Car Troubles. Again...

You might remember my post from a while back, when I went with Sandi to the airport to pick up Adán and we had car trouble on the way home.  Well, Sandi had car trouble two weeks later when she was returning from the airport again.  And, the trouble was basically the same thing as the day I was with her: some issue that makes the truck act like it has no power, even when it’s floored.  It just gets slower and slower and slower, struggling to climb the mountains until it pretty much can’t go anymore.

In the past month or so, the car has been in the shop more than it’s been out, trying to get the issue resolved.  Every time we think it’s fixed, it turns out that it isn’t.  Monday was no different.

When Sandi and I were returning from Tegucigalpa, we had major car trouble again.  Only this time we had passengers.  While in the mountains near Tegus, in the construction zones, a young man told Sandi that he and his friends were from Comayagua and came out each day to sell their stuff on the road.  He asked if we could give them a lift to Comayagua, if we were going that far.  Sandi said, “sure”, and motioned for the kids to hop in the back of the truck.  Within 30 seconds, we had 4 teenagers and their wares in the paila (the back of the pickup truck).

All was well for a while, but by the time we reached Zambrano, the truck was really struggling. Sandi and I were praying that we’d make it home safely and without incident.  A few minutes later, we were going downhill, and the truck did much better.  But, like all good things, the downhill ended and we were heading upward again.  The engine whined and sputtered as if it were gasping for its last breath.  Really.  That’s what it sounded like.  It was as if the car was out of gas, which it wasn’t, and was pulsing ahead, trying to drain every last drop of life from the gas tank.

At one point, Sandi just stopped by the side of the road and we waited for a few minutes, which seemed to help some.  We continued on, but we both knew we were limping.  I called Trifi and told him what was going on and asked him to be prepared to come get us if it got worse.

It got worse.  We ended up pulling off the road less than 500 meters from where the base (Soto Cano Air Base) started.  I called Trifi again and he started the process of coming to get us and being prepared to tow the truck.

The guys in the back of the truck all added their two cents as to what they thought was happening.  Most of them thought we were out of gas, which we assured them we weren’t.  It turns out that the kids knew Sandi.  They said, “You’re from Enlaces, aren’t you?”  Sandi said, “yes”.  The oldest boy said, “I don’t see you there much anymore.”  Sandi replied with, “Well, I live there and I’m there all the time.”  With that, the young man admitted that it had been a while since he’s been to the Center.  He asked about Hector, and Sandi said, “Hmmm, it’s been a really long time since you’ve been to Enlaces.  Hector has been gone for about a year and a half and we have a new director.”  He admitted that, yes, it’s been quite a while.  Sandi encouraged him and his friends to come on out again and see what’s happening at the Center.  She also invited them to participate in one of the Bible studies that take place here.

After a while of waiting for Trifi and Alex, the boys decided that they were going to try their own luck to get to Comayagua.  Within about 30 seconds of their decision, they were able to flag down a passing bus and I’m sure that they were in town in about 10 or 15 minutes.  We were only about 10km from home.

Sandi and I sat there in the dark, waiting for Trifi.  It didn’t take long.  Thankfully.  Sandi decided to try to drive home because by now, the car would have cooled off, or whatever, and the power would be restored.  I really thought we were dealing with some kind of electrical problem, based on some of the symptoms.

As you may have already guessed, Sandi was able to drive the truck home with only a little difficulty.  I had switched and gone with Alex in his truck so that Trifi could ride with Sandi and hopefully experience enough of the problem to be able to accurately relay the info to the mechanic.

The truck is back.  Again.  I guess only a long drive, like to Tegucigalpa or San Pedro Sula, will let us know if it’s really fixed.  It seems to do just fine around town and even to distances like Siguatepeque.

It sure would be great, though, to have reliable cars.  But where would our faith be?