(no subject)
I was supposed to be in Davis on Friday. What I got was a week of unexpected adventure. I use the word adventure because throughout I had no idea what was coming next. About 4 hours from HSU I broke down on highway 20 just after entering Lake county. I didn't know it then, but my transmission had digested itself. At the time all I knew is my car didn't shift and I was fucked. I called AAA to find me and tow me to Davis, since I had no idea where else to go. No, thats not right, I called my mother first. Just so you know, if you want to handle a problem on your own, don't call your mom first. She called an old family friend I had never meet, because he had grown up with my parents for about 35 years and just so happened to live near by. So before I know it we are towing to his house in Lower Lake about an hour from where I broke down. Ever been to Clear Lake? No? Well its a low income community with some spots of large wealth. Vineyard country, and its easy to spot who owns them because a porche will fly by you every now and then. But the majority of the area shops at wal-mart (affectionately called wally-world) and is making the most out of life with what they got. In just such a home did I arrive. Tim (my savior) is a 56 year old dude divorced 4 times and working as a handyman on a 400 acre property for 20 dollars an hour. His life has had more ups and downs than most ever will, and right now he's sort of in a middle. He's an excellent mechanic (he owned and operated an engine shop before losing it in the 4th divorce) and said he was glad to help me, for I am family. This is as true a statement as can be said for the word. My entire Rouzer family grew up with him, have shared homes with him in the past, and has been best man at 2 out of 3 weddings. The entire transmission needed to be removed from my truck as the T.O. bearing had froze, the slave cylinder melted from tension, and the oil all leaked away. It took us 5 days to fix it, from diagnosis,to removal, to parts being ordered, to putting it all back together again. When we were not underneath the truck I became his shadow and over the past week I have: worked irrigation systems on a vineyard, moved refrigerators, given pharmaceutical advice, performed lectures on local flora and fauna, learned to drive without a clutch or even turning the key, read a novel, drunken the worst coffee Ive ever had, been offered a job as the Lake County septic system inspector, and fought a fire. Not to mention tearing apart the bottom of my truck and putting it back together again. On Tuesday night at 9:30 I was able to shift into first gear again and said my goodbyes. Tim didn't want me to go, as I had become a happy distraction from everything else (he introduced me to everyone as his nephew) as well as a good worker. But I just couldn't stay another night in that little bachelor house, all dirty carpets and rib bones, not when I had the means to get back on the road. Now I have arrived, many days late, but much wiser than when I had left. From the people most affected by a recession, to seeing what my own flywheel looks like, I took a lot away from that small town. Im confident lessons I learned from the experience will stick with me forever, even if I cant remember where I learned them.