La Epique de Alternatorio

I'm not sure that title means anything but it was fun to write.

It was a cold and rainy June. The monsoon or chang-ma had just begun in South Korea. In a little village in the midst of a the large city named Daegu, there lived a group of Americans who had been invited by the Koreans to help them maintain their Armistice with North Korea. The village is called Walker and nearby Henry and George. Odd names for villages they thought but it was those whom treaded here years ago who did the naming. Undoubtedly they were named after hero's of some sort. Many such villages are named after those who received the Medal of Honor, others by someone who died around the time when they were looking for a name and still others are named for the Presidents. In any case this group seems a bit odd but I'll drive on.

The sun was setting on the Choi quarters when the family was nearing supper time. They were heading out for a bite but would only discover that their car would not start. They got a jump but after running for a while the car again ran dead. It was then that Dr. Choi took the BMW to the shop and discovered that his alternator had gone bad. An easy fix I told him, but alas it was not. For BMW decided that all other vehicles which have easily fixable alternators were not for them, so they decided to place theirs at the bottom of the engine in close proximity to the fan and instead of air cooling they would place a sleeve of antifreeze around the core. This all together makes it a very very expensive fix. But it needs to be replaced so an order from the manufacturer was placed and the part shipped overseas. When it arrived the mechanic who had never repaired a BMW alternator did not understand the cooling mechanism and immediately assumed that it would not fit because it looked to be the wrong size. We advised him otherwise. This epic continues to this day as the alternator to my knowledge is still not replaced.

Over the course of a month my little excel has grown loud and whines when I start it up. It eventually stops and I can drive on. I checked it out and beleived it to be the alternator but it was running fine. So I just assumed it was making some noise and would eventually go out. This morning I drove to chapel and had a wonderful service. Afterward, Chaplain Billy Grahm (yes that's his name) invited me to lunch. So I hopped into the car and heard a terrible screetch. I knew that this was it but prayed that it might last till tomorrow. On the way around the bend and over to the hilltop, the car began to smell and I knew I was in trouble. I got to a stop and opened the hood but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. We contamplated and checked all the fluids but all for naught. Then we set off for a meal and on my return I said, I shall take the silver bullet to the car care center and have it fixed tomorrow. I started it up and had a terrible whine again. I got it up the hill and to the stop on the way back down when it began smoking terribly. I shut the engine off and coasted downhill to the car care center.

When I opened the door and looked up I noticed the hours. It was closed and wouldn't open again until Tuesday. I thought, oh, I'll just wait till then but then as fast as I thought that, I again realized that Karly would soon be returning. I needed a car to await her arrival. So I called my insurance. They agreed that it was a problem, found a mechanic open on Sunday, and sent a wrecker to gate 4.

I headed to the PX to get an air mattress and some cash to pay for the services (Koreans like to be paid immediately and a lot don't take cards). Lo, the ATM was broken and it said to go to the lodge (on the other side of post). I knew this was too far away and so got cash back in the maximum I could. I greeted the driver with enthusiasm at the gate and he was then told that he needed to go to the back gate for trucks. So I ran to the money exchanger but though they had an open sign on the door, they were very closed. So I headed to the truck and drove around to the other side. Whence I discovered that my driver didn't have up to date insurance card in his truck. 10 minutes later the problem was solved by faxsimile and we were finally off to my car. We picked it up and he agreed that the alternator had frozen up and thus burnt out the belt and caused the smoke. We drove to his garage and about an hour and a half later I had a repaired alternator and of course a business card was given to me in hopes that I might bring some other Americans. I was happy and very satisfied with the price of $80 for the repairs and tow.

I am now back at home typing this and hoping that Karly's trip is much less eventful than my last few hours.

Thus the epic ends and my fingers hurt from typing and playing the blues.