Tarlachia
13-04-2005, 07:53
...My life is thrown into chaos.
This is a personal story of this past weekend. It's a story of the trouble I've been going through this weekend, and how I've reacted. Granted, it may have Christian issues in it, but do me a favor. Put a damper on it. I don't want to hear your anti-Christian crap. I'm not looking for that. I respect what you believe. All I expect in return is the same. Therefore, don't trash me for what I believe in. I think this forum is full of people who do this, when they should just turn a deaf ear to it.
I just want to share this story, and see if anyone else had anything to share.
**************************************
All I wanted was to get home and celebrate my mother's birthday for the weekend.
It happened, but not without cost.
Here goes:
Saturday Morning: I take my car to Walmart to get the tires checked out. I have to buy a new tire for the front left tire. The other tires are rebalanced. All runs well as I leave. I drive south on I-95. All is running smooth like a charm until I get near Daytona Beach, FL (which is 100 miles from Jacksonville, FL). Then, the unbalanced wheel problem begins again. Incredible shaking, enough to make a blender looks tame when at high speeds. My brain feels as if its about to become the newest addition to my windows.
I stop to visit my friend in Daytona, but right before getting there, I am pulled over by a cop who informs me ever so kindly that I have a brake light out. He departs without giving me a warning or ticket. I am relieved. Also glad he hasn't noticed the car shaking like hell. I spend some good time with my friend Katie for an hour and a half. Then, I continue southward to my hometown,Sebastian, FL, another 100 miles away. 28 miles from the Sebastian exit, and having endured more wheel shaking than I care to remember, I hear a sound like a shotgun. I pull over after another mile, when I finally noticed a bit of smoke behind me. As I slow down, it begins to filter out from under the hood of the car. I pull over to find out that my upper radiator hose has blown a length-wise gap in itself. It is obviously the same hose that had been first installed on the car in the factory fifteen years old. I called AAA for emergency roadside service, asking for a tow to my house, just over 30 miles away. They tell me I'm to wait 35 minutes until someone gets to me. I end up waiting two hours.
During my wait, I find myself brooding over why I'm having such trouble with my car. Although it is a 15 year old car, it still ran really well, despite the issues I had with it. At this point, I'm raging my heart out at God, who merely sits and listens to what I have to say. He hears my frustrations, my desire to see my family. And in that moment of rage, he spoke ever so quietly, his words deep in my heart.
Enjoy the day.
Strangely, I look about as if I had been given a revelation. I see the clouds passing, noticing that the day is bright, the sun is shining, the earth is as green as ever can be. The constant passing of high speed traffic on I-95 does not deter the peace that I have begun to feel seeping into my thoughts, my soul. I put on a Christian rock CD I have and soon am in high spirits, praising God with my heart. To an atheist or agnostic, or any other non-Christian, I'm your typical Christian guy belting out the holistic tunes of love, sacrifice and desire. I'm what they hate. And yet, I don't care, for I am happy. On that day alongside the highway, I am carefree, happy to be alive, happy to praise God like I've seldom done before with such passion in my heart.
Finally, the tow truck arrives, and tows my car to my home. The total bill ends up to be $117 dollars and change. My parents kindly foot the bill, knowing I'm tight on money. That night, my parents and I spend a very relaxing, very high-spirited dinner together. All is right in the world.
The next day, we attend church, where I hear some good news about a good friend of mine in the service over in Iraq. He is to return soon for a short vacation in a month or so. I thank God for my safe travel home and pray for a safe return to Jacksonville. I also pray for my military buddy and my grandmother who is battling cancer. That night, we head over to my grandmother's for an early birthday celebration in honor of my mother. Her birthday is actually the next day, but by that time, I expected to be already back in Jacksonville.
Monday morning, I take the car to Walmart, this time in my hometown, where I am informed and shown the cause of my tire woes. two of the three other tires I have are about to separate themselves. The third has a nail in the tire. I had been driving a seriously crippled car like a man on crutches trying to run on a fast treadmill.
In retrospect, I believe that God blew that radiator hose to protect my life from the threat from the tires. I thank God for doing so.
As I'm heading home to say my final goodbyes to my family, I notice that my engine temperature is reading above the Hot line. Not good, not good at all. Already irritated by the problems so far, I take the car to a local mechanic, a friend of the family. He checks the engine over and finds that I have a thermostat that is jammed. He removes it, and explains that it is not necessary in the Southern states, especially Florida. Another diagonosis check several minutes later reveals a deeper problem. I have a busted cap of some sort. [EDIT: (I remembered what it's called.) It's a head gasket.] It apparently controls the exhuast fumes flow, and if cracked or busted, it will allow exhaust fumes back into the car, making it its own furnace of raging heat. So not good. The knockout comes with the price stated to repair such a cap. It comes out to a minimum of $450 dollars. I'm already bankrupt at this time, and my parents have already done more than I had even expected. I take the car back to my house, and leave it in the driveway. I would have to return to Jacksonville, work a bit to save up the money to repair the car and get the car fixed by my parents. Or, my other option was to sell the car, get the money from it and use it to make proceeds to getting a brand-new Kia or some other cheap car. I am thoroughly agitated and pissed at my car now. I have made wishes for the latter. At least the new owner will have brand-new tires, courtesy of my suffering wallet.
Oh yeah, I'm in hell, and I've not finished this round on the torture table. There's more to come.
By now, it's the afternoon of yesterday, and I've already sought out the next bus route time for Greyhound heading northward. It's stated on the web to be passing through my town at 4pm. 4pm comes and goes with no sight of the bus. Eventually, I find out that the bus no longer stops in Sebastian. Now I'm furious, and even my brother has realized how pissed I am. He even gave me peace, unlike him, who loves to irritate me on a daily basis. I return home, with the realization that I'd be missing two classes by nightfall. I make a further search for the next day's bus routes, and find the best one to be out of Melbourne at 11:25am this morning. I realize that I'm going to miss another class, as the bus does not get into Jacksonville until 4pm. I'm really not happy now. I seriously want to get drunk and wallow in my rage.
For some reason, I don't know why I didn't. Instead, I found myself enjoying the night with my family (after a long nap to relieve an increasingly growing headache). It turns out to be the best birthday my mom has ever had, according to her. She pretty honest about this kind of thing too. In turn, I am glad that she is happy. We are all there as family, laughing and sharing jokes. It is another bad day turned good.
Today, I finally make it onto a Greyhound bus and get to Jacksonville, only twenty minutes late, due to a holdup at one bustop. Some old guy had collapsed while getting ready to board the bus. Emergency crew came within five minutes and took over. Alas, our lives are ever so filled with the craziest things. There was even a dog running loose, because the guy had collapsed. As far as I know, he's all right.
Finally I've made it to Jacksonville. I've already arranged for my boss to pick me up and give me a ride back to UNF. He announces to me that we're going to have to stop at work, so he can do some New Employee Orientations, or NEOs as we call them. No problem, it'll give me a chance to learn the new computer system they've installed yesterday anyway. I eventually get a ride home with another employee.
As I sit here and hardly able to believe the series of things that I've endured this weekend, I can only realize several things:
1) It could have been worse in so many ways. I could've even have been dead. Thank God I'm not.
2) God must've given this to me to both test my faith and to make me remember that there are things in life worth worrying about, and other things not.
3) The whole series of events must be one big elaborately designed plan by God to convince me to accept my grandmother's wish to help me with my next year's tuition and dues problem, despite my staunt refusal by my pride and honor.
4) The ultimate lesson of all: Appreciate what truly matters in life, for it is central to your survival. In this case, it was my family and friends.
All in all, despite my auto woes, my weekend could be rated as an 8 on a scale of 10. Yeah, I had my problems, but overall, all was ok. I got through it all right.
As I always shall.
Thus is the way of my life. Thus is the way of my family. We'll get through it, one way or another.
Thank you God.
********************************************
Anyone else have a story to share? I'd like to see what else goes on in other people's lives, and how they react to them. Human behavior is a truly interesting study, from my perspective. Hell, I can sit in a restaurant, and find myself studying how people eat. The smallest things define a person's life to the attentive bystander.
This is a personal story of this past weekend. It's a story of the trouble I've been going through this weekend, and how I've reacted. Granted, it may have Christian issues in it, but do me a favor. Put a damper on it. I don't want to hear your anti-Christian crap. I'm not looking for that. I respect what you believe. All I expect in return is the same. Therefore, don't trash me for what I believe in. I think this forum is full of people who do this, when they should just turn a deaf ear to it.
I just want to share this story, and see if anyone else had anything to share.
**************************************
All I wanted was to get home and celebrate my mother's birthday for the weekend.
It happened, but not without cost.
Here goes:
Saturday Morning: I take my car to Walmart to get the tires checked out. I have to buy a new tire for the front left tire. The other tires are rebalanced. All runs well as I leave. I drive south on I-95. All is running smooth like a charm until I get near Daytona Beach, FL (which is 100 miles from Jacksonville, FL). Then, the unbalanced wheel problem begins again. Incredible shaking, enough to make a blender looks tame when at high speeds. My brain feels as if its about to become the newest addition to my windows.
I stop to visit my friend in Daytona, but right before getting there, I am pulled over by a cop who informs me ever so kindly that I have a brake light out. He departs without giving me a warning or ticket. I am relieved. Also glad he hasn't noticed the car shaking like hell. I spend some good time with my friend Katie for an hour and a half. Then, I continue southward to my hometown,Sebastian, FL, another 100 miles away. 28 miles from the Sebastian exit, and having endured more wheel shaking than I care to remember, I hear a sound like a shotgun. I pull over after another mile, when I finally noticed a bit of smoke behind me. As I slow down, it begins to filter out from under the hood of the car. I pull over to find out that my upper radiator hose has blown a length-wise gap in itself. It is obviously the same hose that had been first installed on the car in the factory fifteen years old. I called AAA for emergency roadside service, asking for a tow to my house, just over 30 miles away. They tell me I'm to wait 35 minutes until someone gets to me. I end up waiting two hours.
During my wait, I find myself brooding over why I'm having such trouble with my car. Although it is a 15 year old car, it still ran really well, despite the issues I had with it. At this point, I'm raging my heart out at God, who merely sits and listens to what I have to say. He hears my frustrations, my desire to see my family. And in that moment of rage, he spoke ever so quietly, his words deep in my heart.
Enjoy the day.
Strangely, I look about as if I had been given a revelation. I see the clouds passing, noticing that the day is bright, the sun is shining, the earth is as green as ever can be. The constant passing of high speed traffic on I-95 does not deter the peace that I have begun to feel seeping into my thoughts, my soul. I put on a Christian rock CD I have and soon am in high spirits, praising God with my heart. To an atheist or agnostic, or any other non-Christian, I'm your typical Christian guy belting out the holistic tunes of love, sacrifice and desire. I'm what they hate. And yet, I don't care, for I am happy. On that day alongside the highway, I am carefree, happy to be alive, happy to praise God like I've seldom done before with such passion in my heart.
Finally, the tow truck arrives, and tows my car to my home. The total bill ends up to be $117 dollars and change. My parents kindly foot the bill, knowing I'm tight on money. That night, my parents and I spend a very relaxing, very high-spirited dinner together. All is right in the world.
The next day, we attend church, where I hear some good news about a good friend of mine in the service over in Iraq. He is to return soon for a short vacation in a month or so. I thank God for my safe travel home and pray for a safe return to Jacksonville. I also pray for my military buddy and my grandmother who is battling cancer. That night, we head over to my grandmother's for an early birthday celebration in honor of my mother. Her birthday is actually the next day, but by that time, I expected to be already back in Jacksonville.
Monday morning, I take the car to Walmart, this time in my hometown, where I am informed and shown the cause of my tire woes. two of the three other tires I have are about to separate themselves. The third has a nail in the tire. I had been driving a seriously crippled car like a man on crutches trying to run on a fast treadmill.
In retrospect, I believe that God blew that radiator hose to protect my life from the threat from the tires. I thank God for doing so.
As I'm heading home to say my final goodbyes to my family, I notice that my engine temperature is reading above the Hot line. Not good, not good at all. Already irritated by the problems so far, I take the car to a local mechanic, a friend of the family. He checks the engine over and finds that I have a thermostat that is jammed. He removes it, and explains that it is not necessary in the Southern states, especially Florida. Another diagonosis check several minutes later reveals a deeper problem. I have a busted cap of some sort. [EDIT: (I remembered what it's called.) It's a head gasket.] It apparently controls the exhuast fumes flow, and if cracked or busted, it will allow exhaust fumes back into the car, making it its own furnace of raging heat. So not good. The knockout comes with the price stated to repair such a cap. It comes out to a minimum of $450 dollars. I'm already bankrupt at this time, and my parents have already done more than I had even expected. I take the car back to my house, and leave it in the driveway. I would have to return to Jacksonville, work a bit to save up the money to repair the car and get the car fixed by my parents. Or, my other option was to sell the car, get the money from it and use it to make proceeds to getting a brand-new Kia or some other cheap car. I am thoroughly agitated and pissed at my car now. I have made wishes for the latter. At least the new owner will have brand-new tires, courtesy of my suffering wallet.
Oh yeah, I'm in hell, and I've not finished this round on the torture table. There's more to come.
By now, it's the afternoon of yesterday, and I've already sought out the next bus route time for Greyhound heading northward. It's stated on the web to be passing through my town at 4pm. 4pm comes and goes with no sight of the bus. Eventually, I find out that the bus no longer stops in Sebastian. Now I'm furious, and even my brother has realized how pissed I am. He even gave me peace, unlike him, who loves to irritate me on a daily basis. I return home, with the realization that I'd be missing two classes by nightfall. I make a further search for the next day's bus routes, and find the best one to be out of Melbourne at 11:25am this morning. I realize that I'm going to miss another class, as the bus does not get into Jacksonville until 4pm. I'm really not happy now. I seriously want to get drunk and wallow in my rage.
For some reason, I don't know why I didn't. Instead, I found myself enjoying the night with my family (after a long nap to relieve an increasingly growing headache). It turns out to be the best birthday my mom has ever had, according to her. She pretty honest about this kind of thing too. In turn, I am glad that she is happy. We are all there as family, laughing and sharing jokes. It is another bad day turned good.
Today, I finally make it onto a Greyhound bus and get to Jacksonville, only twenty minutes late, due to a holdup at one bustop. Some old guy had collapsed while getting ready to board the bus. Emergency crew came within five minutes and took over. Alas, our lives are ever so filled with the craziest things. There was even a dog running loose, because the guy had collapsed. As far as I know, he's all right.
Finally I've made it to Jacksonville. I've already arranged for my boss to pick me up and give me a ride back to UNF. He announces to me that we're going to have to stop at work, so he can do some New Employee Orientations, or NEOs as we call them. No problem, it'll give me a chance to learn the new computer system they've installed yesterday anyway. I eventually get a ride home with another employee.
As I sit here and hardly able to believe the series of things that I've endured this weekend, I can only realize several things:
1) It could have been worse in so many ways. I could've even have been dead. Thank God I'm not.
2) God must've given this to me to both test my faith and to make me remember that there are things in life worth worrying about, and other things not.
3) The whole series of events must be one big elaborately designed plan by God to convince me to accept my grandmother's wish to help me with my next year's tuition and dues problem, despite my staunt refusal by my pride and honor.
4) The ultimate lesson of all: Appreciate what truly matters in life, for it is central to your survival. In this case, it was my family and friends.
All in all, despite my auto woes, my weekend could be rated as an 8 on a scale of 10. Yeah, I had my problems, but overall, all was ok. I got through it all right.
As I always shall.
Thus is the way of my life. Thus is the way of my family. We'll get through it, one way or another.
Thank you God.
********************************************
Anyone else have a story to share? I'd like to see what else goes on in other people's lives, and how they react to them. Human behavior is a truly interesting study, from my perspective. Hell, I can sit in a restaurant, and find myself studying how people eat. The smallest things define a person's life to the attentive bystander.