It's Always Something...

..when I go Geocaching.
A friend and I headed out yesterday morning at 6:30 a.m. to try to get 100 geocaches. Our first stop took us in a huge drain pipe under a road. I had high rubber boots on and she didn't, so I waded around on the slippery pipe hoping a sewer rat wouldn't come swimming by. It didn't and we didn't find the cache either. Bummer.
We were caching along all day having a ball, racking up the numbers, blowing away in the tornado like gusts, when we stop in a park parking lot to eat something. It's about 6:30 p.m. After we eat, I try to start the car and it's not turning over. Dead battery. Ugh. There are a few cars in the lot and one of them is leaving. I run out to flag them down to see if they could jump start my vehicle. It was a huge guy in a huge truck. I asked him if he could jump my truck and he had this dumb look on his face and said he didn't have any cables. I said I did, but then he said something stupid like he had to go meet his brother-in-law for something. WHAT?! He left us stranded! Whatever happened to chivalry? What a rat! No one else came around, so my friend used her AAA card and in about 30 minutes a guy came and jumped the battery and we were off and caching again. Now to remember to NOT turn off the truck. I called Perry and told him that he needed to go get a battery so when I come home he can put the new one in. He had a better idea (or so he thought) and wanted me to stop somewhere and buy a battery and even went so far to call a place for me. It was all set that I go and that the guy would put it in for me.
Sigh.... I didn't want to do this, I had caching to do. By now it was dark and we were getting pelted and stung by ice pellets. But we were soooo close to 100 caches! By now Perry is calling me every 3 seconds to see where I was. Arggh. So we just went to the store and got the battery. The guy was putting the battery in the car and it was taking him FOREVER! Another guy comes out and this is getting worse by the minute. I really don't think this is rocket science. After about an hour a third guy comes out and the 3 Stooges go at it. We're sitting in the truck watching these clowns try to get a battery hooked up in the pouring rain. Suddenly the horn goes off. All 3 stooges heads hit the roof. Seems the alarm system is connected to the battery and if you just put the key in the lock, the horn will shut off and all will be well. They got the battery in....backwards so when I go to turn the key over all is dead. They blew a 120 amp fuse, which I guess is a pretty big deal and they did not have any in stock. I told them to find one. They said it was too late to find. I'm at a car service center and they have NO fuses for this car. Nice.
They suggested we stay over at the nearby Holiday Inn and they would get a fuse in the morning and get us on our way. Perry said I should stay, but my friend doesn't want to, so she calls her husband to pick her up. (We're over an hour away from home)
So there I am in a hotel room with no toothbrush, or extra set of clothes. I've been caching all day in rotten sewer pipes and I must smell lovely. Nothing is on T.V. so I end up watching an America's Next Top Model marathon. That's a whole other post!
I'm not falling asleep very fast, but when I do I zonk out pretty good. My room is the first room off the lobby, so the early birds woke me up about 6:15 with all their chatter. So now I'm awake. The car store opens at 8, they would not have the fuse until 9, so I start watching the ANTM marathon again. Perry calls me and tells me that they cannot find a fuse anywhere but they can get one by next Tuesday. HA HA What a hobunk place. Perry calls around our city and finds a place that has the fuses. He goes and buys 2 of them and drives out to rescue me. He shows up around 11:30 and I am free from America's Next Top Model. (OK I know I could have turned the channel, but when you get hooked, you get hooked)
He pops the fuse in and in a short time I see that the truck is now running. My hero! He runs back in to the store to see if we owe them anything for the 3 Stooges fiasco and they say no. They better say no! I'm on my way home. I wanted to stop and pick up 5 more caches because my friend and I only got 95. Wahhh we wanted 100. But it was snowing/raining so I just drove home and dropped. Like I said, it's always something. Adventures await when one goes geocaching.