Friday, March 27, 2009

Radiator Soup

So, the boys and I went to Mom and Dad's tonight to take Mattie home. While we there we ate dinner and visited with the rents a little while. Clayton may or may not be coming down with some kind of consumption, so we left pretty early. 8:30 to be exact, and that's very early for me to leave my parents house. This will be important later on in the story.

Anyway, here's where the fun begins. Chad stopped to buy gas at the outskirts of Lenoir. He left the truck running as usual while he filled up. Everything is good so far. Keep reading, it gets better. We go about 1/2 a mile down the road, and his truck decided to run hot. Chad is a master mechanic, so I wasn't worried. He know how to fix almost everything.

We keep going just a few feet. Chad speeds up to try to introduce more air to the engine and cool it that way. WRONG!!! The engine and the radiator did not like that idea. Needless to say the truck overheated completely. Obviously we pulled over. Waited a few minutes for the truck to cool down enough for Chad to look at it and assess the situation.

Chad checks the innards(?) of the truck and diagnoses it as fatal. The radiator is kaput (kapoot ? I'm not sure how to spell it, but it's a great word), gone, finito, deceased. Apparently there is water / antifreeze coming out the side of the radiator. Not good.

Chad makes a plan. We are going to head towards the nearest convenience store and buy H2O and black pepper(that's right folks, black pepper). I suddenly had a craving for radiator soup. YUMMY!! Apparently black pepper will stop a leaking radiator. It works like a temporary plug. So very cool.

We get to the store, and drumroll please, they are still open. If we would have stayed as late as we usually do at the rents, then the store would have been closed, and we would not have been able to buy black pepper, add water to the radiator, and oila we have radiator soup.

Does God's timing ever amaze you? He saw fit to have Clayton get a little fussy and cranky so Chad and I decided to leave earlier than we usually do. Not knowing the whole time that we were going to need the extra time to fix the truck and make it home. Had we left at 10pm or 11pm, then the fix would not have been nearly as easy as it was.

Now, most of you know that I don't like to deviate AT ALL from my(my being the operative word) plan. However, I think God allowed me to handle this "adventure" very well tonight. Clayton and I played peek a boo with Pooh Bear while Chad did his thing. Chad and I were both civilized and helpful towards each other. I was equally excited about that, than getting home in one piece. Chad and I even laughed that we would have not been that nice to each other when tragedy ensued 7 years ago.

Are we getting older? Definitely? Starting to mature? Who knows? Growing in the Lord, and letting Him hand our (His) problems? I certainly hope so, that's the goal anyway.

The only thing we have left to do is, order a new radiator, and let Mr. Fix-It (Chad) put it in. Girls, if you aren't married, and still have the option, it's a great idea to marry a guy that can fix stuff. Saves you a lot of money.

Thank you God for keeping us safe tonight. Thank you for making the fix easy, and inexpensive. Thank you for a husband that is willing to fix things himself to save us money. Thank you for a husband that has knowledge of radiator soup.

Well, that was Friday. Who knows what Saturday and Sunday will hold.

2 comments:

Joan Carr said...

Never heard of this radiator soup, but evidently it is a man thing(because Alan had). You really are maturing and maturing in the Lord, and that is such a blessing to watch as a parent.

Jamie Lynn said...

I live with two mechanics (and then I know Chad) and I have never heard of the Radiator Soup...
Pretty neat though, how something so small and inexpensive can fix something so big and expensive..
Neato;

I'm glad you and Chad got along because I was picturing him blowing and being angry.. I'm glad that wasn't the case!

Love You!