I walked over to Charlie’s Truck Stop this past week to pick up a few things. I have not walked to Charlie’s since I was a teenager, but it was such nice weather I decided to make my way along the railroad tracks as I did back when I would walk over in the summer to pick up a couple of those bagged three for fifteen cents comic books old Charlie Biggers used to sell. The comics were in a plastic bag, packaged without covers, two of them facing outward so the first page of the lead story was visible through the plastic. The third comic, sandwiched between the other two, was of course completely hidden. You knew pretty much what you were getting in two of the comics, but the third was anybody’s guess. Still, two comics you liked for only fifteen cents at a time when comics cost a dime for the full package complete with glossy cover was not a bad deal and there was the possibility the third hidden comic might not be a total disaster. I walked along the railroad tracks several times back in those hot summer afternoons to pick a package of comics from Charlie’s back when I was a young teen.
Walking this past week brought those memories back. There was the time I decided to walk on the rail as far as I could go. Maintaining balance on a rail is not as easy as one might imagine. I made quite a distance, concentrating on my balance, before I looked up to see a train approaching. It is surprising how close a freight train can approach before you notice. For a huge and noisy machine, a train can be almost upon you before you hear any sound. After that incident I decided walking on the rail was not such a great idea.
When I walked in the front door at Charlie’s, Jake looked up and then outside to see if I had parked in front of the gas pumps. When he did not see my car, I saw the question on his face. “My car’s in the shop,” I told him. Hurshel Ledbedder was in the store and he just could not believe I had walked all the way from home. I told Hurshel I had enjoyed the walk, it was such a nice day. Hurshel just shook his head in disbelief. Hurshel doesn’t believe in walking. He gets in his car to go to the mail box at the end of his drive.
Jake wanted to know if I was having major problems with my car and I told him I was just having it in for regular maintenance. While I had it in, I had decided to have the mechanic drop a new radiator in to replace the old one that has been dripping all winter. I’ve tried getting the leak fixed several places, but all I’ve accomplished is to spend money. I finally got tired of taking the car places and paying to not have the leak fixed, so I just told the mechanic to drop a new radiator in. It was while I was talking with Lisa Hall last week she reminded me her husband, Ricki, runs his own garage up near East View. It seems Ricki grew tired of working for garage owners who expected him to take short cuts with his work so as to increase customer turnover and increase profits. Ricki prefers to do the job right the first time. So, after some heavy thought and extensive planning, Ricki bought this little garage and, after a couple of rough years, began to do right well for himself. Lisa worked several years as a sales person at a sign shop in Savannah but about three years ago Ricki was doing well enough Lisa gave up her day job and made a full time career of being a home maker. I had never met Lisa’s husband, but Lisa recommended him after I mentioned I was needing some work on my car, so I drove up to see Ricki and get an appointment. Lisa met me at the garage and drove me back home. She said she would come for me when it was time to go pick up my car after Ricki had finished with it. I’ve heard Ricki has a reputation for charging high prices for his work, but he told me when I brought the automobile it what to expect and I thought his price was quite reasonable.
Hurshel was getting a fresh cup of coffee. Jake has taken to providing coffee for his customers. Over his cup of coffee, Hurshel asked how long I have had that old car. I told him it was going on ten years old. Hurshel thought ten years was a long time to keep one car. He thinks it’s about time I traded in for a new set of wheels. I said I’d consider it if Hurshel would commit to making the monthly payments. Hurshel let that one pass. He thinks I should spring for one of those new environmentally friendly cars that runs on electricity or methane. Like everyone else, I’ve heard of the new cars that run on batteries or possibly sunlight, but my information is those cars are still experiments and not quite ready for prime time. I said as much.
Hurshel was not persuaded. Hurshel is convinced the technology exists to build fuel efficient cars that run on hydrogen or other plentiful fuel mixtures without the need for gas or oil. It’s a conspiracy between the big car makers, the oil industry and politicians. Of course President George W. Bush is in on the scam. After all, the President is a pawn of Big Oil. Hurshel made a point that if these new cleaner and more fuel efficient automobiles were manufactured in such numbers they replaced the messy gas guzzlers, millions of people in the automobile and oil industries would be put out of business. Big Oil and the automobile manufacturers in Detroit won’t allow that to happen. That’s why they put up so many billions of dollars in money to keep in office politicians that will make sure laws are enforced to keep newer and better cars from being made. Hurshel is certain that if some genius, by some miracle, ever managed to build a plant and start manufacturing fuel efficient and economical cars, the government would bomb the plant and destroy it, then claim bin Laden and his group are responsible.
“That’s the way it is,” Hurshel insisted. “It’s all just a conspiracy.” Hurshel finished his coffee and picked up a bag of groceries he had purchased and headed out to climb into his old pickup truck.
END
