i'm here at home! yes at home! i drove the rig to davenport iowa! i was
there wednesday night! the tow vehicle had developed what appeared to be a
clogged pick up tube filter. i could not accelerate over 45mph at very best
on the flat and down to 30mph on hills surging like a bucking bronco.
(yesterday i had a semi try to run me off the road blowing it's horn and
coming over at me forcing me onto the shoulder) i was trying to get to fort
dodge iowa where i knew i could get the help i needed to remove the tank.
the owner had a fit and insisted i go back to indianopolis! so thursday
morning i left back east across I-80 to I-65 to indianapolis! i arrived
around 6pm there at the shop that i was instructed to go to. all through
this i tried changing the filter at the carb, put a pump on it(454 chevy big
block 1980 vintage) since the pump was cheap. had 1 unsucessfull attempt at
blowing off the tank filter, finally had i sucessfull attempt at a second
shop. thought it was fixed! NO WAY! it went about 10 miles down the
interstate and started surging again! there is something in the tank! a
rag or something that the pump sucks up and sticks on the pick up
restricting the fuel. i thought it might be vapor lock in the heat i was
running in. it persisted surging into the night wednesday night as i
crossed the mississippi into iowa. cool air did not help it. so the owner
insinuated i did not know what i was doing and was questioning my evry
attempt to diagnose and solve the problem. so thursday morning i decided to
not fight the system and abide by the owner's desires. all i wanted to do
was get it fixed and deliver it to them in sacremento. but no! so at
indianapolis the shop was right by the airport. i decided i had enough and
could not accept any more of the insinuations i did not know what i was
doing. i chose to abandon the vehicle at the shop. i tole the shop owner
evry symptom, evry attempted repair so they could finish the job without
starting from scratch. he thanked me and took me to the car rental
location to help me out of this very uncomfortable situation. i proceded to
rent a car and just about 45min. ago pulled into my driveway. yes! i
drove the entire night to get home! and yes the rental is coming out of my
pocket and i can not afford that! nor could i afford the 2 morning flights
out of indy at 500.00 - 800.00 to get me to lehigh valley international
airport here at home! so i drove. i also could not do another night of
motel either(more darn money i do not have to just throw away). so here i
sit out of a couple hundred bucks , tired, angry to some extent, and really
bummed out about not getting to the other coast to see my friend, meet some
of the spridget folks and take in some of the beauty of our country along
the way. i was looking forward to this very much.
now! i defense of the owner i do understand their decision to take it to
their friend's shop where upon arrival i saw a large chain link fence area
which would be good security for the trailer and it's very rare and valuable
contents. i do see their point. but i'm insulted that they were not
trusting my judgement out on the road trying evrything i could to limp their
rig to a facility to get it sorted out to continue the trip west.
so i do apologise to evryone that had plans made and was counting on my
arival. possibly another time and more likely than not with my family and
probably one of my own cars in tow.......but for now i need to sort out my
dirty laundry and put my clean clothes back in the dresser and closet where
they belong. (the last remnants of this journey....the packed suit case)
chuck
i did not realise how tired i was untill i sat down to do this letter /
note! physically i feel exhausted, emotionally i feel hurt somehow.....it's
not the money. i very rarely ever walk away from a challenge i accept.
this bothers me greatly i had all night to address this while driving hour
after hour alone in the darkness...it's over but it bothers me very much.
i do have comfort in the knowledge i did evrything i could to protect their
property, right up to delivering it to the secure area where i left it, and
it was unscathed upon my departure. *sigh*................c.
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