What did you do to the truck, Dave???

Well, it is not tommorow, but it isn't too much longer then that for this post. My appologies, but I was busy most of monday chasing work. It looks good for Shwan foods, they called me back and said they are just trying to clear up some bugs in the new computer hiring system (which I was the first person they have interviewed with this system), and should be setting up a meeting with the reginal manager next week. I hope I get hired, I would love to be working again. Plus, I think it would be a good job for me. We shall see.

Back to Georgia. Friday morning we are up to, and I will tell you a story about it!! First off, we started earlier then the other days. I packed up the night before, so I wouldn't be too rushed in the morning, then slept as long as possible. This is something that I am getting pretty good at. Richard, Art, and Gary left thursday night to head back to Battle Creek, so they were not part of the Friday golf (boo-hooo). We missed them, but headed out to be the first groups out as soon as the course opened at 8:00. That is a little different then in MI, where as soon as the sun appears, they are taking greens fees and pumping people onto the course! 3 groups were ready and we played an 18 hole scramble. Nappy, Lenny, and Dean joined me as the second group out, and my father followed with Gary in his cart. Luckily, dad was driving the cart, but he found what I had found out the day before, Gary is a unique person.

We finnished playing at about 12:00 and found out that my team won with a score of -5. It was cool, then we loaded up, said our goodbyes, and hit the road. An hour latter, the truck started stalling. The people up front stopped and there was a lincoln dealership just off the highway. At the dealership, they thougt the problem was the fuel and air filters. We had them change them out, and went back on the road. 30 minutes later, it started doing it again. We were south of ATL, but Owen wouldn't pull over. He kept going through Atlanta evern the truck would only run long enough for him to get it up to 45 MPH, then he would put it into neutral, and coast until he could get it to start again. I was scared out of my mind. I kept trying to read something to keep my mind on anything but the impending death that I was sure was coming for me. We got north of Atlanta, Owen asked if my dad thought he should pull over. Thank god my dad said yes. We pulled over and went to a Mariot just off the highway. We tracked down a dealer that was about 2 miles away, that was going to be open to do service on Saturday, and settled down for the night.

I Called my mother to let her know what was going on, and she informed me that Lent had ended at 3:00 that afternoon. I was free to go to the bar with the guys and lament our luck on the drive that day. A few beers later, and we all felt better.

The next morning, we showed up at the dealership first thing, and waited for 2 hours until they diagnosed the problem (bad fuel pump). The problem was, it would be tuesday before they had a new one. We grabbed a phone, and a map of Georgia, and started calling mechanics. Owen's (take a deep breath while I try to explain this) daughter in laws father Bill, lives in the area, and came by to help us find where we needed to go. Bill told us about a pep boys that wasn't in the phone book that was the right direction for us to go. We called them, they said they had the part, and that they could do the work that morning. We headed over there, and they got us on the road by 2:30 pm. Typically of trucks now a days, they had to take off the bed to get at the fuel pump, this is important for later in our story!

Back on the road, Owen drove until about 5:00, when he (gasp!) turned the wheel over to my dad. My dad drove until about 10:00 in Cincinati, when I took over (nobody wants to drive in Ohio). I drove until north of Dayton about 12:00 midnight, then I got so tired that I couldn't see straight. I pulled over, and my dad took over again. We headed back up 75, and about 10 minuts later, Blue lights and sirens from behind us, was the greeting from the Ohio Police. We pulled over, and the officer (I hate to say this, but he looked about 13 years old) told us that we had no tailights. We all looked at each other and said shucks. The officer noticed that the truck had turn signals on the mirrors, and since they worked with the emergency flashers, he let us continue on with the blinkers going, and he only gave us a warning! Whew!!! Dad continued on until Lansing, when we gassed up one more time, and then Owen missed his seat behind the wheel, so he took over again.

5:00 am and we reached Bonnis/Owens house, and switched into the tahoo. We loaded up, got gas, and started from Mt. Pleasant to Clare. 5:30, back home safe and secure. The cat was scared shitless, but other then that, all is well. All in all, I had a great time, but I am glad to be back home in Farwell. That is all for now!