A Busy Morning
Dear Ann,
After deciding to give wicked Wickham a miss & opting for the Farmers Market, we returned to Beaumont St, Hamilton where my car was parked.
This street is the main street in this very popular suburb, but my car was facing the wrong way for me to go home & I was a little out of my comfort zone. So before Charley left me she decided to turn the car around so that it was facing towards home & aware of my woeful sense of direction drove into a side street to do so.
She was looking after me as she always does but in turning the car in a confined space, hit the kerb with a bit of force which I think we have all done from time to time. She soon straightened up & all was good (we thought) as she hastily said goodbye so that we wouldn’t hold the traffic up.
I was feeling good as I took the wheel & drove off. Well for a few seconds I was feeling good but as the car took off I knew something was radically wrong. I started to pray that I could get home okay.
Aware that with my new car I was not linked with a road side service, all kind of things were going through my mind as I limped down Beaumont St. I turned a corner & stopped at a quieter spot which was outside a hire car service & that turned out to be a blessing.
When I pulled up to have a look I hadn’t even turned the engine off & was viewing a flatter than flat front tyre. This only took seconds & I heard a male voice behind me saying “Flat tyre eh”.
The voice must have seen my dilemma before I did & had pulled in his car behind me. As he started to take all of my market gear out of the car (gazebo, stock, table, chairs etc) to put on the footpath he suggested I turn the engine off & put the hand brake on before he started on his good samaritan deed.
I could have truly hugged him. He had ascertained that I had no road side service to call ,which I was dying inside about, wondering how many hundreds of dollars I was going to have to pay if I needed to call a tow truck to get me home.
This became so much worse as: a) as I turned the engine off & the electronic key ring fell into pieces as I pulled it out of the dashboard. I only had one key & was aware to get a new one costs some hundreds of dollars.
b) By this time Mark, my saviour, had realised the wheel jack that I inherited with the car was damaged & he couldn’t get the ruined tyre off to put the new one on. To add to the misery it was a really hot day that does nothing to help sheer frustration.
Mark’s little boy of about 4 years old was watching his Daddy & asking lots of questions about the procedure. Mark said for him to ask his Mummy if she would go home & get him a clean shirt as the one he was wearing was wet through with sweat.
So it looked like I was going to have to get a tow truck, but then Mark decided to go into the car rental business to see if he could get some help. The good man running that business, Paul, kindly lent him a wheel jack. Finally the tyre was changed & everything back in the boot of the car.
However, the key falling apart was a problem. The key was still in the ignition, the electronic part was still in pieces wrapped up in my hankie.
It didn’t take long for Mark to realise that without the key being attached to the elecronics the car wouldn’t go, so Mark put it all together again without success. After all that he thought it really would be necessary to get a tow truck.
Before he left me he took me in to meet Paul so he could ring the two truck service & also to return the wheel brace he had lent us. With that, Paul showed Mark where he could have a wash up & put his clean shirt on. Â Mark & his family who were waiting patiently for him in the car, had been on their way to the Farmers Market. I certainly thanked Paul profusely, but my worries were still not over,
Paul was a very nice man also & suggested that before he called the tow truck service he would have another try with my key ring & went out to the car.
Came back & wonder of wonders, he had the car running. He then taped it up securely so that it stayed together.
I had no further trouble, but this still needed expert help. I vowed I would go to any lengths to get a second car key! Now all I had to do was get in the car & drive home.
Fate had other things in mind. I keep forgetting to tell people who deal with my car not to pull the hand brake on too hard, as there is no way I can release it. Â This has happened a few times & I have had to ask a passer by to release it for me.
It had happened again & I had to go back to see Paul & ask him to do the honours!
As I drove off he looked at me very sincerely as he said “And you look after yourself”!!
You have no idea as I drove off how grateful I was with these two very good samaritans, particularly Mark. I had talked to Mark’s wife in the car & had given her a large bottle of relish, which is all I had with me to give. She said Mark would be delighted with it as he loves relish.
When I asked for their name & address Marks wife said he would not expect anything as he was only too happy to have been a help. I asked if she had heard of Newcastle’s Pudding Lady. Indeed she had, so I said I was the lady & would love to send them a Chrismas pudding. She didn’t hesitate then to give me their name, address & phone no.
I arrived home safe & sound, very thankful that all that had transpired had not cost me the hundreds of dollars I thought it would. I could not believe that it was only 10.15 a.m. I felt I had been around the world & back as well as the Farmers Market.
It had been a very early start, as it is with any market that is on the agenda. It felt more like lunch time to me.
However, I had a little job to do before I did anything else. I have plenty of small cartons that Rachelle from Micheles Patisserie supplies me with, so I packed two Traditional Christmas Puddings, a Macadamia Nut Yuletide Log & another large jar of Curried Zucchini Relish for Mark & his family, sending it with a card to express my grateful thanks.
Then after all the events of a very busy & eventful morning I flopped into an arm chair & slept for an hour, which does wonders for the nervous system!
Love to you my very dear friend, Dawn X O X O