Starting the New Year with a Bang

We were both awakened by it - our room swaying like a raft on turbulent waters.

"Earthquake!" I told my wife in an insouciant manner. It was 4:01 am. We really intended to wake up early so that we could be back to our home in Quezon City before dusk, but not this early and certainly not with this kind of wake-up call. 

We rose from our slumber, showered and then dressed up for the long trip home. I loaded our luggage into our car while Cynthia went to the hotel desk to check-out. Soon we were off, leaving the beautiful city of Laoag. Around six in the morning we started to feel our stomachs grumbling. We looked for the fast food joints - Jollibee or McDonalds  - from every big town and city that we passed through. None were open! Because it was new year's day, these eating places decided to give their employees time off so they could celebrate the holiday with their families.

More than three hours later we entered the city of San Fernando, the capital of La Union province. Again, both McDonalds and Jollibees were closed. Then we passed by a Pancake House restaurant and they were open! I did a quick u-turn, parked the car and hurriedly got in. There were only a few customers and just a single server. Her name was Cass. So it was Cass only at that restaurant on New Year's Day. My wife and I ordered the same thing - ham and cheese omelet and coffee (regular for her, decaf for me). No omelet tasted this good and the servings were quite huge that we weren't able to finish all of our food.

Our hunger satisfied, we moved on. I was cruising smoothly on the National Road enjoying the fact that there were only a few tricycles and motorcyclists impeding our progress. After negotiating a gravel portion between asphalted roads, I heard a grinding noise and a bang and our car slowed considerably and then stopped. Through sheer effort and multiple attempts I was able to move it to the concrete shoulder. At first I thought we had a flat but when I checked, all four tires were OK. I got back to the driver's seat and shifted the gear to drive - the car won't budge. I tried the second and third gears, still no progress. I tried the reverse and it moved! I stopped and parked the car on the shoulder again. I got out and looked under the chassis to see if there were any telltale signs of transmission breakdown. As far as I can tell, nada. I gave Cynthia the number of our insurance provider and she called them immediately. While she was being transferred to a local tow company I walked along the shoulder and saw a huge bolt. I don't know what prompted me to pick it up but I did.

Cynthia negotiated with the tow company. To their credit they promised to send along a mechanic to see if he could fix the trouble on the spot. We were advised that they would be coming from the town of Aringay, roughly 11 kilometers away. About two hours later (they had to wait for the mechanic who explained to us later that he was up in the mountains earlier that day) they came. After doing some tests on the transmission the mechanic concluded that that was not the problem. He was mulling things over when an "aha!" moment came. He saw that the brake mechanism on the right front wheel was loose. They (the tow truck driver was helping him) took out the tire and then showed me the reason why - one of the bolts connecting the mechanism to the wheel was missing. 

the part of the brake that gets stuck to the tire rim

the missing bolt

He was already saying that they may have to go back to town to get a replacement (and not even sure if any auto shops were open it being New Year's day) when I showed him the bolt I picked up from the street earlier. He was surprised. "That's exactly the part I needed!" he exclaimed with understandable incredibility. "Now we need a washer" he continued. Again, to go to town to buy a washer with the uncertainty of seeing an open auto shop weighed upon us. Then Dado, the mechanic, had an idea. He took out the washer from one of the levers from the tow truck, tried it on the brake mechanism and voila! It fit!

Several minutes later, Dado assured us that our car was now good to go all the way to Manila. We thanked him and the truck driver profusely. The fee quoted over the phone by the tow company manager was P1,500 which we thought was very reasonable. We gave both of them a generous tip as well.

The rest of the trip was thankfully uneventful. Cynthia and I did not even bother to have lunch because 1) Our breakfast was really heavy, 2) the breaking down of our car made us a little bit tense and therefore did not make us hungry or 3) a combination of both.

It may not be the best first day of the year for us - for some it may even be construed as an omen of things to come - but still we were thankful. When our car broke down I was not really, really worried - sure there were some anxious moments - but overall somehow I just had the feeling that things will turn out right. Why I even picked up that bolt was a question that still lingers in my mind. That Dado was smart to improvise was a definite positive to this seemingly bad circumstance.

Our new year might have started with a literal bang but our faith in God's promises to be with us at all times gives us the comfort and assurance that the rest of the year will be more than just fine. It will be a great 2014 for us.