Remember Clarence? It's a Wonderful Life? Doing his good deed to earn his wings by helping out poor Jimmy Stewart? Well, I thought about him after my experience on the way to South Carolina. But first, lets start at the beginning. I left Madison on Thursday during the snowstorm and the snow lasted for 130 miles south. Finally, it was gone... but replaced by high winds and freezing cold weather. This lasted until I was close to the Kentucky border... so I continued on to try to find where the warmer climes actually started. I got close to the Tenn. border and stopped for the night. Still no warm weather. Friday... continuing the cold streak I ventured thru Nashville and once I got past the city the GEN light came on. Damn, what now? I pulled into a gas station and checked my book. Could be a sign of a broken belt or problem with the charging system, the book says, so I pulled into a quick oil/auto repair shop and had it checked out. Can't find a thing... all seems ok he told me, just the posts on the battery full of corrosion, which he cleaned off and put some gook on them to help keep them clean. Great, easy and no charge... and the light is off. Back on the road happy as a clam. Soon I am in Georgia, and warmer temps... finally. Smooth sailing all the way to Atlanta and the exit to the 285 outer circle. This quickly changed as it was 5:00 and rush hour traffic. However, this was stop and go. I only had 15 mi to go to be well on my way on 85 North heading to Greenville, but it was not an easy go. There were 2 accidents at the exit I needed and it took an hour and a half to go the 15 mi. Could it possibly get worse you ask? Oh my yes, remember who's trip we are dealing with here. While in the far inside lane (of 6 lanes) ... my exit I find is going to be on the right side... coming up in 1 1/2 mi. and the GEN light comes on again... just to add to the stress of the situation. Finally, on 85 and in the right lane and an exit coming up. I took it and there was a QT gas station right as I pulled off. PHEW!!!! At least it was a place to stop, even though it didn't have a garage there. This is where the bizzar part about Clarence comes in. Remember Clarence? I pull in and pop the hood to see what I can see... not even knowing what I am looking for, but you feel you have to do it because ... well... it's what you do to try to LOOK like you know something. I no sooner got the hood popped and a guy pops up and asks if I am having problems? The names Gary, he says (guess he felt Clarence was too old fashioned). What's the problem? I told him what happened... oh yeah, I forgot to add that just before I pulled off the inside lights were dimming and the battery gauge was way down. He looks and says..."I think its bad news for you man, I'm pretty sure your alternator is shot. He unhooked the negative battery cable and everything went dead. Yup he says...thats a sure sign, because if the generator is working, you could still turn on the lights etc. Great! Where am I going to find someone to put in a new alternator and how am I going to pay for it. I can do it, he says, it will cost about $120 plus the part... maybe $100 if you help me. Ok, lets do it I say, I need to be in SC this eve. Should take about an hour he says. He calls the auto parts store... and they have the part. WOW, what luck I think, so we begin. He starts disconnecting things and undoing connections and screws and bolts. The whole time saying things like (oh man, oh man, damn, oh man ...and on and on. Well soon we have lots of parts on the ground or in my pocket and the further we get, the more his story unfolds. turns out he's homeless and living in his car with his mom. His dad just passed away after 3 bouts with heart problems and being swindled out of $25,000 by his ex partner. How could this get any worse. Then he tells me (with a pile of parts on the ground) that he isn't a mechanic, but has worked on cars most of his life and knows how to diagnose a problem and fix it. Oh great...will we be able to put this mess back together again I am thinking. Well, we finally got the alternator out... which wasn't easy, and his mother drove us to the parts store where we got the replacement. The old one was in bad shape and cracked. If I had continued on, I would have been stranded along the road somewhere shortly down the pike. The van was just running on batter power alone...which was going down fast as it was. Back to the van, he says... you need to put the thing back in first as you removed the last nuts and know where they go. Oh man, Ihave NEVER worked on an engine before... other than checking and adding oil. Now I am installing an alternator and hoping I remember where everything went. Once we got it in and bolted down its time to put the belt back on...Oh Shit, (he says) it fell off and thats not my specialty. I am near panic mode by now when he disappears and is back in a flash with a mexican friend that showed up from...well, I know not where. He tells him we need some help with the belt. He reaches in, and in a flash, has the whole belt out and in his hands. My eyes are bulging and I am thinking "Oh crap!!! What now?" He folds the belt in half, bends over, reaches in and within minutes, has the thing on and grabs a tool and has it tightened. Gary says, ok, I'm goona reconnect the battery and turn it on. I just know the thing is going to spark or cough or not start or explode, but what the hell. I put the key in and damned if it doesn't start right up, the lights are brighter, purrs like a kitten and the "check engine" light which has been on since my last trip to Atlanta (and I am told by my mechanic back home... not to worry, half the cars in WI have that light on.... is now OFF...as is the GEN light and the battery charge is back to normal. It's starting to get cold out and he tells me snow and ice are on the way again, and I think of them sleeping in the car. He had told me, once he does a few jobs, they get to stay in a motel. It took us over 4-4 1/2 hrs to do this job. I could not have done it without him, nor him without me. I gave him $140 so they could stay warm and have a meal for a night or 2 and I could be on my way. I got to thinking later, I don't know if he was my guardian angel or I his, but it seemed fate that we met when we did... and I was greatfull to not being stranded in the middle of Atlanta rush hour traffic or out in the wilderness on the way to SC. I must admit, I was still a bit nervous about the whole thing and was wondering if I would break down 5 miles down the road. The van ran better, the heat poured out more, the lights brighter and I made it to Greenville about 1:30 am (not after supper as I had originally hoped for) and I got a cheapo room for the night.
Saturday, I wake up to rain and head to the show. I hear, its going to change to snow which makes me a bit nervous as they don't deal well with snowy conditions in the south. My fears were confirmed when I got to the school and found out after unloading that 35 of the 40 units scheduled for the show called that am and cancelled out. The school districts would not allow the busses to go out in fear of the "big storm" which they say coming. It turned out to be rain most of the day with a few small flurries which didn't even stick to the ground. 3/4 of the way thru the event.. which now was just a judges clinic for the 5 schools that did show up...I had done about $45 in sales. I could see my future living in my van next to Gary and his mom. Near the end of the show there was a very small mini rush and I ended up doing $145 total in sales...$5 more than what I gave Gary for repairing the van. Enough for gas and a few nights room at a motel to get me back to work in Atlanta to finish LaCareys jobs and get some more cash.
Now that the rush is over and I have some time to relax and reflect, I am feeling a bit down, but still optimistic that things will improve on the rest of this tour. It CAN'T go on like this...or I will be ready for the nut house by the end... or need a stronger dose of my stress tablets.
Sorry this went on so long and so much detail, but it felt like it has been months instead of just a few days. One of the first people I ran into at the show (on the positive side) was Debbie Chambliss (can't remember her married name) who was very happy to see me and I got a big hug from her. Turns out her husband is the head of the circuit there (that was sponsoring the show) and she invited me to vend at their circuit championships in April the week before WGI. She also told me Sal and Hobie were at the show... as judges, but I never did get to see them. She said to say hi to Nancy and was excited to get back in touch with you on the SSR site. She's a sweetie and it was good to see her again.
Ok, well, thats the story... and I'm sticking with it and heading back to Atlanta tomorrow to see what will happen next on my big adventure. Stay tuned.
