Part 3: A Snake-Bit Jonah

In my understanding of sailing lore, picked up from all of the best sailing movies, when a person is considered unlucky they are called a “Jonah”. In the movie westerns they are considered “Snake-Bit”. When the delivery truck started making a bad noise on my very last Muirhead delivery trip of the year (December 21st) I knew that my presence in the truck was at fault as I am truly a “Snake-Bit Jonah" when it comes to engines this year.

This Muirhead delivery trip was to Lakeview in South Central Oregon, on the California border, with stops along the way. I was just south of Bend when the engine started making a noise that I first thought was an exhaust leak. I pulled over to check everything and make a few phone calls. One call was to a friend who had lived in Bend years ago. I asked him if he had any friends in the area who were diesel mechanics. Amazingly, he did, so I placed a phone call to his friend, Travis, who was a mechanic for ODOT. Travis talked me through a few things and suggested maybe a head gasket leak was a possibility. With this information I called the Isuzu dealership to find out what a head gasket repair would cost. The estimate was about $6,000.00 - I was amazed by this number. The trick was it would cost $2-$3,000 just to get the truck towed to the dealership in Portland. At this point I decided the truck was a total loss if there was anything seriously wrong with the engine. So I decided to drive a little farther on the leaking exhaust theory as I had another mechanic listen to the truck and he agreed it was probably in the exhaust. Within 10 miles it was clear there was a major problem with the engine and I shut it down on the side of the road. I had Abigail, at our office, call the final 8 customer stops (for the year) to let them know that I couldn’t deliver their orders before Christmas.

A Christmas Miracle of Kindness

I know what you are thinking “here goes another one of Russell’s tales of woe- why doesn’t this guy get a nice corporate job and stop all of this complaining.” Well then aren’t you surprised to learn that this is a story about the kindness of strangers. Travis, the ODOT mechanic, came down after work to where I was stopped and listened to the truck. His diagnosis was “something is broken deep inside the engine.” We transferred all the fruit from the back of the delivery truck into the back of his pickup and headed for his house. Not only did Travis feed me dinner but he gave me a room to sleep in for the night. Not only did Travis give me dinner and a bed but he also let me use his pickup the next day to finish the deliveries.

This is really a miracle of human kindness, for all Travis knew I would continue to Reno and lose his truck in a Bingo tournament. I didn’t go to Reno but I did go to Lakeview, via Silver Lake and Christmas Valley. Everyone was grateful to receive their fruit and I made it back to Bend late on the afternoon of the 22nd. Travis really was a friend to someone in need.

It warmed my heart when a few days later I heard from my last customer stop of the year:

Merry Christmas to you and your family! May the Lord continue to bless you with health and prosperity at home and in the business. I also have a thank you. You had a broken down truck in the Bend area and were not going to deliver to Lakeview. I voiced frustration because my children’s families are a great distance and I had ordered peach cases for them for Christmas and I had a person coming that could do delivery for them over the holidays. Thank you for miraculously getting the cases to me in a timely fashion. I deeply appreciate it. Mavis

I am grateful to Travis for trusting a stranger, as because of his kindness Mavis and her grandchildren had a better Christmas.

2023 will be a great year if for no other reason then there are only a few more engines that could possibly break. I am working with a counselor to get past my broken engine PTSD. Just kidding, okay about the counselor not the PTSD :)