Car Breakdown

Monday, October 06 2008 - auditor-stories

The day in question started like any other. I decided to drive my Honda Civic and give my Subaru a break for the day. I had a few audits in Waynesburg, PA and then had to go to rural Fairmont, WV to meet an insured that could only meet that afternoon. Waynesburg is about an hour north of my house and Fairmont is about 30 minutes south of my house. I left my that morning, did the two audits in Waynesburg and then headed back south to Fairmont. I decided to stop at Wendy's in Fairmont for lunch.  Thus far, the Civic was doing fine, no indication of the storm that was brewing under the hood. 

After eating lunch, I head to the appointment. I am traveling on Rt 250 headed down Crematory Hill. This was probably the first time in years I had been in this part of Fairmont, but I recalled that Crematory Hill is known for terrible accidents. My Garmin (the best electronic device ever created) tells me to make a right in a ¼ mile. I flip my turn signal on and proceed to approach the intersection. I start the right turn and suddenly I realize I have no steering, brakes, and control over the vehicle. I am about ½ on Rt 250(Crematory Hill) and ½ on the road intersecting Rt 250. I am basically in the middle of one of the most dangerous roadways in Fairmont, broken down during lunch hour.

This would probably be a good time to say that I don't know much about cars. I can drive them, but as far as repairs, I am helpless. So, I try to start it, nothing. I pick up my cell phone to call my Dad who has a flatbed truck. Normally he is within a 20 minute radius of Fairmont, but not today. He is working at a job site 1.5hrs away. At this time I hear a knock on the window. It is a guy offering to drift me into an adjacent driveway. After drifting, I focused my attention on getting a tow and trying to somehow keep my appointment. My Mom works at Fairmont General Hospital about 20 minutes from Crematory Hill. It turned out she was just leaving a meeting and could pick me up. As for the tow, my Dad gives me the number to a local man with a flatbed. I place the call and reluctantly(it was lunch time), the gentleman agrees to come and get my car.

Then, I call the insured. She agreed to wait around for a while(its her day off from her full time job). About 5 minutes later I see a van pull up to the intersection with the insured's business name on the side. It is some service workers that work for the HVAC company. They seem to be finding my misfortune somewhat humorous. 

After what seemed to be forever, the flatbed driver and my Mom arrive at virtually the same time. The two men in the flatbed begin to load my car onto the truck. I am a little bit of a pessimist so I was sure that they were going to drift my car into oncoming traffic, but they did not. After it is loaded, I get in my Mom's car and head to the audit. I knew it was a relatively small audit, 45 minutes or less. My Mom offered to wait. While completing the audit the contact asked how I got there. I told her my Mom picked me up. She sat there for a second and then looked outside. She saw my Mom in the parking lot and told me to invite her in. I declined as she was in her car with the AC on. After all, it is not exactly professional to bring your Mom into an audit. It was about then that the service workers arrived back at the shop from their call. They ask who is in the parking lot? I told them and once again, they invite her in. I simply tell them that she is fine, I am almost done. After about 30 minutes, I have everything I need. I get the signature and leave.

So, in one day the following occurred:
1) First breakdown....In a very dangerous intersection.
2) An eventual $300 repair bill for a distributer gone bad.
3) Flashback to childhood when you depend on your “Mommy”to take you places and pick you up.
 

CF