Day 266 September 26 , 2002

The dealer called at 9 AM and told me my pulley was in. Good news. I called the local cab company and after a not so brief discussion about where exactly I was, they sent a car for me. I told the nice retired gentleman to take me to the Dealer. He called in to the dispatcher who quoted me a price of $46.00 round trip. On the way we chatted about local events. I asked him if he had lived here a long time and he told me he was born and raised here, went into the Army for 20 years (two wars, I told him my Pop was also in Korea, "the forgotten War"), came back and was a chef for 20 more years. He couldn't stand being retired so now he drives a cab three days a week.

I spent the ride asking him all about the area, what it was like in it's heyday and what he thought would happen now that gambling is coming. He was very excited and optimistic about the future of the area. Gambling is poised to bring in many jobs and lots of money. Already property values are soaring. I picked up my pulley at the dealer but they didn't have the drive belt. The bad pump had damaged the belt so I wanted to replace it also. I asked the driver to drive back to the cabin on route 17 so I could stop at the auto parts store for a belt. Since he was a local he had taken a back road route to the dealer which is about the same time and mileage as the highway way. He said sure. As we are heading back, he calls it in to the dispatcher who says the new fare will be $86.00. Being a sane and logical sort of person, I questioned why this would be as it doesn't add any miles to the trip. He also questioned it to the dispatcher who said that's what the computer said. I told him to explain to her that we weren't making two trips from the cabin, one to the dealer and one to the parts store, we were only making a loop. It would have been the same mileage exactly had we gone on the highway to the dealer. The parts store is literally on the way. She didn't get it. Neither did her boss, who "gave me a break" and only charged me $71.00. Such a deal! I could tell the driver didn't think it was right but he didn't want to fight for me. Oh well. I got my belt, smacked the MAC, paid the man and learned a lesson.

Back at the hill I put on the new pulley, bolted the pump on, put on the new hose and belt, flushed the system and was back in business. As Mr. Plow idled happily, I experienced a sense of accomplishment that only comes from fixing a car. That, and the challenge of it, were the only things that kept me working at my old job as long as I did. When I started, it was also a love of cars. Working unappreciated and under compensated at Somerset Nissan all those years killed off the love and enthusiasm I had for the cars themselves. How sad.

I spent the rest of the day moving everything out of the bedrooms. I stapled down a layer of #15 builders felt (tar paper) on the floor and prepared for the floor installation. That will have to wait till next week, as I'm heading home for the weekend. Ciao.