So I’m heading to Vancouver Island for a work trip. I get out of the apartment on time, arrive as the ferry is starting to load (perfect!). The ferry is quite empty (also perfect!). I go up, grab a bite for breakfast and get some work done on the laptop.So far so good.
The ferry arrives on time and I’m on schedule to meet my appointment at the fish hatchery at about 10:00 am.
Excellent!
A quick stop to refuel in Nanaimo and I’m off! An uneventful trip to Port Alberni, wishing I had time to stop in Cathedral Grove for some photographs….but I am working so no, can’t do that.
I plug my iPod in only to discover that I have somehow screwed it up in the last synch. Oh well, CBC it is then.
I arrive in Port Alberni on time and make a quick stop at the Fairway Market to fill my lunch bag. It seems strange to not be heading to Bamfield. Those days are over though.
Darn, forgot my water bottle…now I have to buy a bottle of water and contribute to the plastic waste problem.
Got lunch, ready to go. Pull out of my parking spot and pull up to the stop sign. And the brake pedal goes pretty much straight to the floor! A quick haul on the emergency brake stops the truck. Hmm, I think…perhaps just a blip in the line. I go forward when the traffic allows and head into the turning lane…..press the brake pedal…not a whole lot there! E-brake again. I slowly work my way down the hill and take the corner pulling into the first available parking lot. And in the process have also accidentally found the hotel I booked a room at for tonight. (How fortuitous!)
Well…now what. I’m thinking brake fluid may be low…..so with failing faith in my chariot I call Kirk. “Hon, when you were working on my truck last night…did you happen to go near the brakes at all?”
“Nope”
I relay my plight. “Open it up” I am instructed. “How does the brake fluid look?”…..hmmm would that be the little container that has a fluid line below MIN?
“Look under the truck” he says.
I note quite the puddle. This would be a bad thing I am thinking. Puddles where puddles should not be can never spell good things.
Find a gas station and buy some brake fluid. Fill it up. Pump the brakes….puddle grows quickly. Also not good. Big leak somewhere. Sigh……going to be late. Don’t have the phone number. Kirk….could you look on the internet and get me the number since I can’t find it in the phone book at Husky? Thank the stars for cell phones!
No problem they say…can we help? Here’s a good mechanic and only three blocks from where you are right now.
Slowly I make my way there and abandon my truck. Luckily a few blocks away is a rental company. Really? All you have is a minivan? Oh that’s so unfair. OK, I shall suffer the Dodge Caravan. No, I don’t need a GPS..do people actually get lost in Port Alberni?
Back in action, only lost about an hour, not too late. Oh crap, left my lunch in the truck. Oh well, there’s a Subway. Buy a second lunch. I’ll eat the first for dinner I suppose.
A good solid day of working at the hatchery. Back to the mechanic….truck is up on the hoist. Will still be about an hour. I can hear the cash register singing. Wander around a bit, not really anywhere to wander tho’. Check into my hotel and discover that I brought three white t-shirts but left my white bra at home. Brilliant!
Finally, truck is ready….and only $150! That’s amazing I think…normally said vehicle hiccups and costs a minimum of $500.
Driving back to my hotel I realize something. The Fairway Market, the stop signs, there was a niggling feeling of deja vu. Then it hits me. About 10 years ago I was driving Mom to Bamfield and we stopped at the Fairway Market. When we left I stopped at the very same spot and my engine died. For the rest of the trip, any time I stopped the truck I had to keep my foot on the gas because the engine idle would drop too low and stall the engine (fuel pump was toast). It was an interesting trip back to Vancouver that time. And that was an expensive trip.
I don’t think that I will stop at the Fairway Market tomorrow………
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Addenda: You know how I said my truck usually hiccups and costs $500? Well, when I picked it up, the mechanic warned me that my tie-rod end was on its way out…so off to a mechanic when I get home…tie rod ends, brake calipers etc…another $800…I spoke way too soon. Karma, it’ll get you every time I suppose!