Mood:
specialNow Playing: what is that steady hum in computer labs anyway?
Topic: travel-time laughs
Where should I begin? Let's begin with Sunday July 21. I left NS about 2:00. When I left Collegedale in June, I left Monday about 2:00, and got home to Nova Scotia on Wednesday afternoon. This time I left a day earlier from NS and got to Collegedale on Wednesday afternoon.
Why the day longer? that's where we enter I 95. I left Calais Me., early in the morning, around 5:30 Tuesday. first thing I noticed my window fogging up. I could not get warm air from the heater, so decided in Bangor, to purchase a new thermostat for my vehicle. At a rest stop outside of Bangor, the new installation was the work of about five minutes. Ok, still not getting warm air, but the outside temp had risen, so no more fog. About ten miles from Worcester, Ma., this time on 495, my radiator blew up in a cloud of steam so big I had to pull over. (It was in the middle of a traffic jam). It's a good thing it blew up, because another lady was stopped right in front of me, and she needed help. An off-duty officer was with her, but had no tools. We got her on the road, I put what water I had with me into my radiator and limped another mile. This time I discovered a creek below me. Three gallons of water later, I made it into a truck stop. There I waited about an hour for things to cool down, put some more water in, and limped into an auto-parts store in Worcester. $214:+ later, I had a new radiator ordered for 7:30 Tuesday morning. By 10:00 the next morning I had the new part installed, the old one shoved in the back of my van, 1.5 gallons of new coolant in the machine, and by 10:00 that night, I was in Virginia. By 2:00 Wednesday afternoon, I made it into Collegedale.
What are my conclusions from this whole experience? God makes sure our angels are with us when we ask Him. #2: when we ask to be used by God, we can be sure He will use us. #3: God protects us even when we don't know it. I pulled into the parking lot at Amanda's, and got out of my vehicle. When I went back in to go somewhere, I noticed the front left corner shimmied when I turned to the right. All those interstate miles at high speeds, and that vehicle never shook once. #4: It's nice to be in a place where you feel you belong.
I really do love the South. Sure it's hot, and muggy. The bugs are bad, the snakes are poison, the roaches are big, and the constant noise of trains is something else. However, I'll take all that in stride just because the Southern people are truly a joy to be around. Six years living in Alberta, and I never felt at home. Six months in Tennessee and I felt great about it. Maybe it's because I have North Carolina roots from pre-revolution days, but I think it's because I like being around polite people who don't have an attitude reflective of Severe Intestinal Evacuation Stoppage Disorder. Anyway, so goes my week. It's been great, and it's even better to be back with Amanda and feeling like I belong
Cheers
Charles