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May 29, 2008

Almost stranded again....

OK, so maybe today's blog title is a bit of an over dramatization. Today was one of probably the last 3 days I will make the trip up the mountains for this school year. I refused to pay attention to the weather that threatened to be stormy at times, and dressed for hot weather. Capris, sandals and all that signifies summer, though we haven't seem much of the traditionally warm weather for this time of year.

I drive up the mountains, leaving behind the sun, run into rain storms in places. I got to Heber and was pleased to find it sunny. Then I had to drive to Coalville. The weather got stormy for the last half hour of the drive there. I arrived to pouring rains, with temperatures cooled off to 42 degrees. The relatively cold temperatures don't matter I figure; school's out, so I could park close to the door, run in and get the papers from the middle school, limiting my exposure to cold. The same would be true when I had to go to the high school to run the same errand for the paperwork needed there.

I ran into the middle school, no one was really there except the principal. Thankfully, he was able to help me procure the paperwork I drove there for. I dashed out to my car, got inside, turn the ignition and nothing! Nada! Zilch! Not even a flicker of the engine trying to turn over. Oh no! How much worse is this going to be to get stranded in Coalville; further away than when I was stranded in Heber a few weeks ago, and a much smaller town to boot! Panic started mounting full fledge, while I kept telling myself, "Calm down, it will be ok, don't panic."

Despite this, the panic was starting to rise anyway as I turned on my cell phone, ready to call Jaimee for help with calling AAA. Will they take forever to get here? Has AAA helped me too many times this year (I never mentioned when my tire blew up on me about a month before the Heber incident), they'd refuse to service me again?? Thankfully, I calmed myself down enough that I never started a panicked call to Jaimee. I realized, "Hey, there is a person in the building who might be able to help me! If nothing else, he might know someone in this town who could help me." So I ran in again, and talked to the principal. What luck! He had jumper cables and knew how to use them!

This cold, shivering person stood next to my rescuer in the driving rain, as we attached the cables to my battery. Miracle of miracles, it worked! I wasn't stranded! Of course I still had to go to the high school to get the paperwork I needed before I could leave town. When I arrived at the high school, I refused to turn the car off. Using my extra set of keys, (which I now have!)I locked the door of my idling car, ran the errand. I was happy when I returned to my car to find it still running and not stolen!

I was concerned that I might not be able to start my car the next time I stopped it, leaving me stranded somewhere far away again. To be on the safe side, I drove straight to the Suzuki dealership when I got back to the Salt Lake Valley. During the last year, but most especially the last 3 or so months, I'd had odd things that seemed to be going on with my electrical system. I ignored them all, because all I cared about was that the car worked with no problems. Today I was hopeful that maybe I just needed a new battery, after the way my car died after driving many miles, and crossed my fingers that this wasn't a warning sign of any major expensive problem with the electrical system.

The service manager that helped me at the dealership was actually very kind and really great to work with when I got there. Thankfully today's "almost" drama never developed. The diagnosis: my battery cables were loose. Bumps in the road would jostle them and the electrical system showed all the warning signs I ignored in previous months, as well as the "apparently" dead battery today. All the mechanic had to do was tighten some nuts and I was good to go! To make it even sweeter they did the diagnosis, and the nut tightening for free! Here's a day when Murphy's Law refused to operate! I'm grateful for that!

Gratitude Entry: Today I'm grateful for the kind people I run into as I go about my life. Starting with the principal in Coalville and ending with the helpful service manager at the dealership, I just got more proof that people are generally awesome. I consider myself fortunate every time I meet another kind/helpful/friendly soul that shares this planet with me.

4 comments:

Joshuaj12 said...

Now this story is quite funny! I am so glad that you got away from the worse this time though! If it had been worse, then I would have been happy to rescue ya again since I did absolutely nothing except for going out to dinner with my wife. :-)

Cami said...

I am glad that it ended up being a small thing...a little blessing!

Anonymous said...

What a blessing! I have also found that their are good people everywhere.

Interloper Roper said...

In May of 2008 you mentioned Oak City...are you a granddaughter of George Lovell? Who where the grandfathers that were brothers...the only relative that I know that has any connection to Relay Council might be a neice named Lynette?

An Interloper Roper...