So What Are You Gonna Do Now? - The Concert That ROCKED and SUCKED Part IV

For those of you just joining us, this is a continuation of the post "You're Not Going Anywhere Without THAT! - The Concert That ROCKED and SUCKED Part III"

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It's 11:25pm on Friday night. The fan belt is fried, we're stranded at the Irving and the concert starts in just over 12 hours. Clock is ticking people and I need a fan belt NOW!!!

"Well," said the friendly mechanic-on-the-spot, "You might be able to pick one up at the Irving at the other exit. They may carry them there ..."

At this point, I was ready to give it a shot! Long one or not!

We put the hood down, threw the jugs of water in the back and got back into the truck.

Was it going to start? And if it started, was it going to go? And if it went, how FAR was it going to go before it just died altogether, and would go no more?

One way to find out!

It started. It went about 15 seconds... then it shot into the red YOU'RE OVERHEATING DUMBASS! area again and we had to pull over.

We let it cool down. Then tried again.

A short drive that should have taken us no more than two minutes, took us about 30 to get to our destination!

But we made it!

Not that it did us any good. Apparently Service Stations don't carry fan belts. Lots of other car 'stuff', but no fan belts. Go figure!

As Cass told the attendant behind the counter "Well, I don't think you can call yourself a 'convenience' store now can you ... cause it's pretty damn inconvenient that you don't carry fan belts!!!!!"

At least he smiled as opposed to throwing us out ;-)

I finally resigned myself to the fact I wasn't getting home that night. I wasn't even sure how we were going to get ourselves to the concert now ... or how we'd get around AFTER the concert ... but I'd worry about that later. Right now, I just had to figure out how we were going to get HOME in the next 12 hours!

It was now almost 12:30am, so we did the only thing we COULD do ... Drove the smoking beast a block down the road and dumped it in the Canadian Tire parking lot.

Yeah yeah yeah ... I know ... NOBODY brings their vehicle to be serviced at Canadian Tire. But we're talking limited options here. It was close, and I knew at least that if I left it there, I could get the fan belt in the morning when they opened.

Now, how to get back to Cass's.

Thankfully, one of her friends, (Thanks Charlie!), was willing to answer the late night call from the distressed damsels. He not only picked our stranded butts up, but also brought us back to the Canadian Tire the next morning when they opened at 8am.

I can't imagine what went through that poor Service Manager's head when the two of us walked in there at 8am.

I'd had 3hrs sleep, I was wearing the same clothes from the day before, I was anxious about what the mechanic might say, and I was crankier than a hungry newborn whose Mom popped the boob from his mouth too soon!

I was NOT a happy camper!

The Service Manager listened patiently to our 'late night adventure' tale, and had one of 'the guys' check out the truck.

Prognosis wasn't good.

"It's your AC compressor," he said. "The valves are just bouncing around. That vehicle isn't going anywhere. Sorry."

Apparently in a 2002 Honda CRV, there are MANY things that 'connect' in some way to this part. Or so I understand. From what I was told.

Damn! NOT what I wanted to hear two hours and 45 minutes before the concert!

"OK," I said. "What's the bottom line on getting it back on the road, safely."

I'm just a bottom line kinda gal. Don't give me the nitty gritty details, I don't care. Tell me what I need and how much it's going to cost me. That's ALL I need to know.

"Well, I've called around, and there doesn't seem to be any way to get AROUND the AC compressor and just put on another belt. You'll only go a little ways and the new one will fry too. You need a new AC unit first." said the manager, who had suddenly sprouted two little horn nubs on the top of his head.

"And how much is that?" I asked.

"I can get you a refurbished one next week for around $700. Brand new will be over $1000. Then I'll have to bring in a specialist for the labour. One who has experience working with the 'stuff' (my word, not his) that's associated with the AC," he said, as a pointed red tail tore through the back of his pants.

"So you're looking at between $1300 and $1500. Sorry." said Satan.

Have I ever mentioned that car repairs are one of my top three pet peeves!

Damn! Damn! Damn!

I looked at the clock. I looked at Cass. I quickly calculated how much I had taken out of the bank machine the night before, how much I'd need for the next week until payday, and how much was left after that and asked ...

"So, what would it cost for a tow truck from here to Halifax?"

"I'm not sure, but I can call a couple of places for you and find out." he offered.

I took him up on that offer. I have my own mechanic. He's taken care of my vehicles for the past 6yrs. He's awesome. I wanted HIM to look at my truck.

While Buddy made the calls, Cass and I went into the little waiting room to discuss the options.

Option A
Leave it where it was, get the AC & fan belt (and whatever else fell apart along the way the night before) replaced, get it back next week. That would mean finding a ride back to Halifax in the next three hours, and then back again next week to pick up the truck.

Or,

Option B
Tow it to my mechanic. Get a ride home with the tow truck driver, and get the ex husband to pick us up there and bring us to my house. I had called him from the Canadian Tire and filled him in.

We'd figure out how we were going to get to the concert later.

I looked up and saw he was off the phone. Time to hear the damage and decide.

The damage was a $225 flat rate to Halifax. Ouch.

"OK, thanks, let me think about it for a minute."

We went out and sat in the truck. Had a smoke. Drank our coffee. Chilled for a few minutes.

We decided to see if we could make a few calls and find a better rate. Not that I didn't trust him, but at two hundred bucks, I was willing to have Cass make a few calls to see if anyone knew anyone in the towing business first LOL.

She did. And we COULD have gotten a better rate. But we had to wait until noon for the tow truck. At least.

Damn!

It was now almost 9:30am. Two and a half hours until Mark was to take the stage. Which I was feeling really bad about, because the last couple of times we were supposed to go out and see him play, I had told him we'd be there, and then there's always some divine intervention and we miss him.

Also, it would take us an hour to get to our destination. And another half hour to the concert after that. But we'd have to go to my house first, because there was no way in hell I was going to the concert and party shower-less and in two day old clothes!

I looked and felt like one of the kid's Webkinz that the dog had scooped, chewed and slobbered on for the past couple of hours before being caught.

Wasn't gonna happen!

Sigh. Leave it where it was and fix it, tow it now or tow it later and pay less.

As the radio announcer finished her 'on location from the concert' remote, describing the excitement in the air, the anticipation of the crowd, Cass handed me my phone, picked up her coffee, looked at me over the rim and asked,

"So .... What are you gonna do now?"

K