Just When You Think it Can't Get Any Colder...

Just when you think it can't get any colder it does. I thought life changed at -40. Well it's even more different (?) at -60. The ice fog is so crazy thick right now!! But only in the populated areas. Out by my cabin it's clear as a bell. Not enough people and animals around to put enough moisture in the air to create the fog. TMI alert. For those with a weak stomach you may want to skip to the next paragraph. Yes, even in the -60 temps, I went poo in the outhouse this morning! Thankfully I came out of it in tact with all my parts in working order. Nothing froze. ;-)

So yesterday was probably the toughest day I've had in AK. A friend asked a couple of weeks ago if he could stay the night at my cabin and if I could give him a ride to Delta Junction. It's about 100 miles from Fairbanks. He offered to pay for gas. I said sure why not. His flight ended up not getting in until 1am Saturday morning. Apparently the door on the plane froze shut and it took them a bit to get it open so it took forever to get the luggage.

When I woke up yesterday morning, I took Clara in to get groomed. She was looking very bad but I didn't want her to freeze so I let her hair grow out a bit and it got too much. Anyway after I dropped her off I went back out to the cabin to pick up my friend to head to Delta. As we started off to town, my transmission started acting funny. It was shifting weird. I thought it was the fluid being really cold or something. It dropped into second gear and would not shift up or down. As I got on the Parks Hwy and headed toward town the Overdrive light started flashing. I got off the Parks Hwy at Chena Pump Road and when I got to the stop light the transmission gave up. It would not engage. Not even in reverse. Nothing. Luckily I was on the far right, relatively out of the way. I put my hazard lights on and called Ford's Roadside Assistance. It's free while under warranty. My car is an 07 with only 13k miles on it so it is still very much under warranty.

So I call Roadside Assistance. After 10 minutes of going through their prompts (you think I'm exaggerating but I'm not) I finally get a person. I tell him right off I'm stuck in an intersection, it's -50 and I need help IMMEDIATELY!! He says he has to ask questions first...UGH!! Ten minutes later (again you think I"m exaggerating) he finally gets around to asking what the problem is, do I need a tow truck, do I need the police, etc. I'm biting my tongue as I try to calmly explain the situation. He puts me on hold.

Meanwhile a car pulls up behind me and sits through three cycles of the traffic light. Finally the woman gets out and walks up to me. She asks: "Is there a problem?" "Yes, my car broke down, the transmission won't work, I can't move." "You really should indicate that to others." "Um, that what my emergency hazard lights are doing!!!" "Oh, I just thought you had them on just because." She walked off in a huff. Could she have been more clueless?!

Roadside assistance comes back on the phone. He says that apparently we are having some extreme weather or something (DUH!! What doesn't he understand about it being -50??) and that it would be 4-6 HOURS before a tow truck could get there. He asks if I want to keep the call for the tow truck or cancel it. What kind of a freaking stupid ass question is that?!?! KEEP IT!!!

Then he asks: "Have you made an appointment with the Ford dealership? Are they expecting you?" To which I reply that well, I hadn't really scheduled my car to break down so I did not have the forethought to call them to set up and emergency appointment to fix my my car so, NO THEY AREN'T EXPECTING ME!!!!!!! He advised me that I needed to call them to let them know. Fine I can do that.

I called Ford. Their service dept is closed on weekends. Of course it is. I got their Quick Lane which does oil changes and such. I told the woman what was going on she said the tow company would know the drill that I just needed to give her my keys when it was dropped off. I asked her about a loaner car. She said they didn't have any but she'd put me on the list for when one was available. I asked what I could do until then and she said I should probably rent a car. Fine. Do any of the companies direct bill Ford? Not that she knew of. Would have to submit the bill and hope they reimbursed. WHAT?!?! I told her I would appreciate it if while I waited for the tow truck that she find out what I was supposed to do. She said well I just told you what you were supposed to do. We weren't getting anywhere. I'm in a freaking intersection, it's -50, and no one seems to really care. UGH I hung up with her.

I called Danielle and she said she'd come pick us up. She gave me a roadside assistance kit for my car for Christmas. I loved it. She thought I'd think it was cheesy or stupid but the geeky bus driver in me loved it. I knew it had the reflective triangles in it so I was going to put them up behind my car and just leave it there until the tow truck came. Danielle said she'd take me to a place to get a rental car so I could get around. And then I'd be able to meet the tow truck when they worked their way to me. I was #13 on their list.

While we wait for Danielle a truck stopped right next to me and it died. They had to wait for someone to come jump start their truck. I guess this was a bad corner. Several people did stop to make sure we were ok, that we had heat and weren't freezing. Thank goodness for nice people.

Danielle got there and I cracked open my roadside kit to get the flares and I saw that there was a tow strap in there!! I felt like I had hit the lottery!!! Danielle was able to tow me out of the intersection and into a parking lot. I called the tow company to let them know where my car was. They said it would probably be only an hour until they could pick it up. Sweet!!

I went and got the rental. No four wheel drives or all wheel drives available, just a front wheel drive. Whatever, I'll take it!! Only one company had cars, one wasn't renting due to the cold weather and the others were out. I was just thankful to have a car. When I drove out of the parking lot I realized just how wonderful my Escape is!!! The car spun and barely made it out of the parking lot!! I didn't realize the roads were slick. That may sound stupid but I never slid in my Escape. I think it's a combination of the awesome Blizzak tires on it and the car itself. It is amazing up here. Today I was able to actually exchange the car for one that is all wheel drive. What a difference!!

Ok, back to the story. I went and picked up Clara from the groomer. I was going to get her after I got back from Delta but it would be too late by then and she was ready. When I got there the girl was like, you went to Delta and back already?! I told her that no, my car had broken down. She felt bad and didn't want to charge me for the grooming! How awesome is that! I told her not to worry that it was under warranty so I should be ok.

After I got back in the car, the tow company called and said they were on their way. I drove over and met them and driver was super nice. He told me I didn't need to go with him to drop it off, that he knew the routine and he would hand deliver my keys to the Quick Lane at the dealership. That was cool. After he left I called the Quick Lane and apologized to the lady for being snotty earlier. She laughed and said not to worry, she completely understood. I let her know that the car was on the way.

So next I took Clara over to Missy's. I didn't want her to be with me in case I broke down. I would feel terrible if something happened to her because of that so I dropped her off.

Backstepping a little bit, remember my friend is with me. He's kind of freaking out because he needs to get to Delta to work Sunday night. I was trying several different things to help him out. I knew of a shuttle service. The owner and I drive for one of the tour companies so I called him. He said he'd do it for $200! Yikes!! I called a cab company and they said it would be $300!! Is everyone up here an opportunist? UGH!! Then I remembered that Danielle and Sonja would be driving through Delta today on their way out to CA. I asked Danielle and she said she'd be more than willing to give him a ride. Well, he wanted to get there on Saturday. he was tired, just wanted to be there. Well, I did commit to giving him a ride so whatever. At 1pm we headed out to Delta.

When we got there he topped off my tank and that's it. He didn't offer any cash for the trip back to Fairbanks. Nor did he offer to buy me a coffee, lunch, anything. He inconvenienced me and not that I was expecting anything, he didn't even offer. I was extremely hurt and felt very used. Had I have been in his position, I would have gone the next day is it would have inconvenienced everyone the least. I would have also offered more money for gas, bought lunch, etc. But with him, nothing. To his defense it did take him 24 hrs to get up to AK. He was very tired and out of it. I'll see if he does try to offer anything after he's rested up. But I'll tell you I will not do anything to help him again. My friends are extremely pissed at him and want to give him a piece of their mind. Whatever. It's done and over. I did see six moose on the drive and it was a pretty day. The second pic I took was on the drive. It's an overlook looking out over the frozen Tanana River and the Alaska Range in the distance. The sun was setting and it was absolutely gorgeous out. (BTW it was about 3pm or so, the sun is still setting pretty early here.)

So thus ended my most challenging day yet. Today is a much better day. I got the all wheel drive car and it makes a huge difference. I'm staying at Danielle's condo while she's gone so I have indoor plumbing. :-) No more pooping in the outhouse at -62. :-)