re: #327 Barefoot Grin

Everyone needs a car like that once in their lives. It truly builds character and humbles the ego.

My Sunbird had a thermostat that would seize up and the car would immediately overheat. I just needed to fiddle with it a bit and it would work again for a few miles. I carried all kinds of spare water jugs on long trips to refill the tank after letting it steam out for a bit. (Even Mountain Dew after a long night once, my date the next day said my car smelled like baking cookies when it was running)

On long trips from Ft Lauderdale to Gainesville, I would drive through the night to avoid traffic and for the cooler air. One one trip after stopping once to fix the thermostat, I had to pull over again, in the middle of nowhere. When I popped the hood, the pressure cap to the thermostat/coolant was missing. My heart sank. It was pitch black, on the side of Turnpike at 2 AM, miles from any turnoff.

I was with a friend who asked, “what now?” I told him, after sighing heavily, I would have to walk to a service station, most likely tens of miles through the night, on the side of the highway.

He said goodbye to me, but then reached into the steaming engine, felt around, and out of no where produced the cap, that had been gently resting on some ledge.

“Is this it?” He asked. We were saved. And made it to G-Ville stopping every 50-60 miles. The force was strong with him. It was the closest thing to a religious moment I think I have ever had.