Touch-A-Truck 2017

Today was the Touch-A-Truck show. This is a free public event in which people get to see, climb inside of and basically "touch" trucks they don't usually get access to. The trash truck, mail truck and fire engine are popular mainstays but this year they also included the police SWAT truck as well as a major police riot vehicle. Trevor was too tired from work to go so I just took Jesse. He was mainly interested in the police and military vehicles. He also could not stay away from the big Pepsi truck. He kept going back to that one! He also got to meet Officer Rob Griesel and the K9 Blek.

Here are the pictures that I took.

Unknown truck.

 Pepsi truck.

18-wheeler.

"10-4, good buddy."

Logging vehicle.

Police SWAT vehicle.

Meeting Officer Griesel and K9 Blek.

Another police vehicle (not sure what it's called).

Eugene recreational bus.

Mail van.

Trash truck.

Military vehicle.

Notes on vehicles

This morning, as I looked for a place to park at my son’s school when I was dropping him off, I frowned when I noticed that, once again, someone had parked their car in a “pause parking” spot and left their vehicle. We’re not allowed to leave the car when we are in pause parking. I had hoped to park on that side of the parking lot because it would’ve been safer to let my son out of the van instead of his side being where there is oncoming traffic. In the event I’m in such a position, though, I usually have to shove my car door open against the bushes, climb out with branches sticking in my hair and sticking into my back, and act as a barrier for him to pass through on my side to safely cross the lot, where a sign holder is waiting. It’s not the end of the world if I have to park there, though, but it’s still nice when I don’t have to.

And I guess another parent was miffed about someone leaving their parked car in pause parking, too, because I noticed him saying something to me after I watched Jesse go into school and he was walking to that car with a piece of paper in his hand. I watched as he left this piece of paper – possibly an angry note? – on that car and then he got into his car to leave.

As I left the school parking lot, I was wondering what that note said. I also thought how very rare it was for me to see someone leaving a note on a car.

Well, later on that morning, I ended up leaving a note on a car, too – my own!

When I drove Trevor to school later this morning, I noticed there were city workers clearing away tree debris on the ground from when branches had fallen from trees. I made a mental note to take an alternate route on my way home. (I’d rather not drive through areas under construction or where city workers are busy doing things because I don’t want to hold them up or be a problem – or deal with the VERY LARGE vehicles or traffic!). Everything else was fine as I drove Trev to school and dropped her off. But as I was driving home, the steering wheel started to jerk left and right. This was actually something that happened recently as I was driving it before, but it was when there was ice, snow and mush on the roads. I had talked about this with my husband and we both just chalked it up to road conditions. But now it was happening AGAIN! I was confused. Why was this happening? The snow was mostly gone and the ice was definitely gone. It had been only been raining that morning.

Well, I came to find out that it didn’t have ANYTHING to do with road conditions and EVERYTHING to do with the van!

I soon started experiencing a clunking sensation coming from the engine. Then I smelled a foul odor and the speedometer suddenly went berserk. The van started to slow down. Pushing on the brake did nothing and pushing on the gas only irritated the engine even more.

Realizing what was going on, I tried to move the van off to the side of the road – but it only got so far. When the van died, the front was pointed towards the side and the back was sticking out, blocking oncoming traffic. I tried to turn on the emergency lights to let people know I was broken down but nothing was working at that point.

So I sat there, feeling bummed that the van had broken down and that I could not get it home before it died (a feat I HAD managed to accomplish with one other car!). Fortunately, it broke down a couple of blocks from my house, and I thought I might be able to push it home. But when I tried putting it into neutral to push it home, the van would NOT move. It was completely locked right where it was. I tried texting my neighbor for help but didn’t get an answer. Then as I was starting to Google what else I could try doing, I noticed someone stop at the Stop sign near where I was parked and ask if I needed help. I explained that I was having trouble pushing the car to get it out of the way. She promptly got out of her car and I told her I couldn’t move the van at all. She offered to push and instructed me to set it up in such a way where she could get the van to move. As I was doing this, I noticed another car stop behind hers and a man jumped out then ran over to help, too. All three of us worked together and, eventually, the van was completely pushed off the road and onto the side.

I thanked both of them as they left. The man checked to make sure I had a phone before he left. I was so grateful to them for their help! (Eugeneans are AWESOME!) (This was the second time two people offered to help when I had to push a car – the last time was when I ran out of gas and we pushed it to a gas station.)

Then I sat there, trying to figure out what to do. My neighbor still had not answered my text. My husband was at home, sleeping. I didn’t have membership with Triple A to call for help and I was trying to think of if I could text a friend for help.

But then I thought, WHAT help? What could possibly be done now?

I had to think. Should I try again to push it home? Maybe that wasn’t a good idea. We’d been lucky to even get it off the street – and home was 2 blocks away. Should I text a friend for help? But what could a friend do, short of driving me home? I didn’t need a ride home – I could walk it. A friend might be able to get the van towed home, but I wasn’t sure if I was up to staying with the van for who knows how long waiting for a tow truck. But what if it didn’t need a tow truck? What if all it needed was as a simple fix and I could get it running again?

The best thing to do would be to walk home and ask my husband to come look at it. He is VERY GOOD at fixing cars. (Me? Not so much.)
 
Then I realized that I couldn’t leave the van here like this. I mean, what if a police officer came along and thought it was abandoned? Or what if the owner of the property saw a suspicious vehicle parked like this and reported it? I would have to leave a note.
 
I checked my phone to see that once again I had no messages, then took out of my purse a small notebook and pen. On a piece of paper I wrote “BROKE DOWN -- WALKING TO GET HELP” and I left it on the van.

Then I started to walk home but then I noticed something on the ground. I stood there to get a good look at it. It really looked like a metal part of a car. I moved it with my shoe to confirm it was indeed a hard thing then bent over to pick it up. It slipped right out of my fingers and I noticed it was covered with oil.

Yep, I sighed. Part of a car. It must’ve come off when the van was in the street, breaking down. I grabbed a paper towel I had in my pocket and used it to pick up the metal round thingy. I cradled it in the paper towel since it was all oily and put it on the van’s windshield, at the bottom.

Then I walked home. When I got home, I woke my husband up and told him what happened. We walked back to inspect the van and I told him about the part I found. He looked at it and then he found another part on the street. We checked the surrounding area to make sure nothing else had fallen off of the engine then he took a look at the van. He told me he suspected what it was then that he would come back with a tarp so he could get a better look. We walked back home and I started to get my breakfast as he left. When he came back later, he told me it was the CV shaft that had broken and that we would have to get it towed home. He also explained there were two ways it could’ve been broken and that a professional mechanic would have to look at it to determine what exactly was wrong. So he took a shower and he was going to leave to go arrange for the van to be towed to a shop. Unfortunately, he had car trouble too (ugh!!) but after THAT was taken care of, he left. Later, when he came back, he confirmed the van was now at a shop and that we’d learn either tomorrow or Friday what was wrong with it and how much it would cost to get repaired.

So it looks like I am now without transportation for a while. Who knows for how long. My husband will be driving the kids to school until I can get another car to drive. I don’t know about Jesse’s basketball practices, though. Or even his gymnastics class, if I am without transportation for that long. And although I had no idea how long I’ll be without a car, I emailed Jesse’s basketball coach to let him know the situation and that Jesse won’t be able to make it to basketball practice this week. He has a game on Saturday and my husband will have to take him to that. (Good grief, this is the SECOND TIME I have had a transportation issue interfere with Jesse getting to basketball practice!!)

But hopefully, it won’t be like this for too long. Hopefully I can get new transportation soon. Or the van won’t cost an arm and a leg to fix. We have only had the van for a year and while I don’t mind if we have to say goodbye to it, it would be nice if it had lasted longer. I hope that will be the case.

"Jesse is missing"

If there is one thing I hope to never experience again as a parent, it is to have my child missing. For some time tonight, that is what I went through. Of course there were many times in the past when I couldn’t find either of my kids, but they always were found at some point and it was not long that they were gone. This time, it was different.

Earlier this evening, Jesse asked if he could go play at a friend’s house. This friend lives down the street. I said that he could and he took off on his bike for her house. Then he came back a little bit later saying that nobody was home. Since he had had an unpleasant experience while playing with another neighborhood kid, who was currently playing with our neighbor’s son, I told him he was not allowed to go play with them this time. He had not behaved very well and we were still trying to resolve what had happened. So I told him to just ride his bike outside. I had gone over the rules with him – no bothering the neighbors, no riding his bike on a stranger’s driveway, watch out for cars, stay on the street, STAY WHERE I CAN SEE HIM and no going up to peoples’ houses and knocking on their doors. Once that was clear, I told him he was free to go ride his bike. I kept tabs on him while he was out there and at one point we chatted briefly about school stuff. He was upset about some school news I had just received on my phone and I suggested to him that he think about a solution while he was riding his bike. I watched him ride off then ran into the house to grab the hamper, hoping I could throw in a load of laundry before it got to be too late. My plan was to go into the garage, where the washer and dryer are, and open the garage door to check on Jesse and also to watch him while I was taking care of laundry.

But when I was back in the kitchen with the hamper, I looked out the window and saw two neighborhood kids on my front lawn. They were the kids who had been playing outside at my neighbor’s house.

I went outside to ask them what was up and they asked about Jesse and I explained why he was not able to play with them right now. I also said, “He’s out riding his bike around.” As they trudged off, I looked up to see down the street. I didn’t see Jesse. So I looked the other way. And Jesse wasn’t there, either.

Apparently, he WASN’T “out riding his bike around" in this neighborhood! But just to be sure, I ran to the corner and checked up and down the cross street. No sign of him.

Hm, I didn’t like this.

I ran back to my house and grabbed my phone. I already had my keys in my pocket. I locked my front door on my way out and walked down the street to the little girl’s house, just in case Jesse had gone back there to see if anybody was home, and for me to see if he was there if anybody WAS home, but he wasn’t there. His bike wasn’t there. No one was there. I turned around and walked all the way to the park down the other street, asking the neighborhood boy if he had seen Jesse. He shook his head. When I got to the park, I looked around – for Jesse, for his bike, even his coat. Just, anything of his. Nothing. He wasn’t there, either.

Now I was starting to worry.

I kept looking up and down streets as I walked back home then I went into the house and looked everywhere for Jesse, calling out his name. I know I had left the door locked, but Jen was there and she might’ve let him in. Or, he might’ve already been there before I left and I hadn’t noticed. But he wasn’t in the house! Shit!

Now I was REALLY worried!

I went back outside, grabbing my jacket on the way, and started checking the cross streets. A girl we know was outside spray-painting her Halloween costume and I asked her if she’d seen Jesse. She said she did, down the street the OTHER way. I confirmed with her the direction then thanked her and headed off. But I didn’t find Jesse that way, either.

I did some more looking around before I decided it was time to look for him by car. I went back in the house, telling Jen that Jesse was missing and that we’d have to leave to go looking for him. “Let’s go!” she said. She grabbed her phone and we left. As we were leaving, I saw our neighbors outside, looking around.

We drove around the neighborhood looking for Jesse. We couldn’t find him anywhere. Jen texted her dad and told him what was going on. She also texted her BFF about the situation and they said they were on their way to help.

The more we drove around with no sign of Jesse, the more worried I started to get. I started crying and praying he would be found. I started to mentally apologize to Jesse for every single bad thing that had happened in his life, every rough moment we had been through, all the times I had to tell him bad news and all the times I had punished him for one thing or another. I started feeling guilty for that, too. I started feeling horrible that he might miss the party with his friends tomorrow. That he might not be with us for Thanksgiving dinner. That he might not be able to open the Christmas presents he’d have waiting for him under the Christmas tree in December. It was just making me feel miserable. I was so scared that he might be hurt or afraid or…worse. That he was all alone or that he was terrified of some stranger who had snatched him. I started muttering “I can’t lose him” as I drove and I just hoped to God that he was okay.

We never found him on our drive. When we got back to the house, there were a bunch of people near the driveway. Jennifer stuck out of the window and asked if anyone had seen Jesse and they all said no.

By this time, over an hour had passed since I’d last seen him.

Jennifer looked at me and said we needed to call the police. I told her to go ahead and do that and she was on the phone with the Eugene Police Department as I parked the van. I got out and talked to the newcomers. They were neighbors who had joined the search for Jesse. One person suggested that Jesse might have gone to a nearby bike path where there is a bridge and that is currently under construction so we decided to check there. Some others held back to keep searching other areas. Jen went with me on the way to the bike path, still on the phone with the police. I noticed the father of the little girl living down the street climb out of his car in front of his house and I asked him if he’d seen Jesse. He had not. He also said he’d just got home. I explained that Jesse had been there earlier hoping to play with his daughter and he said nobody had been there. He also said he’d let me know if he saw Jesse. At this point, Jennifer wanted to go back to the house for something and I gave her the keys.

At the bike path, we didn’t find Jesse there either. I talked with the two women who had been there looking for him and went over the details of what Jesse looked like and what he was wearing. I checked down another street on my way back and asked a neighborhood girl if she’d seen him and she said no. She started looking for him, too. When I got out to my street, I looked up to see a police car at my house. It was parked near the corner with headlights on. (My house is on a corner.) I ran up to it thinking I should talk to the police officer but as I got closer, I saw someone sitting on his bike. It was JESSE!! I ran faster and as I got nearer to him, one of the neighbors, who had been there with Jesse, turned to smile at me and say there he is. There’s Jesse. I hugged Jesse, thanking God that I was able to hug my little boy again, and then turned to see the police officer standing there. I talked with him and thanked him for helping us. The situation was explained to him and then he talked to Jesse. This was when Jennifer came back out to us and she was relieved to see Jesse.

The police officer spoke briefly with Jesse. He told Jesse that he should tell his parents or his big sister where he is going before he goes there. Otherwise, people would get scared and start looking for him. (That’s what Jen later told me he said.) Then he said to me that he was glad that Jesse had been found. When I was done talking to him, I turned and all I could do was hug my little boy again. I just hugged him so tight and then I started crying. I don’t know why I cried – HE WAS HOME SAFE! But I couldn’t help it. I guess because I had been so scared or because I was just so thankful he was home.

Then I asked Jesse where he had been. He had been at a neighbor’s house the whole time – INSIDE the house! We didn’t know these people and Jesse does not usually go there. I reminded him he’s not allowed to go into the houses of people we don’t know. I could tell my kids safety rules a million bazillion times and they’d STILL do something that was against the rules! That’s why I usually go over the rules before he takes off on his bike. But I guess he forgot this one.

My daughter’s BFF and her dad arrived and we stood together hugging and talking. (They are like family to us.) The dad talked with Jesse a bit. They were glad that he was safely back home, too.

I am so glad that my son was safe and that he’s back home. I am so very grateful he is back with us and unharmed! I definitely gave him extra hugs tonight and kept telling him that I loved him. I don’t know what I would do if I lost him. I am so glad that we didn’t lose him and that he is okay.

I am also grateful to our friends and neighbors and the Eugene Police Department for their help! A missing child is a very scary experience to go through. I know there are many cases where a child is not found and my heart goes out to the parents who never end up having their child safely at home again. I am glad that this time, mine was back at home where he belonged.

Lost cops?

Never let it be said that nothing interesting ever happens at a bus stop. In this case, Jennifer’s bus stop. I once saw a girl facedown on the sidewalk at this bus stop and panicked, thinking something had happened to her. (She was actually asleep. LOL) I thought that was the most excitement I’d see at that particular bus stop. The events which unfolded this morning proved me wrong.

We arrived early, and while Jen and I stood there huddled together, freezing our butts off, I noticed a police car driving around the area. I didn’t think too much on it, but I had a feeling something was up. Soon the other kids arrived, as well as one of the moms, and we were all standing there, making small talk.

Suddenly, the kids got excited about something down the street. I turned around to see three police cars racing up the street, sirens and lights going off. I had to pull Jennifer back to keep her on the sidewalk because she was practically getting into the street to see them. They raced past us and I could literally smell the rubber of their tires burning. It was two police vehicles and one city police vehicle (if that's what you call a regular car with sirens on the inside?). They pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex across the street, but not for long. The car in the back started pulling out backwards. The other two vehicles followed. They went up the street and into another parking area adjacent the building. But then they came back out again (this time, not in reverse) and zoomed past us to pull in at another parking area of that building.

I shook my head as I looked at the mom. “They’re lost,” she said.

I laughed. That’s not supposed to happen! Aren't police officers supposed to know their neighborhood??

Anyway, they came back out of THAT parking area again, flew past us yet again, this time with a state police car joining their pursuit, and they pulled into the lot they had gone into on the second try.

“Don’t they have computer maps in their cars?” I asked the mom.

She modded and the look on her face indicated that she didn’t get this situation, either. How could those cops get lost?

I told her about how I’d noticed a police car driving around the area earlier and that maybe it was canvassing the area. She agreed that that was probably what was going on.

I had to feel sorry for the bus driver, who was down the street caught in the middle of this chase. Maybe she didn’t know whether to stay put or keep going if the cops had finally gone into the right parking lot they meant to go into. When it seemed like they did find the right lot, she drove the bus on up to the stop and opened the doors. As the kids proceeded to climb onto the bus, once again the cops came speeding past us, lights and sirens going off. And then they went past us AGAIN just as the bus was pulling away.

While we were watching all this excitement, a guy on his bike stopped riding past us to check it all out. I noticed he was talking to the mom (couldn’t read his lips) then he took off on his bike back the way he came to check it out. A lady at the apartment complex across the street came over to us to talk about what had happened, motioning with her hand how the cops had driven all around over there.

Finally, it seemed like the cops were at the location they meant to be at because they pretty much stayed put this time. It had been like watching a tennis match, with them going back and forth. Me and the mom had a laugh over the whole thing and wished each other well before parting ways. After I got into my car, started the engine and drove away, I noticed the guy on his bike riding down the street, talking on his cell phone.

At least all that excitement helped us to forget about how cold it was.

Touch-A-Truck

Yesterday, I took Jennifer to Eugene's annual Touch-a-Truck event. It was a free event open to the public and kids were allowed to climb aboard police, fire and medical vehicles, as well as industrial and government vehicles. They could actually "touch" these cars, learn about them and sit in the driver's seat to steer the wheel. Jennifer had a blast while we were there. She was so anxious to go just so she could climb into a firetruck, and that's exactly what she did first:

She looks good in a firetruck, doesn't she? She told me she wants to be a firefighter when she grows up. (She knows firefighters saved her mommy's life when she was trapped under a burning van at the age of 20 months.) I was so proud. *sniff*

Next she checked out the police cruiser. I took three pictures and had a hard time deciding which one to use. (Thus the delay in posting this!) But I finally decided on this one:

There was also a garbage truck, cement mixer, sweeper, tree cutting truck, mail car, dairy truck, public bus, and some others that I don't know the names of. Ha! But she climbed up into almost every one of the trucks and had fun honking the horn, steering the wheel and stepping on the pedals. Some of those trucks were GIGANTIC! I even had her stand next to a tire on one truck that was almost bigger than she was!

Finally, she had fun climbing into the trailer of an 18-wheeler. Mostly, the children ran back and forth in this truck. She soon tired of that, though:

It was a very cool event and they even had free cotton candy. I'm glad we went and hope to go again next year.

Guns and laundry

I think I picked a bad day to do laundry today.

This afternoon, my ex showed up, after disappearing for a couple of days due to him being sick. So he stopped by today, apparently not working, and he hung out here until the time to go home with our daughter in tow. While he used the computer, I was doing different stuff; making lunch, tidying, reading and doing a load of laundry. I use the laundromat down the street from me (it's not even a whole block down, really), so I took a load over there to wash. When I got them into the dryer, I walked back home and made lunch. After a while, I saw my daughter run to the living room window to look out at something. I didn't take much interest in this until I noticed my ex was at the window, too, looking in the direction of where the laundromat was.

When I got his attention, I asked him what was going on. He said there was a police car out there, right across from where the laundromat was. I figured it wasn't any big deal, maybe somebody was getting a ticket, or something, but apparently there was also a motorcycle police officer over there and more police officers in the alley behind my neighbor's house.

I started to panic, worrying that once again some lunatic was running around, shooting people. (This had happened before.) But I tried to stay calm and not stress over it too much. As long as we stayed inside, we'd be okay, right?

I started to worry about the laundry, though. I mean, I couldn't just LEAVE that stuff there! What if the owner was involved and what if they needed him to clear all that stuff out of there or what if the police wanted everyone accounting for what should and shouldn't be there?

Well, I didn't think whatever it was involved the laundromat. I mean, if there were cops behind my neighbor's house, chances are whatever went down happened in that alley.

Still, I was concerned. I SHOULD get my stuff out of there. I told my ex but he repeatedly told me DO NOT GO OVER THERE. I said it didn't look like anything serious had happened and he said he'd seen a cop run over there with a shotgun.

Whoa. Okay. Now I wasn't worrying about the laundry so much. I started worrying about my neighbors. Shoot. What if something had happened TO THEM?? Why were there cops behind their house? I mean, there was one officer, wearing plainclothes and one of those "crime scene" tags, walking around, looking at something. Had someone been shot? Had someone gotten hurt???

I wanted to run next door to find out. I started to worry that maybe Darrell or Tobby or even Sean had been hurt. That their home had been broken into, or something. Alley or no alley, the cops were RIGHT THERE. I could see them outside of my kitchen window.

But I knew I couldn't go out. I had to stay inside. If it was THAT bad, I could not go outside.

But at the same time...I was grateful. NORMALLY, I stick around at the laundromat while my clothes are drying. And I was SO GRATEFUL that today I had not. I was just thanking God Almighty I had come home and not stuck around there.

So, finally, the excitement died down. I was finally able to go get the laundry and bring it home. The police were all gone, there was no yellow tape and there seemed to be a sense of things returning to normal.

That's what I thought until I saw a news van pull up across the street. 'Oh, shoot. The frekking news,' I thought, hurrying home and PRAYING they didn't see me. The whole time, I was hoping a reporter hadn't spotted me and jumped out of the van to chase me down to ask questions. I was thinking, 'I didn't see anything and I LITERALLY did not hear anything. Please. I don't wanna be on TV!' I got home with no reporter at my heels. Whew.

My neighbors were okay. Whatever had happened hadn't involved them. I asked Tobby if he had heard anything while all that had gone down. He'd been really busy working and wasn't even aware that the cops had been outside. But at least he told me he hadn't heard any gunshots being fired. Who knows what had REALLY happened...but I'm just glad all of us were okay.