Why me? Why does everything happen to me?
The new engine on the camper is taking just about the last of our savings. Russ, the repair guy, promised the camper would be ready on Wednesday afternoon, leaving us a day to pack up, then we could leave for Oklahoma City on Thursday afternoon, stop at Gulfport, get the break-in oil changed, and drive all day Friday to Oklahoma.
On Wednesday afternoon, when I went to get the camper, Russ told me it wasn't done, that they were trying hard to get it ready for Thursday afternoon. Okay, that makes things a little lighter, but we can make it, I guess.
On Thursday afternoon, Russ told me they probably couldn't finish the job until Friday. What is it about repair places in Florida? I've dealt with faster mechanics even in West Texas, Terlingua, be be exact, where they had to Fed-Ex a new axle from Dalls, whilw qw spent a dreary Fourth of July weekend, without even a glass of beer to help us celebrate, until we were rescued by a local shopkeeper and minerology salesman named Ring, who was delighted that we had heard of his namesake, sports writer Ring Lardner, and drove us to a convenience store a couple of miles out of town where we could buy a couple of six packs, one for Ring and one for us.
I decided to work on Russ' sympathy. He knew I was recently retired, and had spent my last dime on the new engine. "But if I don't get to Oklahoma City by Saturday motning, I'll lose $500," I said, speaking more wishfully than honetly. "Well, we'll try," said Russ, proving my prejudice against Florida mechanics to be unfair.
At five o'clock, Russ called me. He said they would finish that evening. "We'll have you out of there by midnight." "But Gulfport is 500 miles away. I can't get the break-in oil changed in the middle of the night."
"We'll break it in ourselves, change the oil here, then you can get another change in Oklahoma."
While they worked, Diane and I loaded the van, by making several trips by car, from our home to Russ/ shop and back again. At 7:00, the storm began, with high winds, heavy rainfall. At 7:15, Russ told me the job was going to cost $600 more than he had thought, due to a mistake in the figuring. I called Diane. She had just paid some bills and there wasn't enough money left in the checking account to pay Russ. We had to put some of it on the American Express. By the time I have to pay that, next month's retirement checks will be in the bank to cover it, but our trip will begin with nothing in the bank to back us up..
At 8:00, Russ told me his brother had decided to quit his job and I would have to get a pair of jeans and help if we were to be out of here by midnight. I went back, changed my clothes, finished packing my boxes in the rain, and rushed back to the shop only to learn that Russ and his brother had made up and they would finish the car as planned. I could go home and get a short nap before my thousand mile drive.
At 10:00, Russ called to tell me they
couldn't fix the air conditioner--it needed a new condensor. We decided
to just cap off the pipes until I can get
together enough money to get one later one, on the road west.
We waited for the final phonecall that will say I can pick up the camper and head out to Oklahoma. The trip should take about 24 hours. We have to start setting up at the show hall in about 30 hours.
Looks like this summer is getting off to a great start! I can't wait to see what disaster lies before us.
2:00 am: Russ calls. We're ready to go.
Bleary eyed, Diane and I rushed back to Russ' shop to pick up the camper. Everything is rolling. We can wait until we get to Oklahoma City before we change the oil. The car starts right up. The speedometer still doesn't work. Russ couldn't get the part. Okay, we can fix that up later, although how do we know we how fast we're driving when we're breaking the engine in?
The radio doesn't work, either, despite the fact that I had checked it out and fixed some wires while Russ was working on the engine. He must have messed something up when he put the cover back, called a doghouse by the professionals. . Now we had to drive all that way without entertainment.
But we were ready to go. The adventure had begun!