An Atypical Day

And thank goodness it wasn't typical.  So many things don't need to be repeated.

Rich has one of those emergency type phones the government gives out to people who can't afford modern smart phones. As a downside, mostly it works - at least so far as Rich had worked with it - via some wi-fi system. So I guess one better have their emergencies near public hot spots. I hope 911 calls have a better instant connection, but he hasn't needed to try that out yet.

My sleep patterns are... uh... interesting these days. Often I wake  up around 3 or 4, get up for a couple hours until I feel sleepy again, and return to bed. While I was up this morning, and Steve had gone to bed, his phone gave the beep that means he's getting a text. I ignore them for two reasons: I don't text myself so don't know how to access them, and even if they weren't private, they mostly are junk texts or from another sleep-deprived friend. It beeped about three times, and I made a mental note to let him know once we were together and awake. Neither of us does a good job of checking our phones periodically to see what we've missed unless we have a good reason.

A bit after I returned to bed, and hadn't quite fallen asleep yet, I heard my phone ringing across the house. It was 5-ish, and that usually means my Minnesota friend is calling, either having trouble with our sudden two hour difference , ot thinking this is one of my early mornings. I just called her yesterday, but she had company. She promised to call me last night but it didn't happen. No real problem, but I just wanted her to know I cared to reach out and see how her brand new job was going. The net result of that 2 second reflection on who likely was calling, and the need to cross the house to find a hangup instead of getting back to sleep, meant I didn't pursue it. I also forgot about it for hours.

It was after 8 when I mentioned to Steve he had some texts. It turned out they were important. Rich sent them. His bike had broken down (flat tire we later found out) and he need Steve to tell me to go to his friend's house, the friend with the really big pickup, to come rescue him, his bike, its trailer, and its huge load, at a specific intersection. 

There were problems with that request. I don't know where his friend's house is. I have been there, but don't know the address. Besides, the friend was by this hour likely busy working on other people's tax returns, and not available to do a rescue. I did call and left voicemail with Rich's request. At 4PM, I haven't gotten a call back.

Another problem was I was unable to reach Rich with a call back for more details. What happened? How worried should Steve and I be? Which quadrant of that intersection should I look for Rich in? I had after all determined by then, at least partly due to the hours of cold rainy weather he was stranded out in, to drive myself there to see what I could do, even if it was only to provide a very warm and dry seat for a bit. I knew he was on his bicycle, and would be towing a trailer he'd build especially to use with his bike for hauling things, even a person, around in. His need for a large pickup might be mitigated if he could unload some of whatever was on the trailer into my hatch. Despite not having breakfast or coffee yet, I popped in the car as soon as I was dressed for the weather and took off. I'd left him a voicemail, and had Steve text him, to inform him I was on the way.

There was no response.  I went anyway. It was an intersection I knew how to find. 

Once there, I found a major intersection with a stop light. Three corners were heavily commercial and one had a large apartment complex. I looped here and there through them, looking for any sign of Rich or bike. After fifteen minutes of that, I left him another voicemail, letting him know where I called from, and which way I was  heading home from there as the most likely way he'd try to trek back home, looking for him all the way.

Nada. 

A while after returning, I got a call from him. He confirmed one of our early guesses, that he hadn't charged his phone enough to be able to call back. That was fixed. And yes, now he'd gotten my voicemails. No, he hadn't heard from his friend either. But he was fine, inside, warm and dry. I heard a female voice in the background. Since he indicated his location was over a mile (further away!) from the intersection he'd originally called from, I presumed he'd found a bit of a rescue. 

I asked what I could do. He needed a replacement bike tire. It was currently on the front wheel of a bike in the back yard, and he proceeded to direct me to the location of his crescent wrenches, with instructions of how to remove the wheel so I could bring both wheel and wrench to his new location.  I told him 'd see if I could take the wheel off, and call him back. My muscles aren't what they used to be.

It was unexpectedly easy. Those nuts were not tight! We arranged the location to meet, only this time I asked for a landmark to meet him at. He gave me a grocery store and which quadrant of the intersection it was in. Back in the car I went, this time with the dog along. She wasn't included the first trip since I had no idea whether there would be any room in the car if I were bringing some of Rich's stuff back. The original plan from this call was that he'd direct me to where his bike was, but instead he just asked for the wheel and wrench. I did him a bit better, including the washers and nuts which came off the wheel I brought. He seemed pleasantly surprised that I brought them. I simply had assumed that not every bicycle tire axel was identical and it was a good idea to know they fit.

I got home for breakfast by 11. Rich just showed up, almost 5 hours later. It was a ten mile trip. Must have been either some very nice company connected with his rescue, or one hellacious load to haul back.