Definitely Murphy’s Law applied in this Story!
by Russ B., BATRC Member, April, 2014
Murphy’s Law as defined in the Webster Dictionary: “A satiric principle based on the theory that if anything can go wrong, it will.” Little did I know how this was going to apply to me on the April 16, Dodson Pass ride.
I got up early to head out. The window was little fogged, so turned the defroster on to clear my inside windows. Little did I know this was going to haunt me later on in the day. Stopped by the Triangle Restaurant to meet up with the ATV group and arrived at staging area to unload my ATV. Met Roger Shannon from Emmett and we decided to be riding buddies for the day. I lost my mirror, but Barney found it along the trail. I should have known that was going to be the beginning of the real day…Murphy’s Law (ML)#1! However, it was a great day and we had fantastic weather.
Russ B., BATRC Member sharing his Murphy’s Law story!
After we got back to the trucks, Roger told me about a different route to get back to Emmett. So said I would follow him out. About maybe six miles down the road I noticed in my rear view mirror that my trailer tail gate was missing off the back of my trailer. Pulled over and stopped the truck. I got out to see if I could see it on the road behind… ML#2. As I was passing the right side of my truck, I heard a hissing sound from the tire. Yep, it was going flat in a hurry…ML#3. I was able to turn into a turn about spot to get off the roadway. Boy, lost my tailgate and had a flat tire at the same time!! Started to get my jack out the truck about that time Gary and Marilyn from Emmett stopped by and offered to help me change my tire. Just a few minutes later Roger arrives to check on me. Told them I have got a couple of things going on–lost a tailgate and flat tire. Gary said they had seen my gate about ¼ miles back down the road, so Roger went to get the tailgate. Gary and I worked on the tire while Marilyn read the manual and guided us to where to put the jack under the back axle. I had never changed the back tire, only the front. Roger returned with the tailgate and helped with the changing of the tire. We get the spare on and tied down the tailgate so it wouldn’t pop off again.
I headed down the road and noticed residue on the inside of the windshield. It had the appearance that I might have a crack or leak in the radiator system. I had the air conditioner on earlier, so surmised it might be related to coolant leak. Well, I thought, maybe if I turn on the defroster and put it on high, it might clear up. Wrong…never did! ML#4.
As I got further down the road I noticed my ATV cargo bag was really leaning to the right. So stopped at the Willow Creek junction to check things out. Sure enough the bag straps had torn and was about to come off the ATV. Roger returns again to rescue me. We took the bag completely off… ML#5. We noticed one of the straps holding the trailer tailgate had broke. This is the third time we have reattached the tailgate…ML#6. Roger said, “Why don’t you go first.” I think he was getting tired of having to turn around and rescue me. I finally limped back home. I lined up to back trailer into truck pad when I hit my fence gate and bent two holding pins. It wasn’t too bad. I can straighten them out…ML#7.
Next day–Easter Sunday, I had been invited over to friends house for dinner. When I returned to the house, I noticed a small shinny spot on my front right tire. Yep…it was a nail…ML#8!! Smackers…I could have had two flat tires on the same day!???! That would have been disastrous. Where would you find a tire shop open on a late Saturday evening just before Easter????
Monday– I took the truck over to the tire shop. They told me on tire was toast with a one and one-half inch gash. The other tire with the roofing nail could be patched; and they just happened to have a used tire in stock for $45–same make, tread everything. Yeah, but I still need to get another tire!
Tuesday–I dropped my truck off at the dealership to check out what was going on inside my window. The courtesy car drops me off at my house. I open the garage door and head into the house. I thought…opps, I’m locked out my house and my house keys are on the truck ignition keys. Gee, whiz, now what??!! ML#10. Aha, I have my cell phone! So, I called the dealership to let them know to call my cell phone when they are done rather than calling my house phone. OK, I’m still stuck in the garage…maybe I can find the spare set somewhere. Well, I didn’t find them, so decided to “jimmy” it open. Aha!!! It worked and I’m in back in my house.
The dealership called me and asked if I had been using the defroster. I said,”Well yes, had it on earlier in the morning trying to dry off the inside of the window.” He said, “It was dust!” What, I don’t believe it! Apparently dust was being pulled in from the engine compartment when using the air conditioner and trying to dry out. So the lesson learned on this story is: “DON’T USE YOUR DEFROSTER ON DUSTY ROADS!!”
Later that afternoon, the dealership called and said it was done. The dealership courtesy car picked me up. When I arrived, I looked over the invoice. I asked,”What is this $104 charge for labor?” He told me that it was for the mechanic tearing into the system trying to find the problem. I said, ”All he had to do was take his hand and wipe it along the inside of the window to find out it was dust due to a ventilation problem, not a cooling system problem.” And then, on top of it, once they found the problem, they didn’t even clean my window…ML#11. To say the least, I had a private meeting with the shop manager!!!
Dodson Pass ride April, 2014.
I would like to thank Ray and his crew for a great ride and to Gary and Marilyn for stopping by to help me change my tire. Big special thanks to Roger for turning around and seeing that I got home.
Recapping my experience this week: Dust $104, tire $45, two gate pins $10, viewing God’s great creation and riding with friends…Priceless!
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