I wasn’t sure when the shop opened, or how soon they’d start to work on my bus. I woke to the sound of a garage door going up early at about 7:30. Most people rolled in around 8:00 and they were working on my problems by 9:00.
I was excited to get on the road, so I decided that I wouldn’t have them look at my electrical problems, I’d just have them get me running and take care of those issues up the road. I found an RV place on-line that might be good in Billings Montana. These guys are grease monkeys who specialize in big rig diesel trucks. They’ll fix my engine, but might not be too familiar with motorhome accessories.
I was hoping to get on the road by noon. I got the bus ready to roll; curtains open, belongings secured, TV antenna down, etc.
The mechanics tended to mumble and I really wasn’t sure what my situation was. I asked a guy lying under the bus, “How’s it going?” He said, “fhrm on good”. I wasn’t sure if he said, “Not so good”, or something like, “Pretty good”. Later, Bob told me, “wrtfng om radiator hose”. I think he said, “Waiting on a radiator hose”.
I proceeded to wait while all work had stopped. I assumed a radiator hose was on its way. I watched each truck as it drove into the lot to see if it looked like it might be carrying my parts. Nothing looked right and I was let down each time.
When it got to be 1:00 I thought, “If I make it to the Mountain Time Zone, I’ll get an hour back and it will still be like I left at noon.
It got later and later and later. I hate waiting. I started to re-plan my day and now just hoped to get on the road and rescue my Jeep. I now regretted leaving it. I could use it to get around while I’m stranded and I was just worried about it. Hind sight is 20 20. To Jeep, or not to Jeep? Jeep. New rule; always bring it. Lesson learned.
Around 3:00 a mechanic with good diction told me, “We’re just waiting on that radiator hose.” I asked, “Think I’ll get outa here today”, expecting a “Sure!”, but was floored when he simply said, “Nope”…he went on to tell me that the parts were coming via Fed Ex and should be here tomorrow around noon.
I crawled up into the bus, closed the curtains and turned on the air conditioner. I couldn’t believe I was stuck there for at least another night.
Still, I was in my home, so I had things I could do. I’d been meaning to try to figure out how to edit video on my computer. I had shot some clips at the Judas Priest show and wanted to clean them up and post them on the internet. I started to mess around with my video editing program and quickly figured it out. It was very similar, yet simpler than many of the audio editing programs I had used in radio production. I had a blast and felt great that I could now edit video on my lap-top. I made a pretty good montage of the concert, but was unable to up-load it yet due to my weak internet signal.
After that my mood was great. I realized I now had time to do the things I never seemed to get around to.
The day slipped by and before I knew it it was evening. I had some vodka, but nothing to mix it with. I smashed some watermelon chunks and grapes left over from my mom and dad’s picnic supplies through a wire strainer into a bowl with a metal soup ladle to make juice. I made a huge mess, but it worked great. My broken collar bone hurt as I smashed the fruit. I had forgotten about it. It was getting better. I was now four weeks into the six week healing process.
There were storm warnings scrolling on TV. I wasn’t sure what county I was in, but it was getting active outside. My driver’s window was still stuck down, so I taped a garbage bag over it. My TV antenna was rocking in the wind, so I put it down.
There was no one there. It was perfect isolation. I cranked up my tunes louder than I had ever felt comfortable before. When the storm passed and was in the distance I grabbed my big radio headphones and my laptop and climbed up onto my roof to try to get a better internet signal. There was lightning constantly flashing in the distance. It was unbelievably beautiful. I felt like I was on top of the world, like God watching from on high.
I was excited to get on the road, so I decided that I wouldn’t have them look at my electrical problems, I’d just have them get me running and take care of those issues up the road. I found an RV place on-line that might be good in Billings Montana. These guys are grease monkeys who specialize in big rig diesel trucks. They’ll fix my engine, but might not be too familiar with motorhome accessories.
I was hoping to get on the road by noon. I got the bus ready to roll; curtains open, belongings secured, TV antenna down, etc.
The mechanics tended to mumble and I really wasn’t sure what my situation was. I asked a guy lying under the bus, “How’s it going?” He said, “fhrm on good”. I wasn’t sure if he said, “Not so good”, or something like, “Pretty good”. Later, Bob told me, “wrtfng om radiator hose”. I think he said, “Waiting on a radiator hose”.
I proceeded to wait while all work had stopped. I assumed a radiator hose was on its way. I watched each truck as it drove into the lot to see if it looked like it might be carrying my parts. Nothing looked right and I was let down each time.
When it got to be 1:00 I thought, “If I make it to the Mountain Time Zone, I’ll get an hour back and it will still be like I left at noon.
It got later and later and later. I hate waiting. I started to re-plan my day and now just hoped to get on the road and rescue my Jeep. I now regretted leaving it. I could use it to get around while I’m stranded and I was just worried about it. Hind sight is 20 20. To Jeep, or not to Jeep? Jeep. New rule; always bring it. Lesson learned.
Around 3:00 a mechanic with good diction told me, “We’re just waiting on that radiator hose.” I asked, “Think I’ll get outa here today”, expecting a “Sure!”, but was floored when he simply said, “Nope”…he went on to tell me that the parts were coming via Fed Ex and should be here tomorrow around noon.
I crawled up into the bus, closed the curtains and turned on the air conditioner. I couldn’t believe I was stuck there for at least another night.
Still, I was in my home, so I had things I could do. I’d been meaning to try to figure out how to edit video on my computer. I had shot some clips at the Judas Priest show and wanted to clean them up and post them on the internet. I started to mess around with my video editing program and quickly figured it out. It was very similar, yet simpler than many of the audio editing programs I had used in radio production. I had a blast and felt great that I could now edit video on my lap-top. I made a pretty good montage of the concert, but was unable to up-load it yet due to my weak internet signal.
After that my mood was great. I realized I now had time to do the things I never seemed to get around to.
The day slipped by and before I knew it it was evening. I had some vodka, but nothing to mix it with. I smashed some watermelon chunks and grapes left over from my mom and dad’s picnic supplies through a wire strainer into a bowl with a metal soup ladle to make juice. I made a huge mess, but it worked great. My broken collar bone hurt as I smashed the fruit. I had forgotten about it. It was getting better. I was now four weeks into the six week healing process.
There were storm warnings scrolling on TV. I wasn’t sure what county I was in, but it was getting active outside. My driver’s window was still stuck down, so I taped a garbage bag over it. My TV antenna was rocking in the wind, so I put it down.
There was no one there. It was perfect isolation. I cranked up my tunes louder than I had ever felt comfortable before. When the storm passed and was in the distance I grabbed my big radio headphones and my laptop and climbed up onto my roof to try to get a better internet signal. There was lightning constantly flashing in the distance. It was unbelievably beautiful. I felt like I was on top of the world, like God watching from on high.
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