Got a text from a buddy last Thursday about making a run to Minnesota to pick up a truck that his friend had purchased. Not knowing if he was BS'ing, I told him no. The next morning, I sent him a text, asking him if he is was serious, to which he replied, yes. We discussed compensation, since I'll be driving my vehicle, and a price was decided upon.
We leave Friday around 16:00 hours and head north. The trip was uneventful, since the majority of it was driving in the dark. I never noticed a patch of earth without snow on it. Arrived at a hotel at 03:00 hours, Saturday morning, and get a few hours of sleep before we meet at the dearlership at 08:00 hours.
Pretrip was done on the truck, and all looked to be in order. Hydrolic lift and generator worked like a top, so off we go. While following the the truck, I had noticed that one of the brake lights wasn't working all the time. I call my buddy and tell him of the issue. He shrugs it off like it's a none issue.
We decide to stop off at Cabelas and have look around, and eat lunch too. We drooled over all the firearms they had, then ate lunch. Not bad grub. As we are leaving, I remind him of the brake lights. He pushes on.
Delivering this truck is eating into our time, as we are not able to maintain the speed limit. Time and miles pass by, like the sand in an hour glass. S L O W! We travel through Minnesota and Iowa with no problems, other than the brake light issues with the truck. It's getting dark now, and I get a call from my buddy. "We better stop and fuel up and work on these lights." What can I say, other than the obvious. You want to work on the lights now? It's dark...Shouldn't this have been done in the past nine hours, while it was light outside? He laughs, while I stomp the floorboard of my burb and hit the steering wheel. I'm ready to get home.
I pull in up front, and fill up, while he fills up with diesel around back. We meet in the back of the store, where the lights are brightest, and start on the lights. Lights get fixed and as I am walking back to my burb, I notice that tell tale sign of water pump puking. WTH...We are north of Kansas City, it's dark out, and I have a water pump that is dumping antifreeze like a water fountain. I check the fluid level and it's not bad, so we decide to get to the next station, 15 miles down the interstate, to buy some antifreeze.
Wow! It's really dumping it out now, so a new game plan is devised. I ask the attendant where the nearest parts store is. Six miles down the outer road and we find a parts store with the right water pump. Thank you, O'Reilly Automotive! It's now 19:30 hours, we have the parts to fix this, and luckily, my buddy had brought a travel tool box with him.
As we were coming into town, I had spotted a Wally World and decided to find a well lit area there and make the repair in the parking lot. While I was removing the fan shroud and fan, my buddy went into Wally World and got antifreeze. Only had a few questionable peeps drive by slowly or stop and ask what was going on. Two and half hours later and we are FINALLY back on the road.
It's now 23:00 hours, we are tired, hungry, bitchy and we just want to get home. We are still five hours from home, so we push on.
We stop 30 minutes from home and refuel. My buddy comes up to me and says he needs some money. I get this WTH are you talking about look on my face. Before we left on this trip he had procured the funds up front for this venture. I took little cash, other than emergency funds. He walks off and is gone for several minutes. I decide to drive over to the diesel pumps. He is searching the inside of the truck, upside down and inside out. I ask him what's taking so long and he says he's looking for the money. He wasn't joking then. He thought I had got the money when he went into Wally World and got the antifreeze. Money was gone and he had a fuel bill of $250 and neither one of us had the cash to pay it. I laughed and told him he was on his own...I'm going home. He didn't laugh.
He steps out of the truck and walks over to the trash can thats sitting by the pump and starts digging through it. What are you doing, I said. Just about that time, he smiles. Somehow, he had taken the cash out of the money bag and put it in a box that had contained cookies, which he had eaten earlier.
Good news! I got paid
and made it home safe and sound. There was few minutes there that I thought I had just donated my time and truck for a 36 hour trip. I'd do it again, if he would ask.
This is a cool story!
We leave Friday around 16:00 hours and head north. The trip was uneventful, since the majority of it was driving in the dark. I never noticed a patch of earth without snow on it. Arrived at a hotel at 03:00 hours, Saturday morning, and get a few hours of sleep before we meet at the dearlership at 08:00 hours.
Pretrip was done on the truck, and all looked to be in order. Hydrolic lift and generator worked like a top, so off we go. While following the the truck, I had noticed that one of the brake lights wasn't working all the time. I call my buddy and tell him of the issue. He shrugs it off like it's a none issue.
We decide to stop off at Cabelas and have look around, and eat lunch too. We drooled over all the firearms they had, then ate lunch. Not bad grub. As we are leaving, I remind him of the brake lights. He pushes on.
Delivering this truck is eating into our time, as we are not able to maintain the speed limit. Time and miles pass by, like the sand in an hour glass. S L O W! We travel through Minnesota and Iowa with no problems, other than the brake light issues with the truck. It's getting dark now, and I get a call from my buddy. "We better stop and fuel up and work on these lights." What can I say, other than the obvious. You want to work on the lights now? It's dark...Shouldn't this have been done in the past nine hours, while it was light outside? He laughs, while I stomp the floorboard of my burb and hit the steering wheel. I'm ready to get home.
I pull in up front, and fill up, while he fills up with diesel around back. We meet in the back of the store, where the lights are brightest, and start on the lights. Lights get fixed and as I am walking back to my burb, I notice that tell tale sign of water pump puking. WTH...We are north of Kansas City, it's dark out, and I have a water pump that is dumping antifreeze like a water fountain. I check the fluid level and it's not bad, so we decide to get to the next station, 15 miles down the interstate, to buy some antifreeze.
Wow! It's really dumping it out now, so a new game plan is devised. I ask the attendant where the nearest parts store is. Six miles down the outer road and we find a parts store with the right water pump. Thank you, O'Reilly Automotive! It's now 19:30 hours, we have the parts to fix this, and luckily, my buddy had brought a travel tool box with him.
As we were coming into town, I had spotted a Wally World and decided to find a well lit area there and make the repair in the parking lot. While I was removing the fan shroud and fan, my buddy went into Wally World and got antifreeze. Only had a few questionable peeps drive by slowly or stop and ask what was going on. Two and half hours later and we are FINALLY back on the road.
It's now 23:00 hours, we are tired, hungry, bitchy and we just want to get home. We are still five hours from home, so we push on.
We stop 30 minutes from home and refuel. My buddy comes up to me and says he needs some money. I get this WTH are you talking about look on my face. Before we left on this trip he had procured the funds up front for this venture. I took little cash, other than emergency funds. He walks off and is gone for several minutes. I decide to drive over to the diesel pumps. He is searching the inside of the truck, upside down and inside out. I ask him what's taking so long and he says he's looking for the money. He wasn't joking then. He thought I had got the money when he went into Wally World and got the antifreeze. Money was gone and he had a fuel bill of $250 and neither one of us had the cash to pay it. I laughed and told him he was on his own...I'm going home. He didn't laugh.
He steps out of the truck and walks over to the trash can thats sitting by the pump and starts digging through it. What are you doing, I said. Just about that time, he smiles. Somehow, he had taken the cash out of the money bag and put it in a box that had contained cookies, which he had eaten earlier.
Good news! I got paid
and made it home safe and sound. There was few minutes there that I thought I had just donated my time and truck for a 36 hour trip. I'd do it again, if he would ask.This is a cool story!
