That’s Never Good

As I’ve shared before, I have had an ongoing carburetor problem with the Chrysler convertible. Due to that and the fact that the front end is very loose, I made arrangements to take it to a highly rated garage that specializes in things like that.

We had rain most of Sunday night, and yesterday morning the clouds were hanging low, but at least it wasn’t raining. I fired up the old car, and with Terry following me, we headed for Performance Auto and 4×4 Center. It was only two miles from our place and should have been an easy drive. Well, that didn’t happen.

The car stalled out at every stop sign, but I was able to start it again and keep it going until the next stop sign. But when I would take off, it had no power at all. Then, as I was getting ready to pull onto the Deuce of Clubs, the main street in Show Low, the engine died again, and this time it wouldn’t start. Just to add to the fun, it had started to rain again. That’s never good. ☹

Terry was right behind me with her flashers on, but a couple of dunces behind her decided they had to sit and blow their horns, even though I was waving for them to go around. Fortunately, a very nice gentleman and his son saw our predicament and pushed the car out of the intersection and into a parking place.

My first thought was that maybe I was out of gas, even though the gauge said full. With a 74-year-old car, you never know what’s going to work and not work. I got into Terry’s Subaru with her, and we drove back to the house, picked up two gas cans, and went and filled them. Back at the Chrysler, it turned out the fuel gauge must be pretty accurate because I only got about two gallons poured into the tank before it was full.

Okay, time to go to plan B. Always have a plan B. It doesn’t hurt to also have a plan C, just in case. We drove to Performance Auto and told them what was going on, and they recommended we go to Excel Towing, right next door. We did, and one of their drivers named Drew told me to hop into his flatbed truck, and we went and got the car.

By then it was raining hard, and I was walking in ankle-deep water in the street, but Drew got the Chrysler loaded up and off we went to Performance Auto, just a mile away. He unloaded the car, and I gave the guys at the shop the keys and told them I didn’t want it back until it was running well and the steering was fixed. Thanks, Drew, Roy Meeks, and Excel Towing, for your fast service when we were in a bind.

I’m not really frustrated with all of this. I knew it needed some work when I bought it, but again, the car and I are both antiques, so we’ve both got some miles and some age on us.

It rained most of the day and all night, and it’s going to rain all day again today, too. The weather forecast says by the time this clears out sometime Wednesday, we should get a total of anywhere from 2 to 4 inches. No problem, I’ll stay inside and write. Which is what I did yesterday afternoon, knocking out another 3,200 words in my new Tinder Street book. Hopefully, I can get that many or more done today.

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And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – The longer you stay on the wrong train, the more expensive it is to get back home.