So Long Sandy: 287,000 Miles & Counting

It was a Friday & we were headed to Kilowatt in Kearny Mesa for our first setup there.  Traffic was bad on the freeways, so the plan was to cut through Clairemont on the surface streets.  

Kate had the directions on her phone all ready, but Sandy (my truck) was not having it.  Her gas pedal suddenly lost all power, but fortunately I was able to coast off to the side of Morena Blvd.  We pushed it from there a few more feet into a parking lot of a Circle K.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked.

"I'm not sure, let me take a look."  I popped the hood & tried to restart it several times to no avail.  I even asked a few passersby if they had any idea what it could be, but they to seemed baffled.

"I'll call AAA & have them tow it to our house.  I'm sure all the garages are closed for the day by now," I said.

"I can't get ahold of Kilowatt, I tried texting but no response," Kate said.  "Oh, I know-  I'll just walk over to Coronado.  I can use their WIFI to message them on Facebook."

"There ya go.  You got your car keys?" I asked.  "I'll just unload everything from my truck into your car & then pick you up over at Coronado."

I'm sure it didn't sound quite as smooth as that.   I tend to get pissed off in situations where some piece of equipment fails on me.  But, the lesson here is to keep your cool & that in business you have to be able to think quick on your feet.  It's a valuable skill for anyone really.

Kate & I were able to right the wrong of my truck breaking down that day.  We showed up about two hours later than we were expected to & the good people there were OK with it.   Sales that night were so-so & we never did pop-up there again but, we learned a big lesson from the whole experience.

It was time for Sandy to retire.  My '92 GMC Sonoma was no longer dependable enough for doing Mad Munch.  We switched to Estelle, Kate's '07 Ford Escape & everything fit in there just fine.

I got my truck fixed & ended up selling it via Craigslist & parking it on Sunset Cliffs Blvd. with a hand written sign about two months later.  The girl who bought it for $1200 was moving to Maine with her dog & said it would be cheaper to buy my truck than to rent a U-Haul.  Now, I imagine Sandy sliding through the snow somewhere in the Northeast- a beach truck on a permanent vacation.