I was on my iPhone when the car-dashboard lights started flashing. Hmmmm….OK. Off the phone, and pull to the side of the road. I turn the car off, figuring that I can restart, and the lights will self-correct. Whoops. Bad mistake. The car doesn’t restart. 

It is now 2:30PM and I’m on the side of the road on Route 66, near route 50. Rush hour is about to kick into high gear and I’m forty miles from home. Are you kidding me? All I was trying to do way surprise Cathy and get home early.

I call the first tow truck company – no one available right now. Call the next one – they can be there in 60 minutes. OK, we’ll go with that.  I call Pohankas Lexus, which is only about 5 miles away. Yes, they can fit me in, and they work until 11PM at night. Suddenly, a VDOT truck shows up behind me, puts on his flashers, and puts out traffic cones. Things are looking a bit better.

The tow truck, driven by Sid the biker, actually gets there in 1/2 an hour. Sid hooks up the car, shows me a neat trick to get the car to come out of park and go into neutral, and we are on our way to Pohankas.

Sid drops me off at in processing at Pohankas, while he drops the car in the back. Vernon, the Pohankas guy, checks me in, and takes my info. While he is getting the info, I take a break, go outside, and pay Sid, and give him a tip. I mean, come on, it’s now been 35 minutes since my car broke down, and I’m already at the local Lexus garage.

Vernon finishes in processing me, and asks if I want to wait, or take a loaner car. I tell him a loaner car would be great. He’s going to give me another SUV, but I ask “don’t you have something sportier?”. He says sure, and gives me a Lexus IS300 Sport, with 4,100 miles on it.

I’m back on the road at about 4PM, stop at the Merry Moo store in Marshall to pick up some fresh fish, and am actually home just after 5PM, only about an hour and a half hours after I originally planned to be home. This. Is. Amazing.

Later, Cath and I have a drink, and then make dinner. Salmon with a mustard/dill sauce. Split a bottle of wine, and relax. After dinner, we watch some bad TV.

At 9:45, my phone rings. It’s my buddy Vernon, from Pohankas. A bad battery, and they need to tighten the alternator belt. Oh, and the Lexus has three safety recalls that need to be done. No charge for those, and if I don’t mind, they’ll take care of those as well. Go for it.

It’s now 10PM. I lost an hour and a half today, I’m out about $400, including the tow charge, which USAA, my insurance company will reimburse me, and I had the chance to drive a new Lexus.  

What could have been a pretty bad afternoon/evening, turned out pretty good. I’ve certainly had worse Fridays. I’ll take it.