Nothing drives better than a clean car until it doesn't. Nothing is more disheartening than a new hard drive with nothing on it. You can write those two expressions down as absolutes. I want say they totally defined my day, but both proved to be frustrating experiences for me.
It was Wednesday or Thursday of last week that a storm came through in the middle of the night. I'd never seen anything like it, but from mid-door to the top of the General's car, it looked as though I had been out mudding in her BMW. It was not a pretty sight.
Yesterday afternoon, as a first order of business, I invited the General to go with me wash her car and in to Austin to pick up my iMac from Apple. I left it last week to get the hard drive replaced.
Actually, the technician who diagnosed the "crashed hard drive" seemed very helpful. He told me that my machine had two hard drives.
You could have fooled me. Stupidly, I asked if that was like having twins? He matter of factly said, "No, they are designed with two hard drives." I should have asked the question, but there are some questions you don't ask because you may not be emotionally prepared to handle the answer." In fact the black screen on my iMac had a question mark in the middle of the screen.
Everything I have written down, nonsense and more thoughtful writings, were stored on the crashed computer. I'm not sure how I would have coped with an affirmation that my life's work was forever gone.
In addition, I am a collector of stories. I've spent a lifetime collecting stories. The entire collection was buried inside the iMac. Sometimes it required intense effort on my part to resurrect a story, but I generally managed to find it.
Lest I digress, first things first. The General and I went to get her car washed. It is the kind of car wash that comes equipped with an inordinate number of side and overhead brushes. You drive into the entrance, put you vehicle in neutral, listen to the warning alarms going off inside your car alerting you that something is too close, and you ride through what appears to be a conveyor belt system inside a tunnel. You finally emerge at the other end where a red light turns green signaling your need to drive out to the finishing station that includes towels and spray bottles of cleaner to dry the vehicle well as a vacuum that magically eradicates any sign of dirt on the inside of the car. All of that for $10. It is an incredible price and the best car wash that I've found.
Long ago I've discovered that things that go bump in the dark, sometimes leave bruises. I've walked into more than once piece of furniture in a darkened hotel room. Actually, I've even done that at home.
Yesterday, I learned that things that go bump in a car wish signal unforgettable experiences as well. When the red light turned green at the exit to the car wash, I was momentarily unable to get my car to move. I attempted to shift from neutral to drive, but the gearshift was seemingly locked in place. I could not move forward.
That's when I felt the first bump from behind. In fact, the bumps were unrelenting. There were as least three of them before I managed to get the car in drive. As it turned out the Lexus behind me that was thrust into the back of my car again and again sustained no damage to his vehicle at all.
That is not to say that he and I instantly became best friends when we parked next to each other at the vacuum station. He vowed never to go back to that car wash again. He also didn't invite me to coffee.
I didn't have to make a vow. The General was with me and she is the CEO of the vow department. We are not going back to that car wash.
It was all my fault. I take full responsibility. I've gone through that car wash many times. I will be taking the General's car to the body-shop on Monday. It needs a little cosmetic work on the bumper.
The General then told me that we were going to forego the trip to Apple for my computer. We were going home. I convinced her that since we were half-way to Austin, it made more sense to go get my computer.
Now that I have it, I'm not sure what good it will do me. All of my files are gone and I could not ascertain that they are stored in the cloud. Bummer!
All My Best!
Don
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