Gold On The Inside

       So, on the second trip home with our other car, I ran into a little trouble.  My plan was to make it to Aspen/Basalt from LA in one day to visit with my buddy Martin for a few days.  Martin is a brother to me. We worked together for several years in Chicago  as well as lived together. More on that in a minute.  After getting in Utah, and stopping off to see a friends sister in a small town in Utah at her work, Jimmy Johns, I was back on the road. Amelia practically threw the sandwich at me and told me to take for the road. I left her, and continued on.  I was turning onto 70, the 70 that runs all the way to Saint Louis, from the 15, and started going up a hill, and the transmission completely failed. Gone. I was barely able to get a signal, called AAA, and they sent a tow truck to me. I called Helen, told her the situation, then called Martin and told him it was a no go. I then got in my car to wait, I laughed, and dug into my sandwich.  My life is one adventure, mishap, failure, and success after another. It is anything but boring. At least I had a sandwich.  

       The man who came to get me was named Rick. Thank God for small towns. He is an ASE certified mechanic. He confirmed my fears, transmission was history. New tranny is between $2500 and $3500. The car isn't worth that much. So I asked Rick, "What would you do?" Rick said, "Well, I know a good salvage guy not to far from here who gives good prices and is a good guy." I said fine, lets do that. But, I had a car FULL of things. These were the last remnants of what was in LA that I anticipated driving home. A couple boxes, a flat screen TV in a box, my beloved Paradigm stereo speakers, and other things as well. Now, so you know, I have been moving furniture since High School, I even did it while in LA to support my family as my day job. Needless to say, this car was packed.  So, I told Rick that I needed a hotel room, and needed to unload the car. He drove me to the next town, Ritchfield, and I  squared a hotel away for me. My luck, it was during the ATV Jamboree, so the prices were astronomical, triple to quadruple what I would normally pay. During ATV week, people and about 2,000 ATV's, and the people that love them swarm the town.     Rick helped me unload all of my things into my 1st floor room(ton of stuff),  and then I set out for a minute. 

           First things first, I needed a drink. I went across the street from the motel and grabbed two tall boys of Busch to get the gears oiled. I asked the clerk what time they stopped selling beer, just in case I felt like throwing a massive pity party. She replied "Well, since its under 5% alcohol, we can sell 24 hours." Hearing that was some boss shit. I grabbed some grub at the Arby's next to the motel, and headed back. Then, it settled in,  I was stranded. Screwed.  My budget for the moves had little wiggle room for emergenices. Yes, I know its not the smartest thing, but the initial move fuel costs was nearly twice what I had expected.  So, not a lot to work with. Aspen, my buddy Martin and his girl Missy, were 5 hours away. Could have been 2000 miles at that point, it felt insurmountable. Aspen and some quality time with my dearest friend were out of the question.

        Takes a whole lot more than that to keep this man down, so I cracked a can open, called my wife and started setting a plan in action. She has family near Salt Lake, but they were too busy to come down and pick me up. Completlely understandable. Next. Rental car. When I called the rental company, the line was disconnected. Rad. Then, I thought U-Haul up to Tooele the next morning where my wife's, and now my, extended family lives. I called both agents, and left messages. It was really starting to hit me. I then looked around the room at all of my belongings, and just laughed. I had to, I was starting to get a little nervous.  To set the record straight, I have completely started my life over, from scratch, in two of the biggest and most expensive cities in the USA. Being scrappy, self sufficient, and a little reckless are part of me. I have worked my ass off to achieve what I have achieved and to do what I have done. The second time I started over in LA, I had my amazing wife Helen to prop me up, and show me the ropes, and we did it together. Now, she was on the other of the phone, with my beautiful boy that I hadn't seen in nearly a month, and I was feeling alone. She was supportive, as always, but this was some shit that I had to suss out and manhandle on my own. I have taken everything in my life head on, but this was starting to get daunting. I started checking flights  from Salt Lake to Chicago, and planned on heading out of there the next day.  Good thing I had room on a credit card for the flight, and just enough to maybe, MAYBE, get my ass up there in a rental truck.Fuck.

     Second can of beer. I have the iPad and an iPhone hooked up to the wireless, and I am mapping. Trouble shooting, and watching funny videos to keep my mind off the situation. My phone rings. It's Martin. "What up, Dood?" I say to him, our little greeting, trying to hide the cracks in the facade. "Not too much, Johnny. Hey, listen, Im come to pick you up tomorrow. I'll leave in the morning, come get you, and we will drive back to Aspen." Utter fucking disbelief, shock, joy, relief, and gratitude on my end. As well as silence. "Are you sure?" I say, still not beleiving. "No problem, dood. Text me the address, and I'll see you tomorrow. I also rented a truck so we can put all of your things in it.", he said. "Tino, I don't know what to say, thank you. Really?", I asked. "Yes, Dood. I'll call you in the morning when I leave." We said our good bys, then I hung up. And then, I cried like a fucking baby. A sobbing, ugly, drooling cry- What a friend. What a fucked up situation. What a blessing to have the helpful tow truck driver that came to help me. What a friend. What a fitting way to leave a town that had given and taken so much of me. I'm in a Hotel in the middle of nowhere. I miss my wife. I can't wait to see Herc. I just overpaid for a shit hotel room. Life is beautiful. Fuck that car. What a piece of shit. Tino. A man I admire and am proud to call my friend. I gotta call my wife and tell her everything is okay. I stopped crying. It was so cathartic, it was a soul douching cry.

      I called Helen, told her the score, and started pricing air fare. By the way, Martin at this point is also going to drive me three hours to Denver on Friday so I can catch my flight. Unreal. I called my mom and dad, told them not to worry that everything was going to work out. I went to the front desk and asked for a late check out, they obliged. I had a hard time falling asleep that night. At that point I think I had a little blood in my adrenaline stream. Shitass cable and religious programming. Lights out.

      I woke early the next day, went next door to a restaurant, and grabbed some breakfast. It was delicious. While eating and drinking my coffee, I heard a business meeting taking place the likes of which I had no idea existed. A livestock pharmaceutical rep was talking to three ranchers about some of their new drugs. It was fascinating and scary at the same time. These types of meetings usually happen in a Doctors office with a either a smooth talking business guy or an overly attractive woman bringing lunch in to the office for the Doctor and his staff. This was the other hand. But, have no doubt, the financial stakes were the same, if not higher. It was mind blowing. I paid my check, headed to the hotel, and slept some more.  The guys at the hotel were nice enough to let me store my stuff in the laundry room of the hotel after I checked out and waited in the lobby sucking up all of the bandwidth of their WI-FI. At one point, I think they thought I was lying about a friend coming to rescue me. Martin had called earlier and told me the rental place had rented the truck to him online the night before, but didn't have it when he went in the morning. So he was bringing his Juke, great car, not the same space as an American Sedan. So, I hatched a plan that once he got there, I was going to hit the UPS store , ship the boxes, go back, load the car up, hit the Salvage Yard on the way out, and boogie to Colorado. And we did. 

       Two days, and eight hours worth of car rides with your buddy is as good as it gets. We talked endlessly. We saw the sights in Aspen, we had meals(and Martin is an AMAZING cook, and I don;t use that term lightly), drank beers, and even had time to fish together as well. It was perfect. He is a special person. And I don't throw that term around lightly as well. He is varied, interested, laid back, smart, and knowledgeable of food and wine like no one I know. He is never pretentious, but his experience as a server in  restaurants you and I can only dream to eat in make him a force to be admired and reckoned with. Above all, he is a gentleman. He has a heart bigger than anyone I have ever met, and a genuine love for life that is contagious. I am completely honored to be standing up for him in his spring wedding.  His fiancee is the sweetest thing in two feet, and I can't wait to take family trips with them and our families. Flew out of Denver, that airport is a shithole, and landed in a rainy Chicago. Well hello to you too, Windy. Took the escalator down to see my wife holding my son waiting for me. Back in Chicago, for now.