Thursday, hot. Hot hot hot, the murderous "heat dome" is soon to arrive.
I need to feel the wind in my hair, get out of town, it's my day off.
And so, climb that hill and find my car. It's a little stale, dusty inside, but - damn, for better or for worse it's still there.
So I call the BCAA, ask for a boost. 90 minutes.
I daren't walk down to Baker and grab a soft drink, although very badly I need one, merely find some shade and wait for the boost.
They take the full 90 minutes and then some to arrive. Then, just like that, "boof" and it's running. A little rough, old gas, oil probably settled in the pan, but - hey, and I get the driver to drop my hood and I'm going to make a break for it...
Only there isn't enough room, and the transmission's slipping and I come to a halt half in the roadway and an inch from the truck in front of me's bumper...
There's no chance it'll slip into reverse without rolling forward and hitting the bumper of the truck.
So let's look at the truck.
I'm an inch away. Not 2 inches, not 4, literally a single inch.
The truck, brand new, lifted, brand new off-road tires, boilerplate splash guards for their oversized lifted tires, immaculate paint job, black, not a scratch on the thing. I doubt very much this thing has ever even jumped a curb, let alone been off-road. Somebodies' pride and joy. And so I go knocking at the neighbors, somebody has to move their truck, please, only nobody knows who's truck it is...
After an hour or so I give it up. The car, angled into the road, will have to remain that way.
Later that evening I go back, the truck is gone, probably they saw my bumper right up next to theirs and realized what a close call they'd had. Noteworthy, the car's been parked, been meaning to take it to the wreckers, hence no insurance.
***
I head back a few hours later, the truck is gone, but my battery is still dead, nonetheless slip it into neutral, roll it forward, park, I'll need another boost, not today, but it's close enough now to the intersection that no one can park in front of me, and next-boost, that will be the one that takes me places...