We are often faced with making wise decisions that carry the promise of reward and the risk of failure.
A Senior couple from Whitewater Region made a decision that was both promising and and…oops…OK…failure.
Visiting friends in St. Catharine’s recently and scheduled to return the day of the huge snowstorm forecasted for that Monday, they wisely decided to leave on the Sunday to stay ahead of it. It meant a rush to get everything taken care of in just one day instead of two but they did it.
They were on the road the next morning at 9 am, including their two dogs. Dogo, a 90-pound Mastiff puppy (wearing a diaper because she was in heat) and Toby, a miniature Spaniel.
Their first rest stop was at a huge truck complex in Napanee, for gas, and a bite to eat. First however, they stopped near an access of wild grass to exercise and relieve the dogs. Dogo without his proper collar, dragged Mr. M. around as if he was a straw man. Finally, back to the car, cold and weary.
Where is the Fob?!
Panic sets in! Mr. M. most likely dropped it while in the grass being towed around by Dogo! The search began, an hour goes by, no luck, so they tore the car apart, both inside and the trunk. Still no luck!
I suppose most people might have both Fob’s with them on such a trip but not Mr. M. He lost the other one a few years back.
He phoned CAA. He was on hold for nearly an hour and finally transferred to leave a message. He phoned back and this time got a live person. He had premium status which would cover the distance to home but it took one-half hour to verify. Even if the CAA vehicle could have managed the drive home with the four of them, it was nay! Covid ruled that out. The CAA agent suggested, “Wait the 2-hour delay inside the restaurant.” Mr. M. shot back, “The restaurant is closed and they don’t allow dogs in the building”! So now the car is home base… and cold……and getting colder……and still searching for the fob.
Next Mr. M. called a friend in Pembroke who agreed to be there in about 2-hours, having to use Mrs. M’s phone as his had died.
The Pembroke guy finally arrived driving a beat-up old van that didn’t look very roadworthy. And only a front seat and a chair in the back! The Whitewater couple thought, surely not another problem to encounter?
Both the van and the tow truck left in tandem at 6 pm, 5-hours after arriving. The front seat was for Mrs. M. and Toby. Mr. M. was assigned to the back, sitting in a rickety lawn chair, unsecured, prevented from toppling over only by hanging tightly onto his dog, the chair shifting more so on every curve. To make matters worse, big Dogo blocked most of the minimal heat there was from reaching Mr. M.
Mr. M. thought to himself, “If we have to brake hard, I will sail right out the front windshield so far that the cops would charge me with leaving the scene of an accident.” They finally arrived home at 9 pm. Was this excursion a two-dog night rather than a three dog one?
Monday the snow came in torrents, blanketing Ontario with 40 to 60 cm. of snow. Mr. M. phoned the dealer about getting a new Fob. “You have to bring your car into us first”, the rep said. It was four days later before he could arrange another tow to the dealer. Another 4 days and the dealer is still waiting on parts for the new Fob and then find a programmer to initialize it. Even at (gulp) $500 a fob, Mr. M. wisely ordered two of them.
Their cost seemed like highway robbery except in this instance – highway fobbery.
The Whitewater Region couple’s decision unfortunately badly backfired. Maybe they should have waited out the snowstorm in St. Catharine’s!
