All in all this summer has been rather beautiful around here. Certainly the coolest I can remember, until this last week. Weather is critical to Multiple Sclerosis outings and for whatever reason the steamy hot “dog days of summer” have wandered into September. Stay in air conditioning with the least possible transfers has been the best of possible themes.
Though, I personally had an interesting ‘dog days’ experience.
Friday evening I was driving in the Potomac, MD area and our Taurus station wagon suddenly stopped running. It was operating perfectly until that moment. Fortunately, I was alone so I did not need to worry about Patti or Megan as passengers, but I did need to concern myself that I was 100 miles from home.
Forever, I have had AAA Membership. When Megan started driving I upgraded to AAA PLUS Family because it includes so many free tows a year up to 100 miles per tow. … If you draw a circle on a map with a 100 mile radius from your home that is a HUGE coverage area. It is both comforting as a parent and a driver.
IF I had to pay out of pocket for the tow it would have cost $495 to be towed home from where my car broke down. If I had it towed to an unknown shop near where it broke down and had to rent a car or hotel room and return later this week to pick it up, costs quickly would have approached towing. Yet because I had AAA PLUS and my home was 99.95 miles <grin> from where it broke down it all cost me nothing!
… and of course, as soon as the Taurus wagon was chauffeured home on the back of a truck it started right up. <grin>
Caregivingly Yours, Patrick Leer
Boy, thank goodness you were within the .05 of the 100 miles!! <grin> Talk about luck!! You just never know when you're going to need a tow, do you?? I just hate it when I do!
ReplyDeleteTake care!
Jackie
............don't you just love road service! Isn't that always the way...usually if I have something which stops, if a man come up and does the same thing I did it will work, start, or function properly! LOL Well the van needed "respite"! Take care!
ReplyDeleteYour experience came pretty close to the limit!! Sometimes when we have to deal with a breakdown like that, the only blessing is that no one is in the car with us. With AAA, you can get your car towed to your favorite car repair shop, and something much closer to home, if not home itself, as you did. Before I purchased AAA card, I'd call my husband and he'd drive out to wherever I was, fix the problem if he could, then he'd drive the crippled car home to fix it properly. That was so long ago. After I started going to school (late nineties), my vehicle broke down twice in one week. Both times he was at work. Both times I had to call a local towing service and pay for it out of pocket. Each time close to $50. That's when I bought AAA, and so glad I did. Now, if and when my car breaks down, I just call them and they always arrive within 10-20 minutes of my call. I think of it as insurance. If you have the card, even if you never have to use it, it's worth it to keep trouble at bay... if you only have to use it once a year, the card has paid for itself. But if you don't have such a towing service membership, your car will break down more than once. Murphy's Law? A few years ago, I had a breakdown, about 5 miles from home, and when the car was finally sitting in my driveway, I got in and gave it a turn... sure enough, it started right up. Oh, yeah, it was a Taurus too! But I love the Taurus... we bought a new car about two years ago...it's a Taurus also ... they are very reliable for the most part, imo. Have a good day! bea
ReplyDeletewhat a great service:) have a good week:) maybe it had a vapor lock
ReplyDeleteDeb
Doesn't it figure. We used to have AAA and want to get it again. Its a wonderful service.
ReplyDeleteJulie
cars are funny creatures!
ReplyDeleteThe weather was funky here as well. This week it's finally getting cooler with a week of rain predicted. We could seriously use it. It's been a dry, uncomfortable summer in NY. I've heard about the benefits of AAA. I'm going to get Doc to check it out. We have an old truck it would seriously work for us. We go on road trips quite a bit. (Hugs) Indigo
ReplyDeleteALS hates heat too! Thank goodness for triple A but what a horror that could have been. Of course it started...ARGH!
ReplyDeleteHUGS
Tammy