i really should never think to myself that i'm making good time on a long drive. it just feels like a jinx. last night, after seeing depeche mode in central new jersey with tracey, i left before the encore, jogged the half-mile to my car, and got on the road forthwith. making good time, as it were. i figured i'd stop at one of the all-night mcdonaldses on 84 in connecticut when the time came. thus was i anticipating a yummy quarter pounder, when on the on-ramp to 684 from 287, came a violent shuddering of my poor car. uh-oh.
it wasn't the (bumpy) road, either, he had definitely hurt something. felt like the left front tire. a month or so ago. oh wait, that was closer to two months, i got new tires, but couldn't get the alignment done for want of a special part (i couldn't be without my car for the two days it would take). goodness knows i've not had the time since. but maybe that was what broke. who knows. either way, i shudder over to the side of the on-ramp, hazards flashing, feeling like my car suddenly has an egg-shaped cam for a wheel on one side. so i get out, take a look, see nothing. i didn't hit anything, and the wheel isn't at some odd angle to the car--there's no visible impediment to it rolling normally, from what i can tell. this being a pretty bad place to have stopped, i get in, and see about moving. my heart leapt as he rolled forward smoothly, but alas after i hit 20 mph, it began again. not good. now i worry that it may have something to do with transmission (the downfall of my late, much-lamented minivan). i pull over again, resigned to the fact that this isn't something that i have control of, and give tracey a call.
"remember how you were saying, 'call if you need anything'...", anticipating a long, late-night drive in heavy rain. The problem being worse now, tracey was kind enough to look for a towing company in the area. I decided to limp up the highway at low speed to the next exit, hoping to find some civilization. this being i-684, despite being just outside the bright lights of the big city, there was nothing. so, tracey calls up with the 3 towing companies triple a would have sent had i been a member. in calling them, there's an answering machine, a this-number-is-out-of-service beep, and a groggy "wrong number". thankfully, the first of the next batch tracey came up with answered, and said a truck would be there in fifteen. next step was to figure out what the hell to do.
i feel like i've been in these situations too often, although i suppose this is only the second time with my own car. the thing is, cars are an all-too-real emblem of freedom; when you have your car, you can go anywhere you can afford the gas for. when you don't have one, you have to improvise. and when your car's hurt, it's pretty much worse, because your symbol of freedom becomes a lead albatross with a luxury es package including fog lights and leather trim. not only can you not go anywhere conveniently anymore, you either have to stay in whatever godforsaken place you wind up (ah, fond memories of morning video prayer service at a truck stop in coxsackie, ny) until you figure out what's happening. this is far from the worst instance of being stuck that i've had to deal with (of course, we don't know the bill yet), but it's a really helpless feeling nevertheless. it's a good thing that tracey was there in spirit with her deft skills on the internet making things considerably better.
so i get my car towed to a dodge dealership about 10 miles up the road, hoping that they'll be more likely to fix it right and quickly (having also had my fill of mom-and-pop garages, one or two good experiences being far outweighed by bad ones). the tow truck driver was an amiable fellow, and by that time i was fairly punchy, so we got along great. i gave him advice on his workplace conflicts (the guy who drives the shift before him kept making a mess of the truck to stick it to the company, but really only was inconveniencing a coworker), and we discussed baseball. he explained why he pretty much only follows winning teams, and proceeded to explain why the mets, giants, jets, and strangely, the yankees, don't qualify. the knicks were, apparently, dead to him, he explained quite vociferously. since he was giving me a lift to the hotel i'd chosen (thanks again to tracey's research), i went to an atm to pay cash, to help the guy appease his boss. he drove roughshod over the landscaping of a shopping plaza to go find one.
that adventure over, my car's keys in a drop box at a dealership, i found myself at a hotel in the middle of white plains. my tow truck driver friend pointed out a couple no doubt cheaper places, motels that looked like the ramshackle places near the beach back in plymouth, or for that matter, on the jersey shore, where i'd started the day. except, you know, without the beach. i checked in, having called ahead, only to find a large man with a truly reprehensible button-down shirt, wildly untucked, stalking up to the desk, sweaty and belligerent. he proceeded to harangue the admirably snarky night clerk for not having sent help for his luggage when he checked in two hours ago. the guy went on in full hulk-smash mode for a bit, eventually retreating to the elevators, where it still sounded like he was wrangling is luggage or something and uttering full-throated obscenities. "one last question. where are the stairs?"
so, here i am in a taller, more expensive version of the best western rensselaer inn, waiting to be emailed some work to do in order to feel less useless, and waiting to hear what the deal is with my car. there's hope it can be fixed today, apparently. failing that, i'm not sure what to do. i'd rent a car, but i'm not sure if i can do that without possessing my driver's license. with the weather outside, i'm tempted to call this a perfect storm of stupidity. maybe the train. we shall see. either way, this has already been an expensive day.
on the bright side, i am wearing shorts, so when i get home, i won't have to roll up my pants.
you're probably not very far from Norwalk, CT if you want to save on hotel bills... Email godfrc at yahoo dot com. :)
Hope you're not stuck around here another night though.
![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://blackllamafaction.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at mai 15, 2006 4:37 PMthanks for the offer; it turns out that they were able to fix it pretty quickly (although definitely not cheaply) and i got back tonight. the price one pays for little adventures, i suppose. jj offered to help, too, as did tracey's parents, and it turned out that a coworker was less than 10 minutes away at the time. thanks, though.
by the way, i do have adam's tie, from founders'.
at mai 15, 2006 9:33 PM