Thanks for nothing, jerks

I thought about letting what happened to me over the weekend go. I wasn't going to say anything on this blog. "Moving on and getting on with the positive" and all but you know what? Screw that. I was in a bad spot and except for some really great folks that I'm glad I can call friends, it could have been a whole lot worse.

I've had trouble with my truck. It's been overheating. I replaced the thermostat in it last week and thought the problem was solved because I drove it - around Portland, through Gallatin a couple of times - and it ran cooler than it ever has.

Well, this past Saturday, I took my mom yard saling because her car was not drivable at the time. We drove all around Gallatin for hours and all of a sudden, guess what? It starts overheating again. Not just overheats but boils out of the resevoir. We have to stop several times to let it cool down but we eventually make it back to her house.

The trouble comes when I start to go back to my house. I had let my poor truck sit for three or four hours in the driveway to cool down. By now, it is pitch dark and a new moon when it overheats on me again on a little backroad just outside Bethpage, TN. Well, "overheat" doesn't quite describe it: it starts whistling like a tea kettle. I stop where I am to turn it off...only I can't get it started again. I try but I only succeed in running the battery down so I turn on the hazard lights and hope there is enough room for cars to pass because my truck is sitting right in the lane - on the blind side of a steep hill.

Luckily, I am only a half mile from a friend from college. Problem was, I was wearing black pants, a dark green t-shirt and a black jacket - on a totally dark night. I kept praying and hoping that no cars would come by because they would not be able to see me at all.

So I get to my friend's house and ask to use the phone. Now, this is not down in the middle of the night. This is around seven p.m. I call four different tow truck operators. One, "The Letter of the Alphabet That Is After C" & "The Letter of the Alphabet that Is Before S" out of Gallatin, tells me point blank, "Not tonight." The next guy, who shares a name with a certain Regency Hotel and was only a few miles away, after I go through my spiel, tells me that he only tows big trucks to Westmoreland (only to have my mom tell me later, "Isn't that the guy you called last time?" It was.) The third towing service I call says, "Well, it'll take me a few minutes because I've got my hands in this engine but I'll be there." He knows exactly where I am, because he tells me the landmarks in the area before I can do the same. This was a certain "Greasy" who is a rather big name in Westmoreland (such as that is.) An hour and a half later - no tow truck. As far as I know, he never showed up.

Here I go again. I call one more person in Westmoreland. "Beam Me Up" 24 Hour Towing tells me, via his daughter because he is on a cell phone, "Well, I could do it tonight but it will be cheaper if you can wait until tomorrow."

"Well, that's a lot of help because my truck is sitting in the middle of the road right now. I tell you what - I'll see what else I can do." Click.

So, after nearly two and a half hours, my truck is moved out of the road and into an unused driveway with the help of my friend's father. He also gave me a lift home. Let me say right now that I am eternally grateful for the entire family's generosity and I am glad to call them friends. It wasn't until Sunday afternoon that my truck is finally towed.

As for those other guys? I told them what had happened and they didn't seem to care. Thanks for nothing, jerks.