Saturday, February 7, 2009

Be prepared

One of the most important things a young couple will do is have children. It is an awesome responsibility. The worst thin you can do is not be prepared for the trip to the hospital. I took my duties very seriously and got my wife and I a ride we could afford that would get her and my new one to the hospital, coolly, calmly and SAFELY.

I looked high and low for the right car, a 1966 Oldsmobile. This car was a beauty. You could see for miles through the windshield on where you were going. by the same token you cold see very clearly where you have been from the rear window. What this car had was the ability to see where you were at the time by looking at the hole in the floor. Such luxury is not hear of today. Forget heated seat and xm radio. Who wouldn't want to seethe actual pice of road they were traveling over.

I kept the car in tip top shape. I only drove it over the mountain 14 miles to and from work. I changed the oil weekly and the water daily. Did i mention the cracked block?

On October 15, 1975I had the oil changed, water filled ad lunch packed ready to go to work. My wife had gotten up to go to the bathroom allot the night before but she said she was OK. Off I went. Out the driveway, temp gauge cool. Up to Knapp Creek temp gauge above the middle mark. Down the hill steam showing. Pull in to work and you could not see through the steam.

I knew something was up, three friends were outside waiting for me with garden hoses. YOUR HAVING A BABY they yelled. We opened the hood, flooded the engine with water to cool it down, filled the radiator and made the trip back up. A little know fact is that if a car overheats once it does not take as long the second time. I went the back streets going through stop sign and made it home in 12 minutes. Dad was there with buckets of water cooling the engine down and a can of oil for good measure.

Sharon got into the car and off we went. Even faster over the hill. Steam flying all over and oil spitting on the windshield. We got to the hospital in 12 minutes and 90 minutes later my son was born.

It was a bittersweet day. I gained a beautiful son but lost a fine working precision automobile gave its life to keep my family safe.

2 comments:

  1. So you need to tell Brian he owes you a car...

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  2. Hal,

    First, take joy in that you are a BRAIN, even if at times confused. There are many who are never either, or who are never either, or never the latter yet often the former (like me).

    Second, I had a 1960 Olds 88. What a beauty! Could it fly! 115 mph or more as I recall. Good training for Navy Flight School, which I quit to be a diver where I dislocated my shoulders, and then became a "Crippled Cryppie", who was then really "crippled" by the Cryppies...

    Yet the Past is Prologue...

    James Renwick Manship "Midshipman Manship"

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