Stranded

I returned from my 5:00 AM Wal-mart run last Friday with the extra roll of packing tape I needed to close my final boxes. The movers were scheduled to arrive at 9:30 AM and I still had work left to do. Forsaking any attempt at sleep the night before, I packed my car with as many of my belongings as possible and put the rest into boxes for the movers to pick up. I surprisingly was not tired, but I was happy the movers would be coming sooner rather than later. I was anxious to get on the road towards Atlanta. Little did I know this was only the beginning of a very long day.

The movers came and went with no problem. No trouble there. I still had not quite finished packing up my car that afternoon when I realized there was no way I would fit my remaining belongings into it. Believe me, I was trying hard. I take some pride in having good spatial and problem solving abilities – I am an engineer by training, after all – so I think I did a pretty good job packing the car as full as possible (though it did require numerous rearrangings). Alas, I had to go to a shipping store to ship a few more bags of clothes. It took a while, but eventually I was ready to hit the road. I thought the worst of it was over.

The day had turned to evening, and I still hadn’t slept, but I was so excited to finally hit the road that I thought I would drive for at least a few hours before stopping for the night, thus allowing me to finish the 18 hour trip the following day.

The evening sky was full of foreboding thunder clouds. I hate to drive in a heavy rain, but I just had to make some progress that night. I had only made it about 35 miles (I was using my trip counter) when I heard a loud sound which I thought emanated from the eighteen-wheeler passing me. A quick glance at my tachometer, however, showed that my engine was revving up much higher than it should have been. A few pumps of the gas pedal showed that the car would no longer accelerate. “Great,” I thought, “my transmission is dead.”

My transmission failed last summer, as well. When it happened then I took it to a nearby AAMCO – transmission specialists, supposedly. Luckily, I bought the optional one-year warranty at the time. So I had my car towed to the same AAMCO. Unfortunately, this was on a Friday night and AAMCO had long since closed by the time I arrived. Afraid to leave my car on the side of the road in what appeared to be not the safest part of town, I slept in my car. I knew no one would be able to steal my car, but I did have many things in my car that I did not want stolen. Because of my brilliant packing job, I was unable to recline my seat back, but I managed to catch a few winks.

The people at AAMCO were very nice and understanding of my situation – I was in the middle of moving and I would have to stay at a hotel until the repair was finished. They finished it by late Monday afternoon (which was sooner than I expected), and I was once again able to set out on my journey.

This time I made it 70 miles north before the transmission failed. At this rate, I should be home by Christmas. AAMCO was closed yesterday (4th of July), so I had a wasted day. But they are back to work on it once again. Hopefully, it will not take more than a couple of days to fix.

The only question is: will it break again in the middle of my drive to Atlanta? I was lucky in that I did not make it very far before my car broke down. But what if it breaks down in the middle of nowhere in Texas where my AAMCO warranty will no longer serve me?

I’m afraid I shall have to consider alternatives (i.e., sell my car and rent a van). I just hope that they can ASSURE me that it will not break again, but I don’t know it that is possible.

Until then, I will continue to waste away in this hotel in Texas. Sorry to all of those to whom my wonderful presence has been denied. I wish I could be there. Pray for me!