Tuesday, January 24, 2006

I don't like the way I wrote this, so beware

I got out of the shower and my phone was beeping, the beeping was telling me I had missed six calls. The calls were from my sister. She was calling because her Jeep stopped running. She told me her location and after getting dressed and my truck clear of snow, I got there as quick as I could.

She was stopped at a traffic light off to the side so any early morning traffic could go around her. I pulled up behind her, put the hazards on and walked to her driver's side, she got out before I got there and handed me her key once I could reach it. I tried the ignition and got a solid click and then asked if that was the only sound it had been making. She said it was, that wasn't good news.

I looked around and across the intersection there was open curb space. She mentioned something about oil, I checked the level, it was lacking. She asked if she seized the engine. I knew she wasn't going to like the answer but I could think of anything else to say I looked up from the ground, met her gaze and told her "Most likely," I just noticed a flash of what her reaction was to be, before I glanced away. I told her that this was beyond my magic and asked her what she wanted to do. She mentioned something about a garage. I mentioned something about getting the Jeep out of traffic and getting her to work.

I was calculating arrive times while I was driving her to the school were she works, it was the same school building where I went to high school only now it's a different school. She asked questions, I told her what I knew. What I knew wasn't good. I said there could be hope that it seized at a stop light because the engine wasn't going at full speed. She started to worry about a commitment she made for feeding the poor three nights hence. As I let her off I asked for her key.

I figured where I could get oil at 7:00AM, guessed at the time for getting the oil in and trying a few tricks. I figured I wasn't going to make my own 8:00 start time. I called my boss to let him know, he told me to take my time.

I got the oil, put it in and cranked the starter or rather tried to crank it, all I got was the same loud click. I was lucky and got the vacant spot behind the Jeep. The starter wasn't strong enough to move the engine so I put the Jeep in gear and pushed it from behind with my truck. The wheels only slid.

I drove back to her school and told the front desk whose brother I was, the front desk lady smiled a very large smile and then showed me to the library. I told my sister what I did and the success I didn't have as I handed her her car key and a piece of paper with the street address of where the Jeep was and her plate number. She asked about two of the letters. I confirmed that it was an 'X' and a 'C' .

I got into work and requested a vacation day for two days hence due to a commitment made. She called me later and told me she got a garage to tow it and check it out. She'll let me know what the deal is, in the mean time I started looking for cheap cars.

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