Better days only better without vehicle problems
- col-teri-stein
- December 14, 2022
- 784
We finally got to go on a wonderful out-of-town trip recently for the purpose of a doctor appointment. Of course, the older you get, the more big fun centers around doctor appointments. Without a reason to go out, we are just going to stay home, especially when it’s cold.
The doctor appointment in Milan was the first stop, and then it was on to eating out and shopping in Port Clinton. After lunch and a stop for our favorite foods at a Port Clinton grocery store, we started heading back home. On the way home was Sandusky.
Joe had a pickup order waiting at a big-box store, so that was our first Sandusky stop. A few minutes later, we are coming out of the big-box store, and as we walk toward the truck, Joe is pushing buttons on the remote to get the truck to start. Nothing happens. We get closer and realize the truck is dead. Joe is forced to use the actual key to unlock it, and then it won’t start. Nothing electrical on the truck is working at all.
I take stock of the situation: We are about 100 miles from home on a day trip with no working vehicle, but I’m not worried. I know nothing about vehicles except how to drive them. It’s Joe’s job to worry about this problem. I’m just going to stand here, be supportive and look pretty — as much as a senior citizen can — until he gets the problem figured out. Yup, that’s just how helpful I am.
It didn’t take much time for my brain to start working overtime though. Would we be forced to stay overnight to get this problem fixed? And me without even an extra pair of clean underwear. I had no pajamas or any other extra clothes for a longer stay.
Bad memories came flooding back from years ago when on a fun day trip for my birthday, I ended up at an out-of-town emergency room and had to wear home paper pants that were about three times too big. After that I had vowed never to be caught without an extra change of clothes again, but here I was. I had nothing.
I did fill the cat’s water and food dishes before we left, just in case. You know, I have some priorities.
People in Sandusky are nice. In a short time, three different people stopped to help. Joe didn’t take them up on it, though, because the vehicle was truly dead. A battery jump wouldn’t have helped.
We can’t remember if Joe did anything or not, but all the sudden, the truck rose from the dead. The horn started beeping uncontrollably, and I think some lights were flashing, but it all happened too fast to really tell.
Joe has one of those vehicle testers, and he tested the truck and found nothing wrong. He was convinced we could safely drive home. I wasn’t so convinced, but I was just along for the ride at this point.
We did get home, but not before driving slowly through a lot of fog, from Sandusky to the Ashland area. Luckily, the fog cleared at Wooster because the ride was really nerve-wracking, and it put us a lot farther behind schedule than we planned. We didn’t want to drive home after dark, but with the truck dying briefly, that’s what happened. It doesn’t help December has the shortest days of the year.
It took Joe less than two days to figure out the dead-vehicle problem. It was a loose cable that should have been tightly attached to the truck battery but wasn’t. I’m just so happy to have him here to solve these problems, and now I’m going to go back to not worrying and looking pretty.