When Ed picked me up from work last night, we pulled over into the parking lot because he wanted to check on it. One of the forklift drivers walked over because he could see Ed looking at the tire on the passenger side. Ed said that the mechanic at his college had looked at the brakes on the front end and told him his caliper was kind of sticky. They noticed it felt hot when they put their hand near it.
"You need to get that cooled down," said Jason, the forklift operator. "Put some water on it."
"You need to get that cooled down," said Jason, the forklift operator. "Put some water on it."
We poured about 40 ounces of water on it from my Nalgene water bottle. I watched horrified from the passenger seat as a hiss sounded and the water boiled and vaporized into a thick white cloud of steam.
We poured about a half gallon or so more on it and got the same reaction. Another driver pulled off and crawled under the wheel. "It's seized," he said.
I whipped out my phone and typed "tow service near me" into google.
But the men decided we might make it home if we drive slow and don't hit the brakes hard. We took an alternative route so we could travel slower, and we pulled off at the Sav-More in Canton, a few miles in, to check on it. It was hot again.
So, we poured more water on it and went inside while we waited for it to cool down.
"Hey, at least if we break down, we can have ham sandwiches and earl grey tea," Ed encouraged, loading the two bags of groceries into the truck. I admit my attitude here was not much one of trusting God. I hugged a fire extinguisher and grimaced out the window till we got home. We stopped two more times before we got there, but we got there. We poured water on the wheel and it steamed again.
Ed made me a grilled cheese sandwich and everything felt better. I was happy to be home. This morning he called a mechanic who said he would work on it in the afternoon. We limped it 5 miles down the road with the flashers on and the mechanic ordered a new caliper. He had it done within the hour, which was a blessing because Ed had to get to school to register for next semester's classes.
"Wow, we got out of that one pretty well," I commented, looking at the receipt. Unfortunately that was not nearly the end. We stopped at MacDonald's on the way to school to grab a bite to eat. While I was trying to figure out what kind of tree we parked in front of, Ed walked over to the passenger side wheel.
"I just have a bad feeling about it," he said.
It was hot again.
"We probably just parked with that side towards the sun," I reasoned hopefully.
"Too hot for that."
Instead of turning around, we went to the school and waved down the instructor of the automotive department. He was kind enough to pull it into the garage and look at it. We decided that we needed another part in addition to that caliper (a caliper bracket, to be exact). He said we shouldn't drive it and asked us if we had a spare vehicle.
Ed went to the forestry building to get registered for classes and I called Enterprise.
The associate on the phone was from some corporate office but she found me a location in Waynesville and booked an appointment for me at 5pm. I told her that I was stranded and I would need a pick up. But somehow we got disconnected before we could arrange it. I called the local office 5 times and couldn't get a pick up. I started to panic but I tried very hard to stay calm.
His adviser graciously agreed to drive us to the Enterprise. We couldn't remember exactly where it was but eventually we found it: a tiny, indistinct building with an odd-shaped parking lot tucked away behind the Auto-Bell (like a taco bell, but for car washes?). When we walked in, we realized why I couldn't get ahold of them. There was only one guy.
One guy behind a desk, a coffee maker, a computer, a floor he didn't have time to vacuum, some customers who arrived before us, and the phone ringing and ringing and ringing...
We pulled out just after five in a shiny black Nissan Altima. We only need it for one day, and I am grateful that we had funds set aside just in case this kind of thing happened to us. Even though things are not ideal, I will be able to get to work tomorrow and Ed will be able to go to school and fulfill his other commitments. He seems to enjoy driving the Altima as well (I guess there is a bright side to everything!).
My nervousness, frustration, and panic did not get me closer to "being ok." It was the moments when we were calm and cool-headed in the face of confusion that we were able to find a solution. And being afraid of situations does not glorify God. Trusting Him and being grateful for what we have is what He wants us to do.
Whew. What a day.
Thanks for reading!
~Hannah
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