Der Truck... war tot.
Let me premise this by saying I don't believe in this sort of shit, not one bit.
I haven't had dreams in quite a long time, now, but since starting the road trip, I've been dreaming a lot lately. People who know me know why, but that's beside the point.
When I start dreaming, the dreams are long, very detailed, very realistic. Sunday night/Monday morning, I had a very long, bizarre dream about The Truck. I had pulled into a large industrial complex with several buildings, small manufacturers, distributors, warehouses, all in the same few blocks, that sort of thing -- with no people anywhere outside. I wasn't sure why I was there.
Inside the buildings, people were like Oompah-loompahs from Willy Wonka -- working automatically, ignoring my presence completely. From within one of the buildings, I looked out of the window, and there was The Truck, parallel parked on the street, but not where I'd left it. I went running outside to see who'd moved it, and it was gone. I panicked.
I went running back inside a different building in the complex, looked out of a different window, and could see it parked in yet a different spot, went outside again, and again it was gone. This was becoming frustrating, and I couldn't find anyone to help me explain it or help me get back to it. Eventually I was crying because I couldn't get back to The Truck, no matter how I strategized. I awoke almost in tears from the realism of the emotional strain, and told my brother and nephew about the dream before leaving for North Carolina.
I arrived in Winston-Salem last night, stopped to buy a couple of things and called George, the EXPATRIATE EXPATRIATE EXPATRIATE EXPATRIATE EXPATRIATE in Carolina I was going to visit for the next couple of days, only to find out I'd screwed up horribly on his location. I was in NC -- He was in SC. Duh. Right after hanging up, I got back on the highway, and The Truck began to sporadically lose engine power. I didn't see any service signs at the next exit, but figured I'd better get off the highway.
When I pulled off the ramp, I could see a collection of sodium street lights a few blocks away, and thought it might be a small town. The Truck's problem was obviously fuel/air mixture, and I was thinking it was the O2 sensor -- either way, I needed to be findable.
I drove toward the lights -- it was an industrial complex; small manufacturers, warehouses, distributors, all in one large park, with no people anywhere. And here is where The Truck died.
I called the local non-emergency emergency number, and was connected to the Forsythe Country Sheriff's unit, who said they would send a unit out. So I waited. And waited. No unit. I was looking at The Truck, but couldn't drive it. 2 hours later, people began arriving for work at the complex. Even though I was partially blocking one of the driveways, the people ignored me, sitting there on my hood in the middle of their complex.
Another hour passed, and I approached the building when I saw a warehouse door open. I said, "Hi, I'm broken down here, the Sheriff was supposed to be on the way, and I was hoping I could use your restroom....." No eye contact, no acknowledgment from 5 feet away; the man just finished pulling the chain to open the last door, and walked away.
"Cue Twilight Zone theme," I was thinking, as the dream was replaying in my head over and over again.
The parallels were shattered when around the corner came 4 sets of sirens and seizure-inducing blue and white lights, speeding into the large complex. One of them squealed to a halt diagonally in front of me, Starsky & Hutch-style, and yelled, "YOU! Do you have anything to do with the alarm!"
"Alarm? I don't think so. I was just waiting for you guys to come out and help me with this...." and I noticed he was muni PD, not a deputy, and I sent him on his way. They went to the dead-end branch of the block and started investigating a building there, and he came back to help me and call a towing service on his way out of the lot. I wasn't invisible after all.
So. SOUTH Carolina to see the EXPATRIATE EXPATRIATE EXPATRIATE EXPATRIATE EXPATRIATE tomorrow. The Truck has been reborn, is running fine. And the shop even gave me a free hat for coming 6,000 miles to have my them change my fuel pump. I'm shocked at myself lately -- *Nothing*, absolutely *nothing* has pissed me off in an entire month.
I haven't had dreams in quite a long time, now, but since starting the road trip, I've been dreaming a lot lately. People who know me know why, but that's beside the point.
When I start dreaming, the dreams are long, very detailed, very realistic. Sunday night/Monday morning, I had a very long, bizarre dream about The Truck. I had pulled into a large industrial complex with several buildings, small manufacturers, distributors, warehouses, all in the same few blocks, that sort of thing -- with no people anywhere outside. I wasn't sure why I was there.
Inside the buildings, people were like Oompah-loompahs from Willy Wonka -- working automatically, ignoring my presence completely. From within one of the buildings, I looked out of the window, and there was The Truck, parallel parked on the street, but not where I'd left it. I went running outside to see who'd moved it, and it was gone. I panicked.
I went running back inside a different building in the complex, looked out of a different window, and could see it parked in yet a different spot, went outside again, and again it was gone. This was becoming frustrating, and I couldn't find anyone to help me explain it or help me get back to it. Eventually I was crying because I couldn't get back to The Truck, no matter how I strategized. I awoke almost in tears from the realism of the emotional strain, and told my brother and nephew about the dream before leaving for North Carolina.
I arrived in Winston-Salem last night, stopped to buy a couple of things and called George, the EXPATRIATE EXPATRIATE EXPATRIATE EXPATRIATE EXPATRIATE in Carolina I was going to visit for the next couple of days, only to find out I'd screwed up horribly on his location. I was in NC -- He was in SC. Duh. Right after hanging up, I got back on the highway, and The Truck began to sporadically lose engine power. I didn't see any service signs at the next exit, but figured I'd better get off the highway.
When I pulled off the ramp, I could see a collection of sodium street lights a few blocks away, and thought it might be a small town. The Truck's problem was obviously fuel/air mixture, and I was thinking it was the O2 sensor -- either way, I needed to be findable.
I drove toward the lights -- it was an industrial complex; small manufacturers, warehouses, distributors, all in one large park, with no people anywhere. And here is where The Truck died.
I called the local non-emergency emergency number, and was connected to the Forsythe Country Sheriff's unit, who said they would send a unit out. So I waited. And waited. No unit. I was looking at The Truck, but couldn't drive it. 2 hours later, people began arriving for work at the complex. Even though I was partially blocking one of the driveways, the people ignored me, sitting there on my hood in the middle of their complex.
Another hour passed, and I approached the building when I saw a warehouse door open. I said, "Hi, I'm broken down here, the Sheriff was supposed to be on the way, and I was hoping I could use your restroom....." No eye contact, no acknowledgment from 5 feet away; the man just finished pulling the chain to open the last door, and walked away.
"Cue Twilight Zone theme," I was thinking, as the dream was replaying in my head over and over again.
The parallels were shattered when around the corner came 4 sets of sirens and seizure-inducing blue and white lights, speeding into the large complex. One of them squealed to a halt diagonally in front of me, Starsky & Hutch-style, and yelled, "YOU! Do you have anything to do with the alarm!"
"Alarm? I don't think so. I was just waiting for you guys to come out and help me with this...." and I noticed he was muni PD, not a deputy, and I sent him on his way. They went to the dead-end branch of the block and started investigating a building there, and he came back to help me and call a towing service on his way out of the lot. I wasn't invisible after all.
So. SOUTH Carolina to see the EXPATRIATE EXPATRIATE EXPATRIATE EXPATRIATE EXPATRIATE tomorrow. The Truck has been reborn, is running fine. And the shop even gave me a free hat for coming 6,000 miles to have my them change my fuel pump. I'm shocked at myself lately -- *Nothing*, absolutely *nothing* has pissed me off in an entire month.
posted by Miller at 6:00 PM
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