What are the odds?

What are the odds?

Sometimes you raise your eyes, heart and spirit to The Heavens and say, "Thank You, Dear Lord." Sometimes you wonder if your Guardian Angels ever gossip about you. And sometimes, all you can do is shake your head and  mutter, "What are the odds?"  Incredible.

Bad News. Good News.  Bad News is that your truck won't start.  Good News is that it is sitting in the street beside your Idahome.  And thus begins the story.

So, when Marvie wouldn't start a couple of days ago, we didn't think too much about it.  We noticed we left on the parking lights and figured we had run down the battery.  So, we hooked up a  solar panel to the battery and let it sit all day.  Sure enough, later in the day, Marvie fired right up.

So we turned off the engine and prepared to run a few errands about town.  When we went back out, Marvie refused to start.  That's when we got on our imaginary radio and called out, "Houston, we got a problem."

(Begin Flashback)

We bought Marvie from Marvin B. in Challis three years ago Memorial Day.  Marvin said the battery was fine.  We had no reason to question Marvin because a cowboy's word is his bond.  We drove Marvie all over the place and back again for over 3 years.  It never failed to start right up.  In early May this year, we took Marvie to Sears for an oil change on Memorial Day itself.  The guy there handed me a print out that showed Marvie's battery was on its last leg.  I shrugged and then took it to Sams's for a second opinion. Sure 'nuf, the Sam's guy said the same thing.

Well, since we were planning some total MOAN Country Road Trips, what's a cautious guy to do?  Why, replace the battery, of course.  So, armored up with a new battery, we took off into some total MOAN Country feeling confident that our battery would  be the least of our problems.

We did the Iron Bog trip, the outrageous BFE Owyhee Trip and then the "let it all hang out" Skyline trip.  We never gave the battery a second thought.

(End Flashback)

So, mid-afternoon June 30, 2016, we finally got around to pulling the battery and taking it back to Sam's for a check.  At that point, we were feeling certain we'd need a new alternator.  We told the Sam's guy it was a "reasonable thing to being by checking the battery."  He agreed but couldn't find a pulse on the battery and said he'd have to charge it to check it.  "Come back at 5 PM," he said.

Meanwhile,  we went home and got on Craigs List and began shopping for a mobile mechanic to R&R the alternator, so sure of ourselves we were about our diagnosis.  I mean, how often does a brand new battery fail?  What are the odds?

So we dutifully went back to Sam's and Dean--a 25 year Sam's veteran--simply said, "It's dead.  It happens.  I'm sorry. Here's your paperwork.  Take it to Customer Service and bring it back and you get a new battery."

I was stunned and speechless.  I went through the motions and got the new battery loaded in a shopping cart and then I had to stop and tell Dean a short story.

"Dean, you realize we bought this bad battery specifically so we could go into the Middle Of Absolute  Nowhere without worrying about the battery.  Do you have ANY idea what would have happened to us if that battery would have failed in BFE?"

I walked slowly out into the Sam's parking lot while a hub-bub of pre-July 4th shopping craziness swarmed around me.  I walked as if in a daze, thinking my way back through all those incredibly lonesome miles in the complete and total Middle Of Absolute Nowhere we had just traversed in MOAN Country.

And that's when it all began to add up.

What are the odds?

(Begin Flashback)

So, on our second day in Owyhee Country, we soon passed the above sign and neither of us felt anything amiss.  Within minutes, the 1984 Nissan 720 began running rough.  Rough enough to be concerned.  In fact, when I took my foot of the gas pedal, the engine died.  Well, I was naturally very concerned but didn't say anything to Susun, figuring perhaps it was a carburetor problem or an intake valve fouling issue.  But it kept it up and up and got worse.  When I had to slow down for a tight curve, I  had to put it in neutral and keep the engine revv'd to keep it running.  Finally we hit a one mile straightaway and I floored it and got it up to 55 mph on that rough gravel road.

Magically, the hiccup disappeared and didn't reappear for the rest of the trip....until...

We were finally headed on The Home Stretch just crossing the Bonneville County Line west of Idaho Falls and suddenly there was what sounded like a minor explosion and Marvie quit running.  BOOM--just like that.  Well, heck, I had no clue what to do.  Susun went into co-pilot mode and began reading gages to me.  Amp Meter-Dead.  Oil Pressure-Dead. Tachometer-Dead.  Here we are sailing across a classic lava pillow in The Arco Desert with all systems DOA.

I had absolutely no idea what to do.  I told Susun if I was Captain of an airliner I would say, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we have lost all power and are on a  glide path for points unknown.  Buckle up."

I tried popping the clutch in 5th gear.  NO luck.  Tried again in 4th gear.  NO luck.  Tried again in 3rd gear, NO Luck.  Finally, I had nothing to lose so I put it in 2nd gear and popped the clutch and the tires squalled and squealed and the engine restarted and we over-revv'd our way back to Idaho Falls.

We kept the RPM near 3000 all the way back to our Idahome, high reving at the stop signs and stop lights.

(End Flashback)

Well, of course, we were naturally paranoid after those two experiences so we kept a close eye on Marvie until we did the Skyline Trip.  There was nary  a  hiccup on that trip and everything worked perfectly.  NO hint of what was  really going on.

And so it turns out we drove all those miles with a truly defective battery.  God Only Knows how we made all those miles with a non-functional battery.  God Only Knows how we overcame its problems deep in Owyhee Country.  God Only Knows why it didn't croak in the Middle of Absolute Nowhere.
God Only Knows why it didn't croak on The Skyline Trip.

What are The Odds it would croak right beside our Idahome?  What are the odds?

Anyway, the Sam's guy apologized profusely and said, "This new battery is really going to give you a MUCH better experience!"  Well, we sure hope so.

I'm sitting here tonight thanking The Good Lord for our Fortunate Blessings by not being stranded so deep in MOAN Country that it could have cost over $1000 to get yanked outta there.  The permutations and complications of such an incident would have greatly multiplied the towing cost.  The bad battery could have easily cost us $2000...or more.

Anyway, here we are in our Idahome...safe and happy.  Marvie is  purring like the proverbial kitten--hasn't run this good in weeks.

What are the odds?