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Monday, Sept. 01, 2003 - 6:33 p.m. OK, here is what happened in Springpatch. We ended up in Springpatch kinda by default. We didn�t really have anything we needed to do, and we couldn�t agree on whether to go to either of the local small-town festivals (both have been wastes of tiem in the past). When nothing sounded great, I finally just asked Lease if the Springpatch trip would be a decent way to spend the afternoon. She thought so, so that�s where I pointed the car. Little did I know what would go wrong�. Our first stop was the state fairgrounds. Lease had heard there was a big charity tag sale going on there, and I knew that the yearly ethnic festival was also going on. Turns out the tag sale was next weekend (they gave the wrong date on the radio, because we weren�t the only people disappointed). The ethnic festival blew, also. Maybe later in the day, when the real bands played, it would have been worth sticking around. But the only musicians playing at 3 pm were a guy with his electric guitar on the stage (50�s rock, too- zzzzzzz), and a blind guy with his Casio, panhandling at the entrance (we dropped him a buck). We left, and headed towards the shopping district. Lease noticed a sign for the tomb of our state�s most famous dead guy, the 9th president of the U.S. I have never visited this site, even thought it is only 45 minutes from my home. Lease went there on a field trip with her 6th grade class, a few years back. Since this is one of the most visited tourist sites in North Dakota, it seems odd that we haven�t ended up there before. The stop was worth the time (note to self- bring CAMERA, if ever in the area again. Plenty of good stuff to photograph there). There are some unbelievable statues outside, and inside a tour guide gives you a nice presentation, explaining how he ended up at rest in Springpatch, and the history behind the construction of the site. One of the things everybody does when visiting the tomb is kinda silly- there is a large bust of the Pres�s head at the main entrance, and it is within reach or anyone over 5� tall. For that reason, people rub his nose for good luck. They do this so often, the whole nose area of the bust has been rebuilt several times. Right now, it is just shiny, not in need of repair. Even though I am far from superstitious, I gave his nose a good rub. And that is where I fucked the whole day up. We walked back to our Grand Am, and headed to the Vietnam Veterans memorial, also in the same cemetery. Something on the dash caught my eye- the �idiot light� for the battery (and electrical system, for that matter- it just looks like a red battery, that�s all) was glowing. Without gauges, I couldn�t tell what was wrong. I pulled the car over to the shoulder at the gift shop, and checked under the hood for things I knew could be obviously wrong( missing serpentine belt, no glow light showing on battery, no dead squirrels stuffed in the radiator). Nothing seemed amiss, so we headed towards the mall. This is where things got weird. We made it almost completely across town, and then the following things happened: 1. The air conditioning started blowing weekly, and hot air, too. 2.The ABS light on the dash came on. 3.The plain-old brake light came on. 4.The lights on the dash started flickering, and the radio went dead. All this happened in a five minute span. And the last bit happened while we were sitting at the busiest intersection in the county, right in front of the mall (the local policeman who helped us told us that fact). The car was sputtering, and I was afraid it was going to die in the left turn lane in said intersection. Since each cycle for the lights there takes about 5 minutes (no kidding), I put the car in neutral and pushed the accelerator down to keep it alive. When the light finally changed, I was running on fumes. I made the turn, and then the car died. I had to coast to a stop about 100 feet from the light on the passing lane shoulder. While I was coasting to a stop, the door locks were clicking on and off, all of the lights on the dash were turning on and off, and the wipers came on. Like the Grand Am was possessed by gremlins. Anti- president�s nose rubbing gremlins. We walked to K-mart, and called around until I could find someone willing to flatbed trailer our car back to Mohall (I wasn�t leaving it at the Pontiac dealer up there, not knowing anyone there). He quoted me $2 a mile, plus a $25 hookup fee. That works out to 45 miles x 2(round trip) x $2 + $25= $205. Expensive day trip, right? The guy who picked us up was very nice. We shot the breeze with him all the way back, making what could have been a miserable ride in the cab of a tow truck bearable. About halfway over, he answered his cell phone to find out someone he has worked for in the past had their truck broken down in Mohall, and needed it towed to Collegetown. Since he was now taking this truck further down the road, that means he was making extra cash for this run. For that reason, he was in a great mood. Big money for one 90 mile trip. He even offered to take us home, after dropping our car off at the dealer. Cool. When we reached our house, he asked me if $60 sounded fair for the tow. What? What happened to $2 a mile? I asked him if he forgot how far he had to drive us. He said,� I figure from the edge of Springpatch to the dealer was 40 miles, and I just rounded the hookup to $20.� Sounded great to me. What I thought would be a $205 drain on the budget became $80. I gave him a $20 tip for his kindness, and I almost had to force him to take it, too. I asked him for a business card, and I told him if anyone ever needed a tow to Springpatch, he would be the first hauler I called. Not everyday something that bad turns out that well. Of course, I haven�t gotten the bad news from the dealer yet. If it is just a bad alternator (my first guess), it won�t be that expensive. The battery is original equipment (6+ years old), so I planned on changing it this fall anyway. If it turns out to be a bigger problem (computer brain box comes to mind)? Good thing I have the Visas all paid off�. What else did we do this weekend? Bought our groceries Sunday afternoon. Hauled them home under a tarp in the Hillbilly truck, due to heavy rain. As a matter of fact, it rained for almost 50 hours straight. We ended up with about 4 inches of rain from late Saturday night until now (over 2 � inches from midnight until 7 am this morning alone!), while I am typing this entry. It didn�t rain all of the time, but there were few gaps in the downfall. We are under a flood watch (no shit), and 27 days without precipitation are now a distant memory. While Lease started our shopping at Wallyworld, I picked a bucket full of drop apples from the tree on the state r.o.w. in front of the store (Definition? �Drop apples� are the fruits that end up on the ground before the tree becomes ripe. Some of this fruit is green or bug damaged, but much of what drops are apples that ripen early and fall to the ground. Since the tree is loaded this year, it wasn�t hard to find a bucket full of good apples). Lease made me one of my favorite deserts, German apple cake (cooked in the Bundt pan). I then peeled and cored the rest of them (using a piece of equipment made just for doing this job to apples) in no time, and made them into Right-Of-Way apple butter (23 half pints). We watched � of �Lord of the Rings- Two Towers� last evening, and the rest of it today. Made 6 quarts of primo Italian tomato sauce today. Let it cook down for almost 3 hours, reducing the volume by almost �. Lease cooked some sausage and hamburger, and we threw together a pan of lasagna. Used the fresh tomato sauce in it, too. It will be an easy-to-fix dinner for us later this week. That�s about it. We slept in very late every day, and basically took it easy (after the car breakdown). Tomorrow, another workweek commences. Only 4 days though, so that�s a plus. Codeman will give me a ride tomorrow to work. Hopefully, the car will be ready by the time I get off. This was supposed to be Lease�s week to drive the carpool. I don�t want to even think about what would have happened if the breakdown would have waited until she was hauling her coworkers around tomorrow. Sorry about the terribly long entry. I blew this �journal� off the past two days, so I thought I would try to catch y�all back up. Hope you had a safe (and no car breakdown) weekend�..
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