The most recent Nor'easter left me without power in CT for most of the week; not a super big issue going home to a 35F house @ night. So Saturday came around and I decided to go up to Southern Maine to shovel the roof off our family summer home; (news flash; unheated homes just build snow unless removed) Ride up in the B2300, get down to the house in the woods and shovel the root off;
Jump in the B2300 to go home and it is a no start; so it is about 2:30PM on Saturday and I'm now planning how this is going to work.
I hatch a plan of calling AAA having them tow me to South Portland (20 miles) and riding with the driver; taking a taxi to Portland and taking a train back to CT.
Call AAA and indicate I will be riding with the driver.
Meanwhile some work is being done on a house further in the woods and the work guys decide to back a tractor trailer back to the main drag; I would NEVER have guessed a trailer could have even fit down there; they commence backing and get stuck. The guy from AAA shows up and decides he isn't "driving down there" since he will get stuck and there is a TT blocking the road; he reports to dispatcher 'the road isn't plowed' and calls me and tells me he isn't doing the job; the road is 'about 7/8' of a lane wide so there is no 'getting by anyone'
I call the tow guy and tell him the road is now clear (which it was @ the time) and he says he will call the dispatcher to see if he should do the job anyway and says he will call me back; he does neither and goes home.
In the meantime the workguys have hooked up a tow strap to a 4WD titan and commence pulling the tractor trailer up the icy part of the road and onto the sanded part. During the pull I wander over and ask if they would come back and drag my B2300 to the main drag since AAA doesn't want to come down here with 2WD; They agree even tho it is a guys personal truck and I get AAA to dispatch the same guy indicating I will have my vehicle where he is comfortable getting it. Bear in mind I have always driving my 2300 down there and have never had an issue getting out. The storm went by DAYS ago. The road isn't getting plowed any better than it is. The work guys were not impressed that the tow guy wouldn't come down to pick up the vehicle. "This is freaking Maine" one of them said....
The guy from AAA shows up with a slider and then informs me he has his son in a booster seat and he can't take riders. (sort of contrary to what AAA asked me about)
So after some of my contemplation he rides off with my 2300 and I am sitting with wet pants, wet socks and it is 4:30PM The AAA guy I don't think was too happy about being called back to a job he initially refused.
Out comes the smart phone and I call Brian from Windham Taxi. While waiting for him, the work guys see me on their way home, stop and ask if I need a ride, "I am all set" I indicate. They seemed generally concerned about leaving a wet person sitting on the end of a camp road Brian shows up and drives me to Portland Transportation hub. Very nice guy; we ride in a 1997 Grand Marquis and spend a lot of time talking about oil and car maintenance (imagine that)
I grab a train ticket to Boston, and then realize I have to go from North Station to South and then take Amtrak to Old Saybrook.
I get to Boston, take a cab to South Station and then need to wait 8.5 hours for the train to CT. At 12 midnight South Station closes and only people with Amtrak tickets are allowed to stay. While preparing to close some of the food vendors, probably having to throw stuff out, roll around to the homeless people asking if they want anything; The guy near me grabs all the grapes, strawberries, blueberries and I'm thinking that is like $20 of fruit right there. I was somewhat impressed by the graciousness of the food vendor, he was actually 'talking up his offerings' like he was selling it, but he was just giving it away. He was just trying to make sure people get what they wanted.
12 midnight comes and the guy near me doesn't want to leave; the Amtrak and security guys indicated they will be calling the police.
While waiting for the police the Amtrak guy starts talking to the homeless guy, indicating he can get him into a shelter and a free ride there; apparently this is "a daily activity" for the people who manage the building; they already have phone #s and relationships to do this; the Amtrak guy 'somewhat' defuses the situation and comes back and gives me an update of the situation;
Get home to CT about 9:00am on Sunday where thankfully power has been restored.
I highly recommend a weekend like this lol
Jump in the B2300 to go home and it is a no start; so it is about 2:30PM on Saturday and I'm now planning how this is going to work.
I hatch a plan of calling AAA having them tow me to South Portland (20 miles) and riding with the driver; taking a taxi to Portland and taking a train back to CT.
Call AAA and indicate I will be riding with the driver.
Meanwhile some work is being done on a house further in the woods and the work guys decide to back a tractor trailer back to the main drag; I would NEVER have guessed a trailer could have even fit down there; they commence backing and get stuck. The guy from AAA shows up and decides he isn't "driving down there" since he will get stuck and there is a TT blocking the road; he reports to dispatcher 'the road isn't plowed' and calls me and tells me he isn't doing the job; the road is 'about 7/8' of a lane wide so there is no 'getting by anyone'
I call the tow guy and tell him the road is now clear (which it was @ the time) and he says he will call the dispatcher to see if he should do the job anyway and says he will call me back; he does neither and goes home.
In the meantime the workguys have hooked up a tow strap to a 4WD titan and commence pulling the tractor trailer up the icy part of the road and onto the sanded part. During the pull I wander over and ask if they would come back and drag my B2300 to the main drag since AAA doesn't want to come down here with 2WD; They agree even tho it is a guys personal truck and I get AAA to dispatch the same guy indicating I will have my vehicle where he is comfortable getting it. Bear in mind I have always driving my 2300 down there and have never had an issue getting out. The storm went by DAYS ago. The road isn't getting plowed any better than it is. The work guys were not impressed that the tow guy wouldn't come down to pick up the vehicle. "This is freaking Maine" one of them said....
The guy from AAA shows up with a slider and then informs me he has his son in a booster seat and he can't take riders. (sort of contrary to what AAA asked me about)
So after some of my contemplation he rides off with my 2300 and I am sitting with wet pants, wet socks and it is 4:30PM The AAA guy I don't think was too happy about being called back to a job he initially refused.
Out comes the smart phone and I call Brian from Windham Taxi. While waiting for him, the work guys see me on their way home, stop and ask if I need a ride, "I am all set" I indicate. They seemed generally concerned about leaving a wet person sitting on the end of a camp road Brian shows up and drives me to Portland Transportation hub. Very nice guy; we ride in a 1997 Grand Marquis and spend a lot of time talking about oil and car maintenance (imagine that)
I grab a train ticket to Boston, and then realize I have to go from North Station to South and then take Amtrak to Old Saybrook.
I get to Boston, take a cab to South Station and then need to wait 8.5 hours for the train to CT. At 12 midnight South Station closes and only people with Amtrak tickets are allowed to stay. While preparing to close some of the food vendors, probably having to throw stuff out, roll around to the homeless people asking if they want anything; The guy near me grabs all the grapes, strawberries, blueberries and I'm thinking that is like $20 of fruit right there. I was somewhat impressed by the graciousness of the food vendor, he was actually 'talking up his offerings' like he was selling it, but he was just giving it away. He was just trying to make sure people get what they wanted.
12 midnight comes and the guy near me doesn't want to leave; the Amtrak and security guys indicated they will be calling the police.
While waiting for the police the Amtrak guy starts talking to the homeless guy, indicating he can get him into a shelter and a free ride there; apparently this is "a daily activity" for the people who manage the building; they already have phone #s and relationships to do this; the Amtrak guy 'somewhat' defuses the situation and comes back and gives me an update of the situation;
Get home to CT about 9:00am on Sunday where thankfully power has been restored.
I highly recommend a weekend like this lol