '82 VW Westfalia. It's about writing, surfing, camping, married life, bleeding ulcers that make you feel old at 32; about family, friends, and my dog Artie; it's about cruising in fourth gear, getting passed by every car and learning to appreciate every second of it.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Bent a Rod in Texas...


That would be a great song title: I Bent a Rod in Texas. Unfortunately, the phrase defines our last four days. Yeah, my shit luck has struck again.

It was a great night camping. We found a small campsite in Sonora, Texas called the Caverns at Sonora. We only had four hours remaining on the road before reaching Austin. We woke up in the morning, took Artie for a walk and threw the ball for him, packed up and hit the road, or, I mean the road hit us.

Leaving the campsite, we climbed a steep hill and a I started to hear a knocking sound from the back engine compartment. I tried my best to think nothing of it. We descended the hill. I stepped on the gas pedal, nothing.

We pulled over, and long story short, the engine was shot.

A tow truck came and rolled the van onto the flatbed truck. Rigo, the tow truck operator, drove up 35 miles to Ozona, Texas.

We pulled into a small repair shop. It had a small office and a large dirt lot where dozens of dead trucks and autos sat, parts missing, hoods open. The mechanic, Mark, wore a black cowboy hat, tight jeans and had a wad of dip lodged behind his bottom lip.

"I've seen one of these before," he said.

Hours later, Mark tells us we need a new engine; the rod was bent.

That night we stayed in small motel with little to say but a whole lot of stress. We awoke, rent a uhaul--Ozona has no rental car companies-- and drove to Austin.

Now, we wait for a new engine to arrive from California. We expect it to get to Ozona on Monday or Tuesday. It is then when the real stress will hit.

I am now convinced that my string of bad luck is not a coincidence but is my fate. I hate thinking all that I've put Aimee through. At least she's still here. I love her.

8 comments:

  1. “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” -William Arthur Ward

    Reset, my friend. Reset.

    xo to you and Aimee.

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  2. Wish I could help! Expect an appliance to go next and when it does, you can blame my brother. He told me it has to be this way, first the vehicle then an appliance. This will one day be a funny story to tell at dinner.

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  3. p.s. Will the new engine kick you out of the slow lane?

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  4. Aaryn B,

    Apparently William Arthur Ward did not have an 82' Westy, and judging from his quote, he was without an injured head as well!

    I'll try the reset button again anyways.

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  5. CeCe,

    All appliances are fine now, let's hope they stay that way. We can't take another major expenditure!

    Oh, and the new engine will be bigger but not big enough to get us out of the slow lane.

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  6. IR, miss you too. Maybe when we get out of Ozona, if we get out of Ozona, we could hang out and share bad-luck stories. That sure would be fun!

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  7. shitballs of fire.
    enjoy some bbq while you wait. maybe some beer too.

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