Saturday, December 01, 2012

Gasoline Alley


You can see Ansa in the back, begging the question what fresh hell has ol' Two Legs wrought?
 
I'm one who lets the small stuff get to her. The big stuff can go fly a kite. But the small stuff drives me around the twist as it slowly masses itself into global proportions.

I felt like an idiot today. Trouble with my second car (Strawbella) which I should never, ever, have kept. I got into the habit of ignoring her in spite of my good friend B's advice to drive her every third day or so.

So today B starts her for me, after inflating one of her tires, and then I go drive her off and next thing I'm without any kind of power at the crossroads with no winter gear on and the leashless dog in the back of it. And no cell phone with me. (You're beginning to see I should never be let out without a minder, right?).

So nice young man stops, and sits with me and sympathizes and says he doesn't know a piston from a battery but would drive me home. Sans dog, as he was driving girlfriend's car, he had taken her car and had snow tires put on it. My dream man.  So Ansa, my dog, watches me pitifully from the back of my car as I drive off with a stranger and leave her at the crossroads.

My friend B comes to the rescue again, picks me up, we drive to the crossroads and he charges up the car and we drive in tandem to my house. I let the car run for 30 minutes, and then shut her off and try and start her again. Fizzle. Nothing.

At this point my knickers are in a knot and the real fretting starts. I would be the neighbour from hell if I troubled B again. The CAA would come but it could be all hours by the time they got here and I didn't like their rep. the last time, a shyster. My brain rambles all around me, picking up fluff here, dropping it there. So I direct message B on FB, confessing to moronic/imbecilic/cretinous status for stopping the car and could he boost me again tomorrow?

B calls. Tells me he is on his way. He will keep my car overnight in his shed and charge up the battery over 14 hours. Then we will know if the battery needs replacing. Or not. No problem. No big deal. Nothing.

But an absolutely staggeringly big deal to me. I was about to be crushed by this one tiny piece of small stuff.

Worries, like I said before, never happen.





30 comments:

  1. Oh, but lucky you for friends like B! Hope all is well tomorrow.

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  2. Marja-Leena~

    Even though I keep telling myself it is not the end of the world when these things happen, I don't believe myself!

    Yes, lucky me indeed.

    XO
    WWW

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  3. You are lucky to have a good friend who can help out like that :-)

    I confess to being the same. I can put up with massive pressure and stress without an issue, and then something silly, like an offhand comment from a colleague, will put me in meltdown mode. Those things which, when you take a step backwards and realise that they are pretty small in the grand scheme of things, just seem to balloon till they take over the world.

    And that's why we need friends like B - someone who can not only put something in perspective, but also show us the way out of the panic loop...

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  4. Oh yes
    good friends
    we need them.
    Living in the country
    I keep a list of names
    and numbers in my car.
    So far
    no problem.
    Did notice squirrels have been
    chewing some wires
    under the hood of truck.
    Now parking - not in the woods :)

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  5. You and I are made from the same pattern - Stubbornly independent!

    I am sure you do more than enough for B, in your own way, so stop worrying your pretty head. Go do some knitting!

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  6. Jo:
    Ah sisters of the heart, I do sweat the small stuff and the big just rolls off me.
    Yes and an offhand remark can upset me for a week.
    XO
    WWW

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  7. GM:

    Odd that, I am so off the knitting at the mo., tossed it aside. I think I did too many leaves!!!

    Yes B and his wife have said this I've done some legal advice thing for them and I know men love to display their manly ability (B is an ace mechanic among other talents)but yes the independence and NO OBLIGATION (remember that?!) sticks to me like glue.

    XO
    WWW

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  8. Glad to find that, for ol' Two Legs, all turned out as well as could have been expected. :-) Gold star to B!

    Worst part of the whole deal, for me, would have been the necessity to leave ol' Four Legs behind. Did she give you a grimace or two later?

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  9. What I admire most about dogs, T, is that ability to never hold a grudge or a resentment. As soon as Ansa saw me return she just goes into spasms of delight.

    If only us TwoLegs could remember that simple rule of happy co-existence. :)

    XO
    WWW

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  10. You'd've hated to be me last year when every time I turned around, no matter whose vehicle I was driving, a tire went flat.

    I was ready to stop driving. Seriously. CAA is great, but still ....

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  11. Nice to have wise and loyal neighbors. You can pay him back...just keep your eyes open,

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  12. I have a neighbour like B too. Apparently helping other people is his life ambition and purpose, and I do take advantage, but feel guilty too. Very sweet person.

    Having two of anything is more than double the trouble I think, unless it really is totally maintenance-free. I wish I had 2 cars for different purposes but I will take your little tale as a cautionary. I barely keep up with the proper maintenance on one, never mind two.

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  13. Well, that certainly was an experience not worth repeating. What a bother and for poor Ansa too. She must have thought that you abandoned her and the car. You must have been a welcome sight when you returned. What a lousy lesson to learn. xox

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  14. SJG:

    Oh I had to laugh, I had two blowouts in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone service and BOTH times B was with me with a bad knee and changed tires both times.

    I can never make up to B for his goodness.

    XO
    WWW

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  15. Tabor:
    I am hoping to, I knitted and Irish afghan for them so that would be a start?!
    XO
    WWW

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  16. Good thinking, Annie, I wish I had the thought earlier. I can barely keep up with one too and remember maintenance and switching tires, etc.

    We are truly lucky with our neighbours!

    XO
    WWW

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  17. Irene:
    I'd say she was stressed to the max, hopping off with a stranger like that. I won't forget her eyes in a hurry. Accusing, disappointed and fearful.
    XO
    WWW

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  18. It is real stress though. Lucky you have people who look out for you. As you do for them.

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  19. Friend B has the patience of a saint. How lucky he was there to help out. I guess the car needs a proper service to make sure it's reliable. And to make sure Ansa's not left in the lurch!

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  20. Bless B! Good neighbors/friends are often lifesavers.

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  21. I hope so Hattie, that I can be that compassionate and giving.
    XO
    WWW

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  22. Nick:
    No she's been serviced, it is my neglect in not driving her for weeks at a time where the battery dies and a tire can flatten. I just need to get rid of her.
    B has been so good with his advice.
    XO
    WWW

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  23. Pauline:

    Nothing like friendship to soothe the irritants of our lives, yeah?

    XO
    WWW

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  24. OWJ:

    Rescued you again from the spam bucket and there's been hundreds of them lately, I guess the run up to Xmas.

    Glad you spotted the squirrels doing the damage...

    XO
    WWW

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  25. Ooh, that bites. I think it's easier to let the little stuff get to you. Or me, anyway. The big stuff I just grit my teeth and get through.

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  26. Ooh, that bites. I think it's easier to let the little stuff get to you. Or me, anyway. The big stuff I just grit my teeth and get through.

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  27. What an amazing friend/neighbour! Maybe it's time to streamline your vehicles though. : - )

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  28. My favourite part of this is the license plate!

    And I may have to mount a search for that JMS book myself....

    There's a tiny bookshop in Limerick where my sister and I got lost for hours last summer. All kinds of old, musty, out of print, delicious books!

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