I’m too late…thank God!

Posted on 05/29/2008 by RLW3

I got back to Tucumcari with my rims in time to get them put on the T-Bird and get it out of the shop.

Phillip at Jack’s Towing moved the car into the garage and put the tire on the car immediately. (Jack’s Towing was very fair with me. I recommend them highly if you happen to break down in Tucumcari, NM!) However, as with everything else in this venture, there were complications…

The tires that came with the rims are a little too wide and were rubbing on the suspension.

I towed the T-Bird to Quality Tire and Lube where I had ordered the tire on Tuesday morning. They let me cancel the order and just pay for the shipping. However, it was 5:00 and they were closing so they couldn’t rotate the fat tires to the rear. “We’ll be glad to do it tomorrow at 8:00 in the morning.”

They sent me to the Texaco station across the street. As the mechanic removed the fat front left tire, a painful realization begin filling my brain. I have special wheel locks to prevent my wheels from being stolen and the tool to remove them is safely stored IN MY TOOLBOX IN KANSAS CITY. Why am I building this car???…

As he finished overcoming that obstacle, I then remembered that when I got out of my truck yesterday at the first Enterprise Rent a Car in Amarillo, I had noticed that the front left tire on my truck had no tread on it! He wanted $165 to change it! FOR A REGULAR TIRE???

FORGET IT! How much do I owe you for the tire rotation and the 15 lug nuts?…$100!!!

Let’s just say that I was not a happy camper! I have to stay ANOTHER night in Tucumcari, NM!

I checked into the second hotel that I tried to check into on Memorial Day, the Travelers Inn. (The room was small but very clean. The A/C worked well. The bed was comfortable. The cost was $37. If you just want a nice place to sleep, I would recommend it.)

I turned on the TV only to see that there were AGAIN tornado warnings again all along the road that I was so determined to travel. Maybe I shouldn’t be all that upset about these delays after all. It could be worse!

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A nice end to a long day

Posted on 05/29/2008 by RLW3

Had a nice salad with Jennifer @ Chili’s in Fort Worth @ 10:00 P.M. I remarked on how much I am seeing her these days. I just took her to the airport in LA 6 days ago!

I pulled into the Super 8 in Wichita Falls at 12:30 A.M. Nice, clean room with a comfortable bed for $54.

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Somebody, please wake me up

Posted on 05/28/2008 by RLW3

On to the second Enterprise.

I rented a Pontiac Grand Prix. Nice, full size car. Drove well. 891 miles on 32.4 gallons of gas.

After driving 9 hours and 535 miles, I discovered that the rims were not as good as they looked in the pictures but what was I going to do? Turn around and drive to Colorado? I don’t think so…

As I got the money out of the ATM, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of living in a bad dream.

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Do you have a reservation?

Posted on 05/28/2008 by RLW3

Got to Enterprise on time.

“Did you have a reservation?”

Lady, I just figured this out 3 hours ago…

They cars they have will barely fit a human being, let alone four rims with tires on them.

You’ll have to go to this other location…

OF COURSE I DO!

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Why didn’t you call me sooner?

Posted on 05/28/2008 by RLW3

Less than an hour after I told the guy in Texas that I was coming and paid for a hotel in Wichita Falls, the guy in Colorado Springs CALLED ME BACK. Keep in mind that I e-mailed him three days ago.

“Why didn’t you call me back sooner?”

“I’ve been having computer problems the last few days”

“Dude, switch to Apple…”

Immediately after I hung up, I got hit with a case of the ‘what ifs’. I am sure that you can imagine the internal pain that followed.

“If he had only called sooner. I would have ONLY had to drive 640 miles instead of the 1040 that I just committed to. That’s 400 miles less!…”

“But it would all be in my F150…”

“Why did I prepay for the hotel?”

etc., etc.

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Yesterday’s plans, revision 1.2

Posted on 05/28/2008 by RLW3

Here is the results of my sleepless night…

I will leave Tucumcari, New Mexico, drive 2 hours (117 miles) and rent a car ($) in Amarillo, Texas.

I will then drive 6-7 hours (435 miles) to Corsicana, Texas and buy the rims.

I will then drive 3 hours (220 miles) back to Wichita Falls, Texas where I will go to sleep to see if I can escape this bad dream in the hotel room that I rented via Travelocity.

I drive the remaining 4 hours (435 miles) back to Amarillo tomorrow morning, return the car at noon and only be charged for one day.

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Sleep deprivation

Posted on 05/28/2008 by RLW3

As if things aren’t difficult enough, I woke up every 1/2 hour from 3:30 until I finally gave up on the wonderful idea of sleeping at 7:00. Trying to keep track of all the logistics made it difficult to rest.

Here is a sample of the thoughts that ran through my head all morning…er, I mean night.

1. It’s a two hour drive to Amarillo to rent the car. I want to get there when they open their doors at 7:30. But wait, Texas is in the Central Time Zone so I will lose an hour. That means that I have to leave Tucumcari @ 4:30 Mountain Time. I can’t do that!

2. It’s 435 miles from Amarillo to Corsicana, TX, 870 miles round trip. At 70 miles per hour, that’s 12 1/2 hours of driving. That does not include time to buy gas, buy the rims, etc. Enterprise (free mileage) is only open for 11 1/2 hours. That means that i will have to get a hotel.

3. If I don’t get to sleep, I’m going to be too tired to drive. I will have to pull over and sleep on the side of the road. I can’t let that happen! I don’t want to spend another day stuck here! This is hard enough to figure out already.

Run through those three scenarios about twenty times and it becomes easy to understand why I had difficulty sleeping.

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One of the secrets to my success

Posted on 05/27/2008 by RLW3

One of the principles of success is to plan your day. Here are my plans for tomorrow…

As if driving 110 miles to buy a cell phone today wasn’t enough, tomorrow I am going to drive 117 miles to RENT A CAR!

Why am I going to do that?

First, because there is no reputable car rental agency “in the middle of nowhere” where I happen to be stuck.

You ask, “Why are you going to rent a car?”

Because Corsicana, Texas is 535 miles from Tucumcari, New Mexico.

So, let’s do the math…

535 miles…

at 13 miles per gallon…

(Okay, I admit it, Wild Bill gets 15 on a good day. But I am stuck in  Tucumcari, New Mexico towing a car that I tried to ship with a truck that I tried to sell SO WHY WOULD I EVER COUNT ON THAT?)…

As I was saying, 13 miles per gallon…

That comes to 41 gallons of gas…

at $4/gallon…

carry the one…

equals $164 in gas costs…

EACH WAY!

The rims (I have to buy the whole set) will cost me $200. The gas will cost $328!

However, if I rent a vehicle that gets 30 mpg, I will save $75 by renting a car!

You don’t believe me…

You think my math is wrong?

I spent all night figuring this out but let me check it again…

117 miles to the car rental place…

at 13 miles per gallon…

That comes to 9 gallons of gas…

at $4/gallon…

equals $36 in gas costs…

plus another $36 to get back home…

err, I mean here…

IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!

But, boys and girls, we are not finished…

435 miles from Amarillo to Corsicana…

at 30 miles per gallon…

that’s 14.5 gallons of gas…

at $4/gallon…

equals $58…

times two…

equals $116…

add $35 to rent the car…

plus $72 to feed Wild Bill.

Huh…

You were right…

I will save $105!

Not to mention that I will save over two hours because I will be able to drive 75 mph as opposed to the Wild Bill’s 60 miles per hour top speed.

 Yes, folks, planning…that is how I got where I am today!
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Foiled Again!!!

Posted on 05/27/2008 by RLW3

I don’t give up easily. There has to be a way to avoid that drive…Aha! I’ve got it!

My oldest daughter lives in Dallas. If she could pick it up and ship it to me since she is only an hour away from the guy. I called her…

She locked her keys in the trunk of her car. Today of all days! And doesn’t have a spare set!

I asked her about the automatic door opener that came with the car. She said that she never got them enabled because she was so desperate to escape from the salesman because he was hitting on her!

Oh, well…the locksmith is coming tomorrow!

That’s comforting…

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The Saga Continues

Posted on 05/27/2008 by RLW3

Here is the latest status on Ray-Ray’s Big Adventure…

The shop that came and towed my car has a very good reputation. (good news)

The T-Bird’s custom suspension looks like it is completely unharmed. If that ends up being true, considering that the front left hub slammed onto the road, that would be AMAZING! (very good news)

The tire shop ordered the tire. (good news)

It will be here by Friday. (very bad news)

Because I customized the suspension, I have to have a replacement 17″ rim to fit over my oversize front disk brakes. (bad news)

I found the exact rim that I need for sale on the Internet! (good news)

The rims are for sale in Colorado Springs, CO (340 miles), Bristow, OK (430 miles) or Corisicana, TX (535 miles). (bad news)

The guy in Texas responded to my e-mail. (good news and bad news)

He can’t ship it because he has lost his job and doesn’t have the $50 it would take to FedEx it to me! (really bad news)

But, after hearing about my story, he actually felt better about his own situation!!! It is so gratifying to be able to make people feel better about their life!

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