Living and laughing with a disability - cerebral palsy; ordinary life, extraordinary circumstances.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Yes God...I know...

Last night when Jodie and I got home, our van was spewing white smoke out the front.  We panicked. We tried to hurry to get out...which is a snails pace at best.

I got Jodie down on the lift.  The front of the van seemed really hot.  When Eric said he thought it was just what he and I had witnessed before, only we had seen it happen when it was raining and the roads were really wet.

Our favorite nephew Vance came over this morning to look at it.  After the van ran awhile, the white smoke was back.  I called the shop, and then I dug the card out with the phone number of  the tow company that can tow Sprinter vans.

The cab to the tow truck was twice as high as our van.  I don't know how I got in and out...but I managed.  ;)

The tow guy was nice.  He had me lead him out of our neighborhood.  He turned left on Powell.  I would have gone down to Sandy and turned left there, but I figured he knew what he was doing.   Turns out he could have used my advice.  He was a really nice guy.  He was lamenting the fact that his next run was 180 miles away in Yakima to pick up a truck,

I was soon sitting in the waiting room at Breslin & Wallace.  The "or I'll eat my hat!" (Timberline Dodge guy who did commercials before all the Chrysler dealerships were closed...including his) guy was there.  He was calling workers of the car lot and telling them which cars needed prepping.  He looked at me and said "You need a job?"  I said "I have a job!"  Now I wish I had waited to see what he was offer me.  Who would offer a disabled guy like me a job anyways...;0)

I was really happy when the guy came out and told me that nothing was wrong.  Sprinter vans have many peculiaralities, including an auxiliary heater that heats thee van before the main heater kicks in.  Sometimes it just lets off some steam.

But...we needed a new battery.  $250.  Was I surprised at the price?  Not really.  Everything for the sprinter cost more.

When they changed the battery, it messed up our stereo/video system.  The screen did not pop out.  The station playing was the Catholic station...the song: "God is in control!"  I smiled.  Our budget is very tight these days and Jodie and I were both squeamish about how much today.

Yes, God is in control!

Sometimes it takes some white smoke...a tow truck ride...a job offer...a messed up stereo...and a two hour nap...to remember that.