It Was One Of Those Days

Today started out so nice. The sun was up and the birds were singing, or were they laughing because they knew how the day would go.

I had an early morning business meeting, where I met a very good prospect. This person has the ability to bring me thousands of dollars of new business. So I was very happy.

I was also planning to go fishing after the meeting, but when I was hooking up the boat, I noticed my truck registration had expired. I decided to correct that problem before I received a ticket.

So off I went to DEQ for the smog check. Then I planned to spend a number of hours at the local DMV. Not one of my favorite places. Once the test was complete, I was given good news. I did not need to stand in line at the DMV. I didn’t pass.

The truck had been running rough when it first started. The truck ran fine after a minute or two, so I did not think much of it. Yes the “check engine” light would come on at times and go off again a few days later, but the truck ran great!

Upon receiving the wonderful news of my failure at DEQ, I headed to my mechanic. I thought it might be a loose wire or something. I explained the issue and left the keys and DEQ report. Then I headed off for home.

I have been trying to exercise a little more for my health, so I decided to walk home. It was only 3 ½ miles. It’s not that far and it will be good for me.

Have I mentioned that I am a little over weight? OK, I am a little over 300 pounds. Yao Ming is over 300 pounds and he looks great! If only I were 7′6” tall.

At about three quarts of the way home, I really wanted to stop and take a nap, but I persevered. Upon arrival home I took a nap!

I was having such a wonderful dream, when my cell phone rang. It was the mechanic. He has this special ring tone. It’s the theme song for “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.”

Duke, my mechanic, is a very detailed man who sometimes mumbles. This can make him extremely difficult to understand, especially if I have been sleeping, so I listen for key words. Head gasket is a key word, but it is also associated with a large dollar sign. It appears that my head gasket had cracked and was allowing radiator fluid to seep into the #3 cylinder. Nothing a couple thousand dollars can’t fix.

I told him to go ahead and fix it. His mechanic started to tear down the engine, while Duke ordered the part. It shouldn’t be any problem getting the part. The truck is eight years old and the dealer is across the street. Wrong! It appears the dealer, does not stock the part because they have little call for the head gasket. But they found one. It’s in Southern California. It appears that the dealership has not heard of overnight shipping. I am told that it will take 3 days to go 1200 miles!!!!!! Marathon runners could get it here sooner. And then they need to install it and put my engine back together. The problem is that I have a scheduled fishing trip in two days!!!!

I am sure my clients won’t mind coming over to my house and sitting on the boat in the driveway. I can get a wading pool and stock it with Coy from the pet store. I will even BBQ lunch. I can even rock the boat every once in a while to give them the full effect. I am not sure that will go over so well with these people.

No. I will probably reschedule the trip and watch the NBA playoffs this weekend. I will also be praying that the mule, which is carrying my head gasket from Southern California. I hope he does not die from the swine flu.

Ken Bear Cole
Fishing with Bear LLC