The 5AM alarm wakes me and for once Im out of bed without any hesitation. One more day of work and then Im on vacation. Boy, I have never been so ready for a vacation. January in upstate New York has been a real struggle this year, but by tomorrow afternoon Ill be diving in Turks and Caicos.
Scuba diving in the Caribbean, now thats my idea of a winter sport.
This morning I dont even mind the snow as I slip outside in my robe and slippers to get the old car warming up and the windows started defrosting. Damn! I step into deep snow and fill my slipper with the cold nasty stuff. I hate snow.
I need this vacation. Only one more day of work and Im out of here.
Half an hour later Im on the road and Im actually enjoying the 40 mile drive in this morning as I review our preparations. Were packed. The plane leaves Newark at 7AM tomorrow and by getting to work today at 6:30 I can get out of the shop early, and Ill get the 160 mile drive to New Jersey done tonight. I love it when plans come together like this.
Im just ripping down the third lane of the interstate and, man, am I feeling great this morning! Crystal clear air, with large visible clouds from the car exhausts really shows how cold it is outside, but already Im feeling that warm ocean breeze on my face.
BANG. Suddenly the car shudders and I think Blow-out, but I dont feel a tell tale pull on the wheel. I glance right and execute a two lane sweep to catch the end of a service area ramp so I can back out of traffic. By now the car is filling with smoke, I smell hot anti-freeze and the car dies. Blown motor! Never experienced this before, but I know the signs are all there. Guess this old Toyota wont be making 250,000 miles after all.
I really need a vacation. Nothing is going to stop me. Not even this!
Three hours late, I finally get to work and I am swamped with promised jobs, but at least tonight Ill be getting out of here. I am ready for this vacation now like I have never been before.
My girl friend picks me up at 2:15 so we can meet the flat bed truck hauling the wrecked car back to our farm. The truck driver is late and doesnt arrive till after 4. I had hoped to be on the road by 3, but Im flexible. Our rental car is already packed and running, so the second this driver unloads his flat bed and clears out of my long steep driveway well be on the road.
I need this vacation more than I ever needed any vacation.
It is unbelievable! As the driver started up out of the farm he has gunned his throttle on the ice and slid off our driveway into the drainage ditch. We cant get by him or Id leave him there to rot.
Its almost 7PM before I finally convince the truck driver that he and I can not get him out ourselves, even with my tractor. By now hes destroyed 30 feet of my gravel drive trying, and only buried himself worse.
No-one has ever deserved a vacation more than I do right now.
A oversize tow truck finally arrives just before 8 oclock, to get their flat bed out of the ditch. We still arent on the road yet, but its not the end of the world, and this nightmare is almost over.
What the #&**! This blank blank jerk of a tow truck driver just backed half way down the hill onto the ice before hooking up his cable, instead of staying on the flat at the top by the road, and pulling from there. Its beyond comprehension, but when he tightened the tow cable he pulled his own truck off the driveway too. Now I have a giant tow truck stuck in the ditch on the opposite side from the flat bed truck. Like the first driver, this brilliant scholar doesnt want to call his boss and lose face, but by now Im losing some of my patience, and I push hard for a quick end to this circus.
Finally, I am really getting results. Their firm has a second large tow rig to my farm by 8:40 and I make him stop on the top to pull from there. Im taking no more chances with these clowns.
I need this vacation. I mean I NEED this vacation. Its below zero and Im standing outside with frozen feet, overseeing a comedy team of seriously disturbed individuals. The lights in the farm house have gone out, so I know my girl friend has given up on the drive down tonight, maybe given up on me too, for all I know.
I am still 160 miles away from our 7AM departure and plans are now changing fast. I decide that Ill just get these guys out of here, do a quick repair on the deepest ruts, sleep here tonight, and then very, very early in the morning well drive directly to the airport in New Jersey. As I said, I am flexible.
This newest driver has just started screaming and cursing and I dont even want to know why. His winch is jammed, with badly crimped cables so he tries to use the other winch, but it too is jammed. He begins trying to explain to me that someone else used his truck and fowled the cables, but by now I am not the patient man I was pretending to be these last few hours. When I head for the house he is sitting in the dark with a flashlight in his mouth, picking at seriously twisted 3/4 inch steel cables with a cheap 3 inch screwdriver, the only tool he can find in his truck, while his two sidekicks look over his shoulder and offer what they believe to be helpful suggestions.
I do not want to kill anyone tonight so this is a good time for me to go inside.
Diving tomorrow in the warm Caribbean no long looks as certain as it did ealier this morning.
Well, its been 5 days and Im still waiting. Im holding my breath. I just know disaster is about to strike any minute now. 5 days, 6 wall dives, 2 night dives, some great photos, and more than a few rum drinks in the warm evening air, but somehow I just know that Im going to wake up and still be stuck in the snow.
I dont know if anyone is listening, but when I get back to New York I am going to need a vacation.
Scuba diving in the Caribbean, now thats my idea of a winter sport.
This morning I dont even mind the snow as I slip outside in my robe and slippers to get the old car warming up and the windows started defrosting. Damn! I step into deep snow and fill my slipper with the cold nasty stuff. I hate snow.
I need this vacation. Only one more day of work and Im out of here.
Half an hour later Im on the road and Im actually enjoying the 40 mile drive in this morning as I review our preparations. Were packed. The plane leaves Newark at 7AM tomorrow and by getting to work today at 6:30 I can get out of the shop early, and Ill get the 160 mile drive to New Jersey done tonight. I love it when plans come together like this.
Im just ripping down the third lane of the interstate and, man, am I feeling great this morning! Crystal clear air, with large visible clouds from the car exhausts really shows how cold it is outside, but already Im feeling that warm ocean breeze on my face.
BANG. Suddenly the car shudders and I think Blow-out, but I dont feel a tell tale pull on the wheel. I glance right and execute a two lane sweep to catch the end of a service area ramp so I can back out of traffic. By now the car is filling with smoke, I smell hot anti-freeze and the car dies. Blown motor! Never experienced this before, but I know the signs are all there. Guess this old Toyota wont be making 250,000 miles after all.
I really need a vacation. Nothing is going to stop me. Not even this!
Three hours late, I finally get to work and I am swamped with promised jobs, but at least tonight Ill be getting out of here. I am ready for this vacation now like I have never been before.
My girl friend picks me up at 2:15 so we can meet the flat bed truck hauling the wrecked car back to our farm. The truck driver is late and doesnt arrive till after 4. I had hoped to be on the road by 3, but Im flexible. Our rental car is already packed and running, so the second this driver unloads his flat bed and clears out of my long steep driveway well be on the road.
I need this vacation more than I ever needed any vacation.
It is unbelievable! As the driver started up out of the farm he has gunned his throttle on the ice and slid off our driveway into the drainage ditch. We cant get by him or Id leave him there to rot.
Its almost 7PM before I finally convince the truck driver that he and I can not get him out ourselves, even with my tractor. By now hes destroyed 30 feet of my gravel drive trying, and only buried himself worse.
No-one has ever deserved a vacation more than I do right now.
A oversize tow truck finally arrives just before 8 oclock, to get their flat bed out of the ditch. We still arent on the road yet, but its not the end of the world, and this nightmare is almost over.
What the #&**! This blank blank jerk of a tow truck driver just backed half way down the hill onto the ice before hooking up his cable, instead of staying on the flat at the top by the road, and pulling from there. Its beyond comprehension, but when he tightened the tow cable he pulled his own truck off the driveway too. Now I have a giant tow truck stuck in the ditch on the opposite side from the flat bed truck. Like the first driver, this brilliant scholar doesnt want to call his boss and lose face, but by now Im losing some of my patience, and I push hard for a quick end to this circus.
Finally, I am really getting results. Their firm has a second large tow rig to my farm by 8:40 and I make him stop on the top to pull from there. Im taking no more chances with these clowns.
I need this vacation. I mean I NEED this vacation. Its below zero and Im standing outside with frozen feet, overseeing a comedy team of seriously disturbed individuals. The lights in the farm house have gone out, so I know my girl friend has given up on the drive down tonight, maybe given up on me too, for all I know.
I am still 160 miles away from our 7AM departure and plans are now changing fast. I decide that Ill just get these guys out of here, do a quick repair on the deepest ruts, sleep here tonight, and then very, very early in the morning well drive directly to the airport in New Jersey. As I said, I am flexible.
This newest driver has just started screaming and cursing and I dont even want to know why. His winch is jammed, with badly crimped cables so he tries to use the other winch, but it too is jammed. He begins trying to explain to me that someone else used his truck and fowled the cables, but by now I am not the patient man I was pretending to be these last few hours. When I head for the house he is sitting in the dark with a flashlight in his mouth, picking at seriously twisted 3/4 inch steel cables with a cheap 3 inch screwdriver, the only tool he can find in his truck, while his two sidekicks look over his shoulder and offer what they believe to be helpful suggestions.
I do not want to kill anyone tonight so this is a good time for me to go inside.
Diving tomorrow in the warm Caribbean no long looks as certain as it did ealier this morning.
Well, its been 5 days and Im still waiting. Im holding my breath. I just know disaster is about to strike any minute now. 5 days, 6 wall dives, 2 night dives, some great photos, and more than a few rum drinks in the warm evening air, but somehow I just know that Im going to wake up and still be stuck in the snow.
I dont know if anyone is listening, but when I get back to New York I am going to need a vacation.
