Kevin and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

With apologies to Alexander :), and in reference to yesterday.

Having already been held up overnight due to weather in Cambridge (and the storm that hit most of southern Ontario) he and Iain arose at 4:30, packed the car and set out for home, hoping that he could still make it to his course in Kingston. They made it as far as the end of his sister's (very short) street, only to find a downed tree and electrical wires. Back to unload again.

At 8:30 they tried a second time; the tree and wires were removed. Cambridge roads were nasty but the 401 was in fair shape so they had a decent drive through Toronto. Then "odd" things started happening with the Honda; the spedometer quit working ... the odometer ... eventually even the tape player. You mechanics are nodding your heads knowingly, but trust me, there are no mechanics in this household! They pulled in to a service station at Port Hope for a washroom break, and the Honda wouldn't start again. Kev called me, already frustrated since he'd been up since 4:30, called CAA, then went back out and managed to start the car. They piled in, cancelled CAA, and made it to Coburg before the obviously overwrought car started shuddering and gave signs that it was done! Kev managed to exit off the 401 and came to a complete stop in Cobourg, JUST over the rise of a hill, with no working four-ways. They spent a harrowing XXXXXXXX minutes waiting for CAA, being sworn at by other drivers furious with the lack of four-ways and fearing for their lives. CAA arived, diagnosed a sick alternator, and informed Kev that he and Iain would be entering the County by tow truck as the car was towed to Picton. At least they were within the 200 km tow limit!

When asked whether he's had fun riding in a tow truck, Iain simply stated "No." (Remembering, of course that he had been up since 4:30 a.m.!)

I popped into the van to meet them at Stormy's to finally bring them home. Coming over the crest of a hill on my way into Picton, a small problem that had started with the van suddenly magnified ... I lost a cylinder, the van started shuddering and shaking and the only way I could keep the engine running was to slip it into neutral and step on the accelerator. I managed to limp to Stormy's (how great was it that I was heading to a garage anyway???) and eke into the driveway.

So there we were, at the garage, with two "troubled" vehicles. At this point all Kev wanted to do was get home. The car was already booked for Monday (heh, heh) and they fixed the van for us right there and then. Neither the Stenhouses nor the Girls' home were really in a position to fix a car at this point, BUT ...

While all this was going on, the girls at home were dealing with a power-outage that started at 7:30 a.m. and did not get resolved until about 1:30 (after being told the power would be out until 11:30 that night!). I spent all morning on the phone with Hydro, neighbours, electricians, Kevin, and various others. First thing in the morning I thought I should fill the bathtub "just in case", then completely forgot about this until the power went off. Because of course, in the country, once your water lines are empty, you can't flush your toilets without dumping water in :).

Anyway, the day ended eventually. Kev and Iain made it home. Kev "There's-nothing-I-like-better-than-a-nice-bowl-of- soup" Stenhouse had homemade tomato-beef soup, Iain slept for 12 solid hours and all is well. The van is purring, and with a new part it will hopefully last longer than the 15 months it survived with the rebuilt part we put in last time. And, after giving up any hope of making the course, Kev discovered that the teacher is planning to re-teach the course on another weekend due to the high incidence of storm-induced absenteeism.

This one is high up there on Kevin's list of "days-never-to-be-repeated" (likely second only to his move home from NJ!).

Peace, and a better day to you :)!

Karen