Day 94 - Lloyd Rides Again... For A While

"The limo is sitting outside the shop, Lloyd." Ryan said to me. "I think it's done." He had just returned from town, and had seen the limo at the auto repair shop. We had dropped it off the day before, requesting that it finally be repaired from its last mishap; the night it caught fire.

"Well let's go!" I leapt from my chair, discarding my cup of coffee and making quick time for the truck. Finding the parts needed to repair the limo had been an ordeal, and I was so excited to finally have back under my command the embodiment of automotive excellence that had blessed me with my nickname that I could barely contain myself. My limo!

Fifteen minutes later, the four finest wheels to ever skim the surface of an Alabama roadway rumbled across the airport ramp. Loud horn blasts akin to those of a train echoed off the hangars, and one grinning idiot hung out the driver's window like a kid with a new toy. And what better way to break in a new toy than an immediate road trip eh? All was right with the world.

For a while.

"Ya know. It couldn't break down in a parking lot. That would be too easy. It had to take a crap right in the middle of the 5/195 split." Ryan muttered, standing on the side of the road. "I hate that car."

"Shut up, Ryan." I barked. "You will not blaspheme the limo."

Although he was right. It picked the absolute worst place to break down. Traffic backed up behind the wounded warrior for hundreds of feet, the occupants of each vehicle apparently unware of their ability to turn that round thing in front of them and circumnavigate the road obstacle. Drivers yelled angrily and horns honked loudly, as if their contemptuous noises would magically heal the tired old Caddy, or at least shove it out of their path. Morons.
I stared helplessly at my proud chariot, which now lay dormant on the side of Highway 5. It had made it all of about five miles and thirty minutes post-repair before totally surrendering. We had traveled just a little ways from the airport, with Matt in the back and Ryan ahead of us in the company truck, when a loud buzzer sounded and a red annunciator light activated: "SERVICE ENGINE NOW." Service engine "NOW." GM engineers must have a flare for the dramatic, I thought. It'll be a'ight. By the way- for future reference, "NOW" means "within the next 100 yards," because that's as far as she made it.
The motor surged, the accelerator pedal went limp, and the vehicle shut off all at once, stopping dead center in the road. I'm happy to report, though, that all the resources in our arsenal were immediately brought to bear to rescue the Gordo Limo. This included a scene response by the Boss, as well as my driving the mighty blue Dodge, a.k.a. the "mini-ambulance," to the site of the tragedy (seen at right, jumping off the limo). She's back home with us now, but we're not exactly sure what's wrong with it. The only conclusion that Ryan and I have come to is that perhaps we're missing the bigger picture. We're trying to discover one issue that could have caused all of these problems, which I think is an erroneous approach. Instead of trying to figure out is wrong with it, we're now making a concerted effort to figure what is not wrong with it. It's a short list.

So it's Memorial Day Weekend, which can only mean one thing: Look out McVegas, here comes Lloyd. The Blue Goose will be northbound first thing in the morning, and I'll be kicking off a much-needed three-day weekend. We've not made much "fun" progress, as one might say, it's been mostly books and studying this week. In fact, I've not flown in about a week and I'm starting to get antsy. I seem to be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, so that is always helpful. Checkride is next weekend, so if anyone has any favors with the aviation gods, I do wish you would consider calling them in. Otherwise, that's all there is to say for tonight. If I don't personally see you soon, we'll meet again during next post I'm sure.

Pray for my limo.

Joey