This morning my youngest daughter left for Omaha, Nebraska. She was selected to help with the Grand Opening of the new Bonefish Grill.
At my direction, she drove the SuperCrew F150. I reasoned that since it is November and it is not uncommon for large amounts of snow to unexpectedly fall in Nebraska, I felt that she would be more comfortable if she were driving the vehicle that she uses on an every day basis.
Well, it turned out that the weather wasn’t the problem…
A few hours after she left, the truck started running roughly and the “Check Engine” light came on.
She called me…but I was in a meeting and couldn’t take the call.
She called her mother…but she was on the phone discussing the $865 lab bill with our health insurance company and couldn’t answer.
Instead of panicking, she called my mechanic and asked him what she should do!
She got off the freeway and asked the woman at the counter of the Love’s truck stop where she could find the nearest auto parts store.
“I have no idea.” The woman then pointed to a customer entering the front door, “But he can tell you.”
Cakes told him of her predicament.
“You don’t want to go to the auto parts store. I’ll give you the directions to my mechanic.”
When Cakes pulled up to the shop, there were three heavily tattooed men sitting around smoking cigarettes.
She thought, “Oh boy…here we go.”
She went in and explained the problem.
One guy went into the shop and hooked up his computer to figure out what was wrong with the engine.
Then, the situation got more interesting…
A police car pulled up.
As the cop stepped into the office and started talking with the second guy, the third guy walked out into the driveway and started talking to two rough looking Samoans that had just pulled up in an SUV!
While all of this was developing, the guy in the shop informed Cakes that one of the coils that supplies spark to the cylinders had gone bad. He said, “Usually, we would charge you for a new coil and then there would be labor. But, we happen to have a used one here…so I’ll put it in and there won’t be any charge for the labor.”
I don’t know if this sudden burst of generosity was inspired by the fact that a policeman was “interviewing” his buddy or not. Frankly, I don’t care. My daughter was safe, the truck was fixed and it only cost $40!
The whole episode was over in less than an hour!
When I finally spoke to Cakes on the phone, she excitedly told me the whole story and said, “I handled it all by myself! Daddy, I’m a big girl!”
I wholeheartedly agree.
