BREAKDOWNS ARE NO ADVENTURE

[boxcarOkie]

The interstate is crowded today and the trucks seem to be appearing from out of nowhere, one right after another, like soldiers marching in a column to a hidden count.  Looking down at the instrument panel and the alternator needle is jumping around like Miley Cyrus twerking at a late-nite punk-rock concert.

Dog-gone bus is on the fritz.  Once again, harshing my mellow.

Perfect, just wonderful, and at the right time of the day too.  Some people are just too ##@#**!! lucky, I ought to be somewhere buying my Lottery tickets right now.  The bright red shiny ball on the horizon grows dim and a chill enters the air.  Now what?  

Or as Clint would say ... "Go ahead, make my day."

In the pit of my stomach, I can feel that dark ugly feeling welling up deep inside me, I am going to lose it, I just know it.  This is not my first rodeo, far from it.  Unfortunately, on the road, things happen: stopped up fuel filters, bad gas, spoiled diesel, jelled fuel lines, stuck thermostats, blow-outs and battery failure.  

Doors that would not shut, AC that quit, refrigerators that did not cool, water hoses that broke or blew right out the side, generators that laid down and died, like an old dog you thought was just napping on the front porch.  

Not to mention the unexpected round of food poisoning, rip offs at the pump, and have even found myself accosted in the occasional rest area or truck-stop bathroom, which believe me, is kind of incredible in itself.

Simply because I am just not all that cute at my age.


So why do I get so upset when my old bus breaks down or I need a new battery for my watch?  

Beats me.

The alternator is now fixed, time marches on.  All it took was some brand spankin new heavy duty brushes, from across the counter at the NAPA Jobber and another reduction on the debit card.  

And of course, time.  There is six hours of my life I will never get back.

 
Fact of life:  On a 36 year old bus, nothin ever stays the same, it is a tough life, dogging along in the slow lane.  Fix this and then move on to that, there is always going to be something when you drive an old hoopie with a million miles on it to begin with.

Like my old man used to say ... "Learn how to roll with the punches boy.  We all cannot march in the parade of life, some of us have to stand on the curb and clap, as it rolls by"   (Just keep the tool box within reach, just in case, you never know).

As we pointed out in the very beginning:  "I find No Adventure in road breakdowns, just aint my bag."  I would like to spend more time on this subject, but it would make me late for work.  To help out and supplement my retirement income I went to work for Weight Watchers last week.  

They have me stand in the corner and they point at me and say stuff like ... "If you keep eating do-nuts, this is what you are going to look like!"

Hey ... It's fuel money, what can I say?
 
Watch those Right-Handers

BCO

[dtcerrato]

BCO
You should have been a poet, maybe you are. Well put all you say.
The breakdown itself isn't the adventure, as much as the jotting out with the toad seeing smaller things you wouldn't have if the breakdown never happened (as long as the breakdown was major enough to keep you there awhile)
Just rekindling some thoughts of our latest major 5000 miles from home when the blower disintegrated.
It was on another post, we called it stuck in paradise
The real pain was when we toadied to Anchorage airport to pick up 2nd day air @ UPS air terminal which cost 1/2 of what all the parts did!
Had the bus & toad back to back with a tarp tied to each in days of rain alongside the highway.
Maybe we're crazy (keeps us from insane) but enjoyed the places discovered in between sourcing the parts & waiting for parts
Always rathered it was on the air conditioned pit - but then it wouldn't have been an adventure?
Breakdown time 12 days in all & happy we didn't miss out on it all..
Nice photo & attachment - thanks for rekindling the thought...

[bevans6]

Technically, an adventure is a breakdown happening to someone else.   

Brian

[John316]

Technically, an adventure is a breakdown happening to someone else.   

Brian

LOL. So true, Brian. I will drop everything to go help someone else who is broken down. And I have a blast getting them back up and running. However, when we would be broken down in the bus, it was the worst ever. I had no fun and just did whatever had to be done to get back on the road.

I wish there was a way to "Like" post. Brian just won the internet prize for today

[oltrunt]

'spose I'm an odd duck but I have always found breakdowns to be an adventure (some of which I'm lucky to have survived).  Like most of you I enjoy rolling down the newly resurfaced roadway with a light grip on the wheel---but only for about 20 minutes.  I hate driving.  I like camping.  I like talking to other campers.  I like seeing new scenery.  I hate driving. I suppose what keeps me dealing with my 81 year old bus is that I love problem solving on the fly.  I like testing my mechanical creation's response to my backyard engineering.  I win some and I lose some but when I win it is like a giant high and when I lose it is like another chance to test my skills.

As an example, last May we took off for Yosemite in our little 4 cylinder TD bus towing the 3000# toad.  All went well until we hit the uphill grapevine in So. Cal.  About half way up this 8% grade "blowing coal" at 50 MPH, the output hose on the turbo blew off its fitting and we went from 50 to 5 MPH in about 3 seconds and had to wend our way through two colums of semis to reach the shoulder.  We made it.  The cause was a fluke of manufacture.  Right where a little nub should have been located on the cast aluminum inlet tube there was an air bubble instead.  This allowed the pressurized rubber turbo hose to slip off the aluminum collar and dump the boost air.  I doug out my electric drill and drilled an 1/8" hole and inserted a pop rivet.  I re set the hose and tightened the hose clamp and we were good to go.

We just returned from Yosemite today making it over the grapevine this time with no excitement but with a feeling of satisfaction that the backyard engineering won out once again.  Crazy I know but then it keeps me from going insane!  Jack

[dtcerrato]

Jack

Thanks for sharing that, We relate to your "'spose I'm an odd duck but I have always found breakdowns to be an adventure (some of which I'm lucky to have survived).  Like most of you I enjoy rolling down the newly resurfaced roadway with a light grip on the wheel---but only for about 20 minutes.  I hate driving.  I like camping.  I like talking to other campers.  I like seeing new scenery.  I hate driving. I suppose what keeps me dealing with my 81 year old bus is that I love problem solving on the fly.  I like testing my mechanical creation's response to my backyard engineering.  I win some and I lose some but when I win it is like a giant high and when I lose it is like another chance to test my skills."completely! Probably why we'd like to meet & tell lies some day. Spent many a time traveling the grapevine. Used to live in Valencia (Travel Village) & work in LA. Accumulated 7 years pension in So. Cal working the Carpenters Union. I totaled a class C RV traveling south up the grapevine from the Bakersfield side. Gusty winds did a job on us - never forget it. If it hadn't been for that crash we probably wouldn't own the 4104 we have now - bought it with the settlement... Our full holding tanks burst in the crash and went into LA's fresh water aqueduct. They closed the whole system for a spell. Enough of that. Glad you had a time & returned safe.