A couple of mornings ago my truck had been broken into and some of my tools had been stolen, and to make matters worse my ignition had to be replace since the thieves tried to take the truck also.
I found this out as I was about to leave Sat. Morning for a breakfast meeting with an attorney friend of mine that was in town for a few days. Of course I had to cancel breakfast because I could not start my truck.
This was one of those times I had to “Practice what I Preach”. I always tell my kids to do what they need to do (NOW) regardless of what comes up because things always happen to side track us from completing our mission.
I could have just left my truck as it was and sulked about the situation for the remainder of that day, which would have meant that I’d have to wait until Monday to have it repaired. If I had done that I would have missed a job assignment I had scheduled for that day.
Waiting was not an option, so I rounded up some tools that were in the house to start taking apart the steering column. All of the tools I would have used for this task were taken the night before so it was not as easy as I thought it would be. It took a while but I found a few screw drivers and proceeded to take the cover off the steering column.
Since I needed a few more tools that were missing I was not able to get the ignition off the steering column. As a last resort I used my grinder to take it off. After I finished with it I had fine shards of aluminum all over the interior, which meant I’d have to clean the interior when I finished the repairs, something else that would take more of my time.
It’s around 11:00 A.M. now. I just called to get another ignition switch for my truck. The parts place stayed open on Saturdays, until 3:00. I still have time, even though I have to get there and my truck won’t start until I get the part.
I could either ride my mountain bike, take the bus to the train station, or walk. I was in the process of taking my bike off it’s hook in the garage when I remember that it needed air, then I thought about the air device, (it was in the tool bag that was taken). I put the bike back on the hook and decided that I would walk the three miles to the train station since I needed the exercise anyway. ( I haven’t been to the gym in a few weeks so I was due for some exercise).
I grabbed by I-pod and a book (Ephren W. Taylor “Creating Success From the Inside out”.) I had been reading and started walking in the direction of the train station. On the way I took a few side streets just in case I saw something I wanted to photograph. (I always travel with my point and shoot (FujiFilm FinePix F40 FD) digital camera) It seems that there is always something that I want to photograph while I’m out. On this particular outing I walked down an alley and photographed an abandoned sofa.
The remainder of the walk was rather uneventful; I arrived at the train station paid my fare and walked up the two flights of stars to wait for the train.
Once in Long Beach I called a friend to drive me the remainder of the distance to the parts store, after which I was dropped off at the train station to reverse the process.
Back at home I installed the ignition switch cleaned the aluminum shavings created by the grinder and put the steering column back together.
I inserted the key turned it and the engine fired up without a hitch.
It’s now a little after 4:00 P.M. and I’m rolling again. It took most of the day, but it’s all done. I won’t have to miss an assignment on Monday in order to take care of the truck and, I Practiced What I Preach, by handling the situation right away instead of waiting, and also I didn’t let the fact that I didn’t have transportation stop me for getting the part I needed to repair the truck.