A Series of Fortunate Events
My blog is about how I see God’s hand in my life, which is sometimes more apparent than others. This is a longer post, but I think it’s one of those time :)
During my drive to work last Thursday I noticed a small amount of steam coming out of the hood of my car :/ and it didn’t smell good! Then I looked down and noticed the temperature gauge…
I hadn’t ever seen that car before. Definitely not a good sign!
Fortunately I was only a short distance from a church parking lot where I could park in the shade, open my hood, and let the car cool down. It had rained the night before and there was a puddle of water next to where I parked. After about 15 minutes I used that to poor on and clean/cool off my radiator cap enough to open it.
My coworker Sandra came and rescued me with water bottles. I poured four of them into my radiator and drove it to a nearby mechanic. Sandra drove me to work, and I was able to make it to work in time for my first meeting that day :)
The mechanic called a few hours later and quoted the repairs at $815 (my car is only valued at probably about $1500). Not very appealing. I called my usual mechanic down in Provo who said he could do the repairs at $375. Much better! The difficult part was that I had to: finish work, get a ride back to the Riverton mechanic, get my car down to Provo, and then get back up to Salt Lake with enough time to change, eat dinner, pack, and get to the airport by 9:15.
Doing the math I realized it wouldn’t work if I finished at my usual 5:30 PM and tried to do everything during rush hour. My manager Jennifer was in an appointment, but she happened to step out just as I was contemplating my dilemma (and fortunately my client was about 15 minutes late allowing me to talk with her at that time). Jennifer helped me make a plan, so Sandra could cover my last commitment, and I could leave work at about 4.
I took a Lyft to get back to the Riverton mechanic, and with a promotion it cost only $2.21 :) Fortunately, it was next to a Peterson’s Fresh Market, where I bought 2 gallons of water. I paid the mechanic, refilled my radiator with 1/2 gallon of water and began my trek.
During the drive I kept an eye on the temperature gauge. I knew the water had been used up (leaked/boiled out) when the temperature gauge started rising. It wouldn’t stop rising until I stopped driving, and if I didn’t stop driving it would seriously damage the car.
On my third stop to let the car cool down and refill the water, I used up all my water! A 35-minute drive had already turned into 45 minutes, and I was only about 2/3 of the way there! And the drive was not comfortable with the heater set to 100% (to delay my car overheating) and windows down (to delay me overheating) with freeway fumes blowing in :/
I said a prayer and started on my way again.
Climbing the last hill before my exit I saw the temperature gauge begin to rise again. This time I pushed my car a little further than previously. The temperature gauge got about 3/4 of the way up. I made it to the top of the hill and threw my car in neutral for the next mile. I got down to probably about 45 MPH coming up to the exit (car’s around me weren’t happy…), but I was able to coast all the way to the traffic light, which turned yellow right as I was pulling up. I knew I couldn’t stop though :/ so I rolled through an “orange” light into a left turn.
I then hit a red light, but fortunately it was in the shade of the freeway bridge. I turned off my car and watched the temperature drop slowly back down while waiting at the light :) What a relief! I was then able to start up the car again and accelerate for about 15 seconds and coast the rest of the way to Fair Auto Solutions!
My radiator must have been bone dry by then, but I felt so blessed to have made it!
Then the cherries on top… My mechanic Al offered to drive me to the Provo Frontrunner Station where I caught the train with about 2 minutes to spare. On the train I ran into a friend who lives in my apartment complex who gave me a ride from our last stop to home :) I then had about an hour to change, pack, and eat dinner before my roommate drove me to the airport and I caught my flight!
And what a beautiful time to be home :) for my cousin’s wedding, fun at the beach, and my mom’s birthday!
Now this morning I caught a 6 AM flight from San Diego (Thanks for driving me dad and for the breakfast shake mom)! As I type this I’m on the train from the SLC airport back down to Provo to pick up my car that was fixed over the weekend :)