Driving to Nags Head NC a couple of weeks ago was more exciting than the usual coffee roll from Dunkin Donuts.  A few miles past the Yorktown exit on I-64, I heard a loud scraping noise from the back of my car.  I pulled over and lo and behold, the strap holding my muffler up had snapped. 

I called AAA and arranged for a tow, and called my brother to let him know I'd be delayed. As I was waiting outside the car for the tow truck to find me, a car pulled over a ways down the road ahead, and a man started walking back toward me.  At the same time I got a call from the tow truck driver, who was traveling in the other direction (AAA misdirected him) and he asked me if I was in the car and a man was walking towards me.  I thought he was telling me that the man was helping him find me.  But as the man got closer, I thought, your helper looks a lot like my cousin Steve . . . Wait - - it is my cousin Steve!!!!"

He and his family were headed to the beach the same week, and his wife Amy saw me on the side of the road.  What a co-inky-dink!  The tow truck driver was beyond friendly, and we decided to go to the Pep Boys in Hampton Rhodes.  Steve was able to hook the muffler back up with a clamp and a couple of wire hangers.  I got to the beach and my brother fixed the muffler strap a couple of days later.  All was well in car-land again.  

If Steve hadn't stopped to get coffee, he wouldn't have seen me. If the muffler had dropped 10 minutes later,  I would have been in the Hampton Rhodes tunnel and it would have been a horrible experience rather than something I just had to deal with.  The car forces had great timing. 

Yesterday, I was getting ready for a gig.  I'm a bass guitar player/vocalist in a jazz band, and I tote the rig for my bass plus the PA system, including the speakers, mic stands, monitors, etc.  I've kept a 1995 Caravan for this purpose.  It's been a great car, but I knew it was in its last year or two.  I packed the car, turned the key, and white smoke started blowing out from under the hood.  I quickly transferred the stuff into the other car and made it to the gig in good time.  But the Caravan is kaput.  I'm not putting any more money into it.  So nice that it didn't blow up on the road on the way to the gig.  Again, great timing from the car forces.   

So now I am looking for a used car, probably a 2006-2007 model.  Probably a small SUV, since I need to use it for commuting as well as to carry stuff to gigs. I’m not keeping the other car (which is a Corolla with 187,000 miles on it, BTW.)  I’ll sell that one or trade it in.

Sincerest thanks to the car forces for keeping me safe.  I trust that I will find a good replacement, with the help of my consultants – brothers, friends, Carmax, Kelly Blue Book, and the car forces of course.