You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Hey Folks,

This is my most ambitious post yet.  It’s going to teach you three lessons.

1.  You can be entertained and informed without the use of multimedia.  We always include pictures and usually web links with our posts but not this time.  We’re going old school.  A story.  Words only.

2.  You’re going to realize that speaking your mind and following your dreams are what matter most – even if it rubs others the wrong way sometimes.

3.  Lastly, you’re going to be amazed at the end of this absolutely true story.  You’re going to find that the course of events in your life can follow a path you would have never been able to predict.

With that said, let’s begin.  Back in March of 2014 I, along with a dozen or so other technicians spread out throughout the country, reported to the gas company in Salt Lake City for the summer gas line survey.  The job kicked off with a meeting at company headquarters.  A few of the guys and girls I knew, but most I didn’t.  We all introduced ourselves to each other, chatted about past jobs and war stories, and took roll call of sorts on where everyone was parking their RV for the summer.  Most of us were staying at the KOA in Salt Lake which meant many of us would be calling the same campground home as well as working together. 

One of the techs I did not know was a man by the name of Todd.  He was new to the company, having worked in Texas for a few months before arriving in Salt Lake.  I liked Todd from the start.  Quiet at first, he soon came out of his shell with me and as I got to know him I became familiar with his true personality.  Todd’s the type of guy that tells it like it is.  He’s rubbed people the wrong way but in my mind that’s a refreshing trait.  You always know where you stand with a guy like that – whether you like what he says or not.   

As the week progressed we were given our maps for the neighborhoods to survey and Todd’s assigned area was close to mine.  We would meet each morning, along with another tech, Don, at the local Walmart parking lot.  There we would get our equipment ready for the day and joke around before heading out. 

About 2 weeks into the survey Todd said to Don and I that he was going to quit the company.  I was quite surprised but he had his reasons and in his direct way of talking he told us why.  “I’m a big guy”, he said.  “All this walking is just too much for my knees and hips.”  Todd IS a big guy but in this day and age people don’t usually talk about it so freely.  Not Todd.  He’d be the first to tell you because being blunt and honest went both ways with him.  He went on to say that he wanted to change jobs.  He had a line on a job to haul new RVs from the factories in Elkhart, Indiana to dealers all around the country.  It was something that really appealed to him.  The adventure of the open road and being his own boss. 

He put in his notice and I wished him well.  Only when I noticed a few days later that his site at the KOA was empty did I realize I had failed to get his number or E-mail address.  Oh well, I’d get it from the company. But, as is the case sometimes, acquaintances move on and aren’t heard from again.  I never did get his number. 

Time went on and all through the summer we surveyed the neighborhoods of Salt Lake.  Life was good.  Great weather.  A good group of people.  Before we knew it though September was approaching and the job was winding down.  We each got our marching orders for winter.  Some made a stop in the Dakota’s before heading to Mississippi.  Some went directly to South Carolina or Alabama.  Don and I were both sent to Middle Tennessee (1,600 miles from Salt Lake) to survey the rural countryside and small towns east of Nashville.

Checking gas lines in the country is far different from walking the sidewalk of a cookie cutter neighborhood.  There are fields to walk through, fences to climb and houses are few and far between.  You walk many miles in a day and see few people.  That’s how it is in Middle Tennessee.  One morning Don and I were surveying up a long country road way out in the sticks -  deep into a Tennessee holler with very few houses but a gas line just the same.  We were both in Don’s Jeep driving back to a house with a leak in the front yard that I had come across earlier in the day.  Typically you park the vehicle somewhere and start walking.  If you find anything you return with your equipment to look into it further.  That was the case here.

We approached this little country house and parked in the road in front of it.  We’re talking a lane and a half gravel road that leads to only a few houses.  I hadn’t seen anyone come along for hours so, in this instance, parking in the road was not unusual.  This place was COUNTRY I’m tellin’ ya.  Anyway, wouldn’t you know it.  When I got out of the passenger side of the Jeep here comes a FedEx delivery van, dust boiling behind it, slowing down for the two clowns in the road.  I was standing in the ditch beside the road at the time so backed further away.  Don proceeded to pull the Jeep forward and into the yard of the house we were returning to. 

I waved the driver by.  He didn’t move – just sat there.   I couldn’t see him through the glare of the windshield but heard him calling me over.  “Come here”, he yelled over the idling engine.  My first thought was he wanted directions.  People do that all the time.  They see you wearing a bright yellow high visibility vest and figure you’re in the know.  I stepped back onto the road from the ditch, passed in front of the van to the other side, and approached the driver.

It was Todd. 

We stared at each other for what seemed like an hour but was only a few seconds.  “Kevin?  Is that you?”  I was speechless but eventually came up with the answer – yes indeed it was.  Six months, 1,600 miles, an essentially abandoned country road as far back in the boonies as you can get and here was Todd.  Right about now Don is getting out of the Jeep and sees us talking.  He, for once in his life, was speechless.  It didn’t last long though. 

A flood of questions ensued from all three of us.  How, when, where?  As it turns out Todd made a go of the RV transport job but it didn’t work out financially.  Heading back to Elkhart without a consistent return load was the problem.  He traveled all over the place though and thoroughly enjoyed himself.  He and his wife settled near Nashville and he got a job with FedEx.  He’s doing well.  I have his number now and E-mail address.  He’ll see this post when everyone else does. 

Think about this for a moment.  The chances of something like this happening are astronomical.  Don and I are sent to Tennessee - the same area of the country, unbeknownst to us, Todd has relocated to.  We just happen to be surveying in Todd’s delivery territory – which is a huge area.  I happen to find an underground leak at a house earlier in the day and return back to it just at the right time.  We park in the road instead of the yard, necessitating him to stop.  The recipient of the package Todd is delivering happens to order it at just the right time and delivery is scheduled for that day.  The timing, even down to the stoplights Todd sat at through the morning, was perfect. 

So, there you have it.  As the title says, you really can't make this stuff up.  I hope you enjoyed the story and take from it those three lessons.  We’ll get back to our usual format of picture stories on our next post.  This coming weekend we’ll be headed to Huntsville, Alabama for a visit with my daughters and granddaughter, including a stop at the Space and Rocket Center located there.  They actually have an RV park on the premises.  That, coupled with little Anna Kate, will ensure lots of snapping of the shutter.   

Maybe we’ll run into some old friends as well……. 

Kevin