On Epics and Jump Starting Your Car

This Saturday I learned exactly what happens when you connect the positive side of a battery to the negative side of the other battery...the hard way. Long story short, I made this mistake and busted the main fuse in Virg's car. The resolution of this involved a nice lady in a red Landrover, her friend Jake, her husband, the Amex road side assistance, and these two salt-of-the-earth mechanics from Torrington. I employed my iPhone and one bar of Cingular reception to call Amex, which put me in touch w/ aforementioned mechanics. When we found that the fuse was the problem (we'd only looked after trying unsuccessfully to jump start then rolling start the car), we called the mechanic. He needed us to identify the exact type of fuse, but we could find nothing more than a generic 100A "Main Fuse". So we called Mazda near Danbury. Closed. Then Mazda of Oakland -- tel # obtained from the iPhone -- also closed. Finally, a Google search of "Mazda Hawaii" finally came through the poor reception which put us in touch w/ these chill islander fellows who gave us some advice.

As it turns out, the mechanic guessed the right type of fuse installed it after begging a ratchet set from a nearby farmer (did I mention we were out in the boonies?), and presto car started. Amex paid $50 for the effort and we paid the other $33 + tip for the fuse and labor. So 3 hous after the start of the affair, we were on our way.

Anyhow, besides learning about fuses, jump starts, and the kindness of strangers, I got to thinking about me and epics. I tend to find myself in them somewhat often. Just a couple months ago, there was Ruairi's birthday and the subsequent hunt for my towed Civic. Then there's the slew of late night climbing adventures (I'm thinking of Squamish). Can't forget the 100 odd mile ride up in Vermont, although I suppose that's not an epic per-se, just epic distance.

And I'm not averse to them. Nor do I panic when I find myself in them. I was talking to my buddy Maneesh who who says that he gets out of sorts when he finds himself in one. And so I imagine that he tries to avoid them. I don't. They make me feel alive. And they're often a shared experience which is something that brings me together w/ those w/ whom I share it. I admit that epics are stressful, and often at the moment I'm in it, I want to be out of it. But rarely do I regret having experience it afterwards. In fact, I revel in it. I play and replay it in my head to see all the mistakes I made, review the setup of the situation, think about what others were experiencing. It's a learning experience.

So who wants to go on an adventure? I'm free next weekend.