I packed the night before until 5 am. Kenny, my roommate, woke me up at 7:30 am because he was using my car in exchange for me using his car. He knocked on my door and said he couldn’t get the car into gear. Half awake, I put something on and walked out to see if I could get the car into gear. The car wouldn’t go into gear unless it was off. Odd. Kenny suggested it might be the clutch cable or something like that. Damn. I drove Kenny to his work in his car and came back home wondering what I should do.
Why did this have to happen to me on the day before my big move? Is it a sign for something? I had an unbelievable amount of packing/moving to do this is the last thing I needed in my schedule. I need my car fixed the same day so my friend could later drive it and store it at his place. Luckily, I accidentally let my AAA membership auto-renew itself. I looked for a mechanic to tow my car to, Pep Boys, and called AAA to schedule a tow of my car. The tow truck came by around 9:30 am, and took me to the local Pep Boys.
I told the driver my new found adventure and the problem I have with the car and no time to pack. He was actually quite encouraging and said that things like this happen for a reason, usually for the better at the end. Sounded like some Christian teachings. I absorbed it because I just needed to feel better. At Pep Boys, they didn’t know how long it would take to fix and so I was stuck for at least a couple hours. I decided to eat breakfast and walked down the street to a local cafe. Chocolate croissant and a decent latte.
While eating, I decided to call my credit card to let them know I will be traveling for a while and not to put a fraud block on my card. I told the person on the other line I will be going to the Philippines for several months to a year. She asked me where in Philippines I will be going. Huh? I didn’t think she would know exactly where I would be because most people know only of Manila. I said “Bohol”. She replied like she knew where I meant. Turns out she did, because she said her call center she was working at is in Manila. What a coincidence!
My friend Kathy called me up and said she wanted to hang with me with another friend Eddie. Eddie didn’t see me at my farewell and Kathy didn’t want to work. Ok. I told her my car-less situation and she and Eddie decided to pick me up and eventually eat lunch. Kathy and I hung out at Backstage Bar before meeting Eddie and two of my friends, Duc and Dave for lunch at K-zo japanese cuisine. 11:30 am, I had two Jack and Cokes.
Everyone met for lunch at 12:30 pm. It’s been years since I last saw Duc and Dave. It was great seeing them before I left. They were doing very well. It was an excellent lunch as I put the stresses of the day aside. My mechanic called and said my car was done. My master cylinder and slave cylinder were leaking and so my car ran out of clutch hydraulic fluid. $300 for repairs.
After I picked up my car, I went back to my place where I pack and Kathy offered to help. Additionally, my friend Erik said that I can just leave my boxes at my house and he would pick them up and store them. This saved me many hours. Despite all of this help though, I made the mistake of completely underestimating the amount I needed to pack and how long it would take. I felt I threw a lot of things away already but still had a bunch to pack. It’s amazing how much one accumulates over the years. I wish I had at most half of what I actually had. Oh well.
In the midst of packing, I saw my landlord, Paulette, and asked her if she wanted to do her walk-through of the house to check for damages because she scheduled one the day before but never came by. To my surprise, she started screaming at me. I won’t elaborate because it’s all lame. Basically there were 3 trash bags laying outside which didn’t fit in the trash bin when the trash truck came by. She’s mad because they’re going to fill next weeks trash space. Her miscommunication led to this because she never told me if her neighbor gave her permission to put the trash in their bins.
My new friend Akira, who is a sushi chef at K-zo, told me to call him to eat dinner at K-zo. Kenny, Akira, and I ate sushi at the sushi bar and it was fantastic. The owner gave us a bottle of sake and made us a special sushi delicacy. It was one of my best sushi experiences. Slightly buzzed, we walked back to my place where I met up with my friend Jeremy and Suzette.
I showed Jeremy how to work my Speed Graphic camera and said my last goodbyes. I also got to see my friend Sandy. It was a long night as I still needed to pack a lot of stuff for the trip and to move. I stayed up late but still didn't get everything I wanted.
- jason
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