Getting Geared Up (Part 1)
A couple weeks ago, my truck sort of gave out, which is odd, because it is a mere 14 years old. I don't think I have ever owned a vehicle that was born in the same decade as the year I bought it. As you would guess, I'm sort of used to car trouble. Of course, the truck waited to break down until my wife, Sara, was driving it all alone. It had been desperately hanging on up until this point, waiting for the chance to wreak the most havoc. Or, possibly, it had done everything it could to warn us that it was on the verge of total system failure and I just missed it. In retrospect, I guess there were a few subtle, practically imperceptible warning signs I should have picked up on: 1) It shimmied and shook every time you got it to a fairly high speed, upwards of 25 mph. 2) It made a noise, similar to a freight train screeching down the tracks with the emergency brakes on full stop. 3) It refused to go into fourth gear. 4) My wife repeatedly saying things like, "I think th