Riddle me this: Why do Brian & Brooke and a ‘93 Jeep Grand Cherokee go together like oil and water?
Answer: This year has been plagued with car-tastrophy, starting with the “i feel like fish” car accident, continuing with the Sears oil change disaster, and reappearing with the most recent weekend from Hell!
* * * * *
Our summer in White Plains, NY was coming to a close, and then came the *fun* part of packing and cleaning. Our departure was set for Friday, August 17th with an ETA in Normal, IL on Saturday around 5pm. This schedule was going to give us a good day to unpack and get situated before starting work (Brooke) and school (Brian) on Monday the 20th.
By 4pm, the car was tightly packed and we were on our way to drop off our cable modem before officially hitting the road for our long drive home. It wasn’t more than 5-10 minutes in when it happened. We heard a loud boom and then the clankity-clankity sound that something dangling and dragging from the car might make. Time kind of slowed down as we made our way to curb, blinkers flashing.
“Can this really be happening to us now?” I thought to myself.
As I opened the car door, I immediately saw a pool of oil floating down the street. A quick peak under the car brought us to a grim realization. Nothing was dangling from the car, but given the pool of oil and our recent history (Sears oil change disaster), we knew this was not good. Just as I was looking at the back of the car at all of our stuff - the computers, the bikes, our clothes - the rain started pouring down.
Meanwhile, Brian was in the car, frantically dialing coworkers to get some local tow-truck information. We waited in the car, in the rain, in silence, until the tow-truck guy came to the rescue.
Tow-Truck guy’s name was Chris, and he was a very forward person with a New York style accent. He was there to work.
“Get out,” he barked to Brian. “Get in the truck.” He was obviously not a mess-around type of guy.
We get in the truck and he shows a side of concern because it was almost 5 o’clock on a Friday night. All the shops in White Plains like to close for the weekend, and we soon found out that just because you are homeless and not officially from the area doesn’t mean they will give you their last few minutes of business.
Chris, however, was great - pure salesman to the bone. He was dialing every number of every shop he could think of and really selling the situation. Afterall, we just wanted someone to take a quick look and give us a diagnosis because at this moment, we knew nothing about the matter. Is it a quick fix, or did the car just die? Finally, a lightbulb goes off as he remembers this one shop on Ferris Avenue. They stay open later than the others, as well as on Saturdays.
As he dials the number, “Oh, yeah, this guy is great. Keeps his shop clean. Works real hard. He’s driving all the other shops out of business!”
We pull in to the shop, Autolex, and pop a squat in the waiting room as the guys take a quick look under the hood. A few minutes later, Alejandro, the owner, comes in and gives us the news.
“Your engine is dead.”
Just as we feared - the worst.
The shop guys lifted the car so we could take a look underneath to get a better idea of what went wrong, and wow, something really went wrong! There was a huge gash in the engine and bits of metal strewn about, which they believed to be pieces of piston that exploded, killing the engine. After they realized that the car only had 85,000 miles on it and not 185,000 as initially suspected, they became very concerned. This car was babied before Brian got it, and now the engine exploded internally? We told them the story of the Sears oil change disaster and they definitely agreed this was correlated. That little bit of knowledge gave us a small piece of inner satisfaction.
After the initial shock, we had to try and think straight. How are we getting home? Where are we going to stay? What about our stuff? The shop guys were more helpful than I ever would have imagined. They knew we were homeless and not officially from the area, and they cared! Alejandro gave us rental car place numbers, hotel numbers, and taxi numbers so we could have all options available to us right away. It was, afterall, getting late on a Friday evening. After much distress with the car rental places, Alejandro gave us yet another option - put in a new engine.
The engine and labor would cost $1500. There was one nearby that they could get on Saturday morning and put in that day, setting our departure time for Saturday night. We agreed this would be the best option seeing how we still had a car load of stuff to haul and would otherwise be car-less when back in Illinois. Alejandro gave us his cell phone number, and Carlos, another mechanic, gave us a ride to our hotel!
Shelling out $150 for a hotel room didn’t even phase us. We just wanted a place to relax after one already long day. We decided to make the most of it, ordering in Chinese food and watching my old favorites on USA. With full tummies, comfortable bodies, and a light at the end of the tunnel, our night was actually quite enjoyable.
Unfortunately, all good things must end, and so did our joy (at least my joy - Brian slept like a rock). I never quite fell asleep into that good night like my counterpart, and the reason became quite clear around 3 am. Something in that Chinese food made me extremely sick to my stomach. I think I might have scrounged up 1 1/2 hours of sleep at most.
To make matters worse, the entire day Saturday was spent waiting in agony in the hotel lobby, trying not to be sick, for that call-back from Autolex. How exactly do you pass 8 hours in a hotel lobby? I honestly can’t remember how most of that day transpired. I just remember getting a call-back around 5 pm that we could come back to the shop.
Anticipation was killer. Our taxi dropped us off at Autolex, but the guys were still hands-in-the-engine working away. I felt a little uneasy. These guys were doing a 2 or 3 day job for us in just one. They turned away other business just to help us out. I tried to pick up if I could hear bits of laughter or frustration to get an idea of their mood. I noticed on the board their posted hours for Saturday were 8am-3pm. A quick glance at the clock showed 6pm, 3 hours later than normal. My stomach dropped. But, wait! Laughter! They are still having good attitudes. Whew, what a relief!
Finally, the moment of truth. Start your engines!
The car didn’t start.
The car didn’t start the first time, the second time, or even the third time. Brian and I felt sick, but it was more for the shop guys who just busted their butts all day for this engine, for us, to have it not work in the end.
The guys didn’t stop. A few short, yet agonizing, minutes later, the car started. We clapped and cheered! The car lives!
It was 8pm before we were given the keys to the jeep and set off on our way. Armed with Alejandro’s cell phone number, oil, antifreeze, and new-found car knowledge, our first stop was to finish the task we never quite made it to yesterday of dropping off our cable modem. The guy Brian spoke to on the phone said there was a drop-box at this location, but to our dismay, there was only a mail slot. The modem fit through the slot, but the charger didn’t make it as far as the front porch. At that moment, we were just like charge us the $50 and get it over with.
We drove like the dickens, making it about halfway into Pennsylvania around midnight. Since I was nodding off, we figured it was a good time to find a bed somewhere, but yes, they were all booked up for 50 miles in either direction! Silly us! It is mid-August, prime vacation time, and we didn’t call ahead anywhere.
It was actually too much for either of us to handle. The only other thing we could think of doing was pulling into a rest area for a few hours of shut-eye. It wasn’t long before we found one to park at. Initially it seemed like a great idea, but since we didn’t plan for this, it made falling asleep difficult. Our car was packed too full to recline the seats! Our comfort level, or rather discomfort level, kept us from getting much sleep at all. Yes, folks, I think I got 2 hours of sleep. Let’s add that up: 1 1/2 hours on Friday night + 2 hours on Saturday night = 3 1/2 hours of sleep in 2 days.
Brian, luckily, managed to get more sleep than me yet again. I had to wake him at 6 am to get rollin’ before traffic started to pick up. I love early Sunday morning drives, especially when it starts to rain heavily.
We just couldn’t catch a break that weekend. Not only were we driving across 4 states that day, but we were also driving through pretty bad storms the entire way. Even worse, our “check engine” light came on in Ohio, forcing us to pull over under a bridge to check the fluids. We popped the hood, and as I was checking the oil, the troopers pulled up to make sure everything was OK. Everything ended up being ok and we proceeded on our hurricane route for home.
My mom met us at our new apartment in Normal, IL with my keys. She helped us unload the jeep (thanks mom!) and get settled. Finally home! But, wait… Where’s my desk? Why is there only a twin bed? And, why are there no 3-prong plugs anywhere in this place?!
Just when you’re feeling the adventure is over, there’s more! The apartment we chose for this fall was a furnished place, meaning we could leave our other furniture in storage. I ended up having to set my computer up on the breakfast nook, sitting on a hard, wooden bar stool. Brian ended up sleeping on couch cushions on the floor, while I slept on the twin bed. Before all this could happen, we had to run to the store to get some 3-prong plug adapters. And before we could call it a night, we had to call our Internet Service Provider to find out why our connection wasn’t working.
We made it! We made it back to Illinois in time for work and school on Monday. It took another day to realize we were actually in Normal, but when we went shopping the other night and almost got into an accident 3 times, I knew we were home.
THE END!!!!
*Autolex - 164 Ferris Ave, White Plains, NY 10603 914-428-9101
These guys worked super hard to help us get our jeep fixed up. Best shop around!
**Sears Oil Change Disaster - In May, Brian took his jeep to Sears for a routine oil change, only to find the next day he had driven it on little or no oil because of their mistake.
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Now back to that oh-so-scandalous topic of “should I take my laptop with me around the world?” I have been a firm believer that travel styles may vary thus providing an ambiguous answer to this question. I personally feel that taking a laptop would be beneficial to my trip since I will need to be able to process RAW images from my camera and make videos from our video camera. Of course, these aren’t necessary tasks, but they are tasks I feel would enhance my travel time significantly.
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