My brother came to visit us from the Pacific Northwest. He's the kind of guy who, if you don't see him or talk to him for a couple of years, will still remember you and pick up the conversation right where it left off last time. It's like we see and talk to each other every day!
He has a penchant for scuba diving. He's used to the cold waters of the Puget Sound, so anytime he has the opportunity, he likes to get into warmer waters. The quest for warmer waters brought him down to California, specifically to the Monterey Bay area. This trip he brought along his wife and two sons. The boys also dive, so they brought along a ton - literally - of diving gear. It was a chore to get them all loaded up at the airport and trucked over to the house.
Now Bro didn't have a car, having flown down from the PNW and in order to dive at Monterey Bay he needed to borrow my truck. No problem; I had another car for work. The caveat was he had to buy his own gas.
I wasn't off work, so Bro and the Boys were going to load up the truck with their gear and drive down to Monterey by themselves. Bro needed to fill the truck up with gas, so I sent him downtown to a station I knew would be open. Alameda is a relatively small town, even smaller if you know that it's basically broken into the areas around Park Street and the area around Webster Street. These areas are mini-cities, and the residents stay pretty much in a 15 square block area where all the services are located. To give you an idea of how close the Park Street area is to our house, Deb and I regularly walk downtown to take in a movie, to shop at the market or to have dinner. The walk takes about 15 minutes.
Now Bro took off in the truck to get gas. He had directions to the gas station. About 20 minutes after he left I got a call - Bro. He had purchased the gas and started out from home and gotten lost - he couldn't get back. Remember, the truck's vintage was such that it wasn't equipped with GPS. Bro was agitated - his cell phone was running out of juice and this was the last call he was likely going to be able to make.
I gave Bro directions home - a right and a left and a straight and he would be home. We signed off the call and I went back to conversation with the Boys. Twenty minutes went by and we noticed that Bro wasn't back. We weren't worried though because after all, he couldn't get lost in such a small area.
The phone rang. Guess who? Yep. Bro on the phone. Calling from a pay phone. His cell phone had expired and he'd used all his paper and coins to get gas (who doesn't use a credit card to get gas nowadays?). He'd driven around for 20 minutes, and gotten lost; couldn't get home. I asked him to look at the street name signs at the intersection and I'd give him directions home. He read off the name of the intersection, I gave him directions, made him repeat them back to me - which he did - and wishing him well, signed off the phone call.
Twenty minutes later. Guess what? Bro calling. Lost again. Had to borrow money for the pay phone since his cell was out of juice and he'd spent all the cash money he had with him and didn't have any credit cards. Where was he? He told me what intersection; I said wait for me, I'll come and lead you back home. He said OK.
I set out from the house, went directly to the intersection he'd named. No one there. If Bro had actually been there, he'd left. I went back home. The whole trip to the intersection and back home took maybe 15 minutes.
Another twenty minutes. Bro calling. "Where'd you get the money for a phone call" I asked. "Weren't you ever a Boy Scout? Didn't they teach you to stay put in one place if you got lost?" I could hear his sheepish grin through the phone. I'm trying to decide what to do now - should I try another rescue? Would the Boys like to take a shot at finding him? Would his Wife mind if I didn't go get him? If he runs out of gas dodging me when I try to rescue him, would he stay with the truck?
I can't call him because he's at a pay phone and there's no caller ID for pay phones. I wait and sure enough, he calls again. "One more rescue attempt Bro and if you mess this one up, I'll rent the Boys a truck and they can go scuba diving without you! Got that?"
Early next day, off they went to Monterey to scuba dive. Late in the evening the phone rings. I know who it is and what he's going to say. But, I'm wrong. This time he's calling to tell me that on the way back the truck's engine blew up and he's stuck by the side of the road. Wants to know what to do. I ask him "What's the name of the intersection you're at; I'll come get you." He tells me.
I wonder if he actually thinks I'll fall for that trick again?
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