Us Kassels don’t usually have a large amount of luck. Usually, when something goes wrong, it goes *really* wrong… So, you can imagine what we were thinking as we were waiting along the side of the road for the tow truck yesterday.
Let’s start at the beginning. It was about 2:45 pm. We were on I-24 not far from the exit for Metropolis, IL, on the way to Nashville, TN, for the annual Sigma Chi Grand Praetor meeting. There was something rather large sitting on the stripes on the road between the two lanes. Andy said it looked like a piece of drywall and it was quite solid. A driver in a white truck changed lanes in front of us (cutting us off in the process) and hit the object in the road. That kicked the thing up, causing it to hit the middle of our front bumper and then go right under the truck. It made a really loud noise and I said, “What the hell was that?!?” Andy immediately looked out the back window and said, “And we are smoking.” He slowed down and got us off the road as soon as possible. We both got out and looked at the front of the truck to discover that the coolant was pouring out obviously from some sort of damage to the under part of the truck. We got back in the truck and Andy got on his phone. Using the web (yay for smartphones!!!), he found a local automotive repair shop that had a good review and gave them a call. Given the time of day on a Friday, they said they really didn’t have time to look at it, but they would try given the situation. They gave us the name of a towing company and the wait began…
In that hour of waiting, Andy and I talked about the whole situation. He called the insurance company because we wanted to know if we could submit a claim if the cost of repairs was going to be high. I mentioned that I would have to find a computer with Internet access to transfer money from our savings account to our checking account to cover the unanticipated cost. Finally, the tow truck arrived. While loading the truck up, both Andy and the tow truck driver got a good look at our truck and both thought that maybe the damage wasn’t nearly as bad as we had originally thought. The clamp for the lower radiator hose was still on and the hose did not appear damaged. *That* was a positive thing because the lower radiator hose is special order only, meaning getting the truck fixed would have to wait until Monday…
We got to A-1 Automotive Repair at about 4:00. We sat in the waiting room and I made a couple of phone calls. At right about 4:30, a technician pulled the truck up – all fixed and ready! The shop reattached the hose, replaced the original hose clamp, and added coolant. The technician turned the truck on and ran it for a while. No leaks! Total repair cost was just under $200, including the tow. Even the technician was amazed that all that happened was that the radiator hose was pulled off. Usually, damage from this type of hit is much more extensive. We paid our bill, and got back on the road for Nashville.
We were amazingly lucky because the damage could have been much more extensive and Andy was able to get us off the road safely. Yes, it was an unanticipated expense, but I will take it given all the possible alternatives. I guess even us Kassels get some luck now and then!
