Oh, Gosh...Sorry I Waxed Phil O'Sophical Right In Front of Everybody, Back There.

Well,... so, I spend a lot of time by myself when Cappy is out on the tugboat and it is Sunday. It was a good time just to sit and think for a bit, then I went to visit Helen, to talk about a few more things I need to know about church protocol, etc. She and her husband Elic, are main pillars in our church; together, they get an awful lot accomplished. Watching Helen, as I have for the last five years,has been amazing. The woman is a whirlwind! A whirlwind and a pillar, if you can imagine that. When you think of people like Helen and her husband, it's not difficult to guess what they might look like, and you'd most likely be correct. Good adult role models for anyone of any age group. I learned a lot from her today.
I also met another role model today, and by that, learned a lot as well.
I'm always meeting 'angels' right when I need them. I'll bet you do, too. Today, after I left Helen's house, I decided to take our two curlie, white-haired Bichon 'brats' out for lunch. (Cappy doesn't want me taking Raleigh in the SUV, cuz he's shedding something terrible, but I brought him something back to treat him, as well.) Since it was such a gorgeous day, (I'm sorry Taffy...I really am, Honey... Read her posts in the comments) rather than just go to the corner fast food drive-in restaurant and get them their usual grilled sandwich, french fries and soft ice-cream, (yes, indeed, they are spoiled on occasion) I decided to go for a ride with them, about twenty minutes from home to a Wendy's. I hadn't had breakfast or lunch, so the thought of a decadent salad, that I knew I could have, sounded good. All the way there, the engine sounded as though it wasn't in the right gear, and running hard. Hmmm. As I was driving through a 15 mph zone, the speedometer read 60! I drove as slowly as I could imagine 15 mph being, but all the dials on the dashboard were frozen. oh oh. I'll have to look into that later, I thought...not good.
We went through the drive-thru, the girls in the window making over the 'brats', who were 'smiling' back at them merrily, tails wagging, knowing they were going to get their fries and ice cream. (SparkyBear and MarkyBear act that way no matter what drive-thru window we go through; the bank, a toll booth, the ATM. When we go through those places, the dogs are miffed, like, "What??! No fries and ice cream?!?" Lately, MarkyBear has gotten suspicious of places we stop, so he's started to growl at the girls/guys at the windows, who take the money, "...And make sure you bring us those fries, this time!!")
I parked the SUV and we three had a very nice lunch. I decided they would do better to eat their ice cream at home, so I packed everything up and turned the key in the ignition....the BRAND new ignition. Nothing. Clickety clickety click...nothing nothing nothing. I couldn't even get the key out of it. The window was stuck down, too, being electric. I jiggled and wiggled and banged the steering wheel column. I tried moving the gear shift thing around, but it was stuck solid. Tried the key...tried the key. Nothing and nothing some more. No lights would come on...no electricity. Now what. Ol' 'blondie' here, tried to at least get her brain in gear to figure out what to do next.
I made a few phone calls with nobody answering. I was stumped. I don't know anybody from that town. I hated to put anybody out, by having them drive way out there to help me.....and....the DAWGS. Well, for Pete's sake, now what to do? I got out and walked around, with SparkyBear on a leash, because, for sure, him being the mischevious boy he is, there's no way he'd stay in the SUV, with the window hanging wide open. I told Mark to stay there, and he did. I saw a young couple in a car smiling at SparkyBear and kind of waving at him...so I sprang. I approached the girl's side and asked if they thought they could give me a jump. They smiled and said, "Why, sure we will". Sighhhh, I was relieved. When they pulled around in front of my vehicle and got out, I saw that the young fellow was tall, skinny, had a very long, scraggly pony-tail, and had tattoo's crawling all up and down his arms and neck. I told him I'd give him a couple of dollars if he could get it started. This rough-looking guy, looked me politely in the eyes, and said, with some kind of metal piercing in his lip, above his black goatee, "Nooooo, you don't need to do that; I just wanna help." He tried and tried to get my SUV started. The lights all came on, but there was some kind of 'tick-tick-tick' thing going on up near the starter. He went back to his car and came back with a small axe. It shocked me to see him, looking as he did, with an axe, but upon quick inspection, it wasn't a regular-looking axe, either. It looked like some ancient gothic type of axe with some kind of decorative swirls to it. He tapped away, lightly on this and that with that axe, as I'd try, over and over again to get the engine running. They were there for about fifteen minutes trying everything, to no avail, and finally, had to leave. I was still so grateful for their time and efforts, that I tried to give him a few dollars for tying. He gave me the sweetest smile from out of his scary-looking personage, and it was then, that I thought I spotted the angel in him, there in disguise. Again, with the both of them smiling, he said, "No, honestly, I can't take anything for it...I just wanted to help". I sat there thinking about that, after they left. Hmmmm. Well, NOW what do I do. I was still sitting there, deciding who to try calling this time. I know some of our readers don't like it when we talk this way, but this is what happened. I was desperate. I told the Lord, right out loud, "Lord, actually, this is YOUR vehicle. I am YOUR kid, stuck out here by myself and don't know what to do next. Here I am with the dogs, too, to make matters more confusing. YOU SAID we can call on you when we get into sitations like this, so I am. ....Oh, and Thank you, in advance, no matter how it turns out." It was starting to get dark. I sat there after that, trying to figure out who else, again, to call, when I noticed the lights on the dashboard come on. What did that mean? I turned the key and the engine came on. Whew! I drove home as carefully as I could, with no other incidents, other than the fact that the engine is still running 'hard'. When I got into our driveway and turned off the key again, then tried turning it back on....it's back to being dead again. (any ideas mechanical peoples out there?)
Looks like, gulp, I'll have to be paying another visit to my John Wayne closet on the way to the auto mechanic's shop again. Heeeere we go again.