Homestead Phil was selected for jury duty. Not just the one day where you sit and hope that you are not the one selected. He was selected and was honored to give back in civic duty! By Friday, he was on day 5 of what we were hoping to be a final day of jury duty! So basically, he was working "off homestead" for five days leaving around 8:20am and returning by 4:30-5pm. That is not what we are accustomed to here at The Homestead!
Through the week, I was hopeful that Homestead Phil would be done with jury duty on Thursday as I had scheduled three Rent The Chicken pick-ups for Friday. I prefer for Homestead Phil to do the driving, moving of the coops, etc. Having said that, jury duty continued to Friday, and I left the house at 7:30am not until after hooking up the trailer, having my route sheet printed, snacks & water bottle packed, straps ready, and hopeful to return for lunch by noon!
The best laid plans... amIright?
First stop was a breeze picking up Thelma and Louise way south of us by about 1.5 hours. Then 45 minutes back towards home I park across the street from the next pick up on a dead end street. I planned where I parked to be able to back the trailer up and return the way I entered. I picked up an empty coop of our renters turned full-time chicken keepers! They built a great coop on their urban homestead and no longer needed our rental coop. As I was moving the coop to the trailer, I stepped over one of their pumpkins growing outside of the designated pumpkin patch along the fence! I loaded up the coop, said my goodbyes, and backed up PERFECTLY on my first attempt to get turned around. I moved the shifter from reverse to drive only to feel like either my tire was spinning or that I was in neutral. The next few steps are fuzzy. I looked behind my phone to see that I was indeed in neutral on the display so I put my phone back in place and moved the shifter back one down to drive. Same sound so I switched from 2WD to 4WD. No difference. I put it in park to start again. Then I could not move it out of park and the display still said neutral.
Ack. Where's Phil? Jury duty of course! Ack. He wouldn't have been able to walk me through fixing it but he could have helped figure out what to do next.
I called the handiest guy we know: Lee. He didn't answer so I sent a text. I called my sister who is married to the second handiest guy I know: Bill. He calls my sister every day at the same time on his lunch break so I was hoping he could call me instead. No dice. He had a working lunch that day provided by his work. Ack. LEE CALLED BACK! With some trouble shooting and with him explaining to me of what to look for under the Chevy which took some convincing. The Chevy feels tall when trying to climb in and out of us but it didn't feel so tall when I was trying to scootch my chubby self under there on an incline! Turns out, somewhere between the shifter and the actual mechanism to shift, it was broken. The Chevy was definitely in neutral as I troubleshooted that as well. I'm very thankful that the emergency brake works! After being under the Chevy while talking through my headset to Lee, I found the part that was no longer connected and found the part I needed to move to put it into drive with the Chevy turned off and the emergency brake on. Hallelujah! Ironic, it took him 15 minutes and two phone calls to walk me through what he originally said was likely the problem in his first text message response to me. Certainly I gave him an great description in my initial text message but to be able to diagnosis it accurately just from there... AMAZING! The renter knew I was trouble shooting and offered to help if I needed her help. It was time to ask for her help. I needed her inside the Chevy with her foot on the brake while the engine was on for me to move the mechanism from neutral to drive with the engine on. Once I was out from under (for like my 15th time!), she made sure the emergency brake was on, removed her foot from the brake, the Chevy stayed still, and we traded spots. From there, I couldn't stop anywhere without someone holding the brake for me so I could shift gears again. No stopping at the third stop. No stopping for gas. No stopping unless I was at home or at a dealership to see if they could fix it. Talk about pressure! By then.. I was starving! I had already finished my small snack.
I talked to Lee again. We decided that it was best to find a dealership to see if they could fix it on a Friday afternoon rather than risking driving on the highway and have it pop out of drive causing the steering wheel to lock while pulling a trailer. Ack. The other option was to call for a tow truck (which we can utilize through one of our memberships) but then have to bring the RV back into Pittsburgh to pick up the trailer that has chickens on it! Ack. I pulled off to the side of the street with my foot still on the brake enjoyed the incredible view of Mt Washington to find the closest Chevy Dealership. It was 13 minutes away. Whew!
Upon arriving, I called to say "I'm in the parking lot. My vehicle is stuck in drive. I see a woman looking out the window on the phone. I waved saying "I'm in the SUV with RENT THE CHICKEN.COM on the side. Do you see me?" hahahaha She could see me and said she'd send someone out. Meanwhile, I felt like I was in the waiting room of the ER. People were coming and going. One guy was brought in by Ambulance (aka tow truck) with a flat tire. He was fixed up and well on his way before someone finally came out to see me after another phone call to inside. Meanwhile, I'm baking in the sun with a foot cramp while still holding the brake in! The tow truck driver did offer to 'fix it" for me from underneath. I assured him that I knew how to "fix it" that way too but that didn't help me if I had to drive away! At any rate, not before looking at the chickens did a few employees come out to make a plan. Turns out, they could fix it, had the part, and it would only take about two hours. The downside... they quoted $350! That was a better option than getting towed, trying to get back out to get the chickens and trailer, only to find out that our usual mechanic likely couldn't get to it for a few days anyway. I decided to stay. The mechanic said "I can get some ramps to get under to put it in park. I said "Why don't you just keep your foot on the brake while I unhook the trailer then you can drive it to where ever you need it to be!" I've been known to call myself a problem solver a timer or two in my day :)
I enjoyed a nice lunch (and dessert!) at Eat N Park while they fixed the Chevy. I still managed to pick up the third coop and it turned out to be Phil's final day of jury duty. I learned how to shift gears from underneath! I hope I don't ever need to use that skill again! Shout out to God for keeping me sane, Lee, and the staff at Jim Crivelli's Service Department in McKees Rocks, PA!
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