The mechanic came into the break room while I was having a discussion with the Office Manager about some network problems she was having, mostly related to very slow response and some new software problems. I made a few suggestions to her regarding the problems and she happily went off to try them out. The mechanic said that he had replaced my windshield and "thought" the generator would be ok now.
After frilling him a bit he admitted that he hadn't actually found any problem with the generator and had just replaced the fuel filter and tightened a couple of fittings. He said to let it run to see if it would be ok. Uh huh, it's way below freezing and I'm going to trust my life to a questionable heat source? Not a chance.
I went over and spoke with "R" and, as I had expected, I was here for the night. I told him about the generator situation and he agreed to spring for a hotel room tonight while I let the generator do it's test run. No way I want to wake up tomorrow morning to find myself the next Ice Man.
"R" is working on building me a load home. From what I gathered it's going to be an oversized load. Oh goodie, that means a bit more change in my pocket. He said there was a driver picking up part of it tomorrow to bring to the yard. Odds are I'll be lucky to leave out tomorrow. More likely it'll be Friday. I'm sure I'll be shagging loads tomorrow. Oh well, that beats sitting around with my thumb up my arse.
When I walked up to the desk at the hotel the desk clerk already had my registration form filled out and ready for me to sign. She knows my truck and as soon as she sees it pull in she starts filling it out. Amazingly she remembers my first and last name, where I live, and all the other little details. She even asked about Socrates. I hadn't seen her since he was killed and sincerely seemed upset when I told her what had happened.
I'm currently sitting in the Appleby's next door to the hotel enjoying a cold draft and contemplating the menu. Seeing as "R" is paying for the room I can afford a little nicer meal tonight. One of my favorite bartenders here is now the manager. I am waiting to catch her to congratulate her on the promotion. She's so damn short it's hard to spot her in the crowd.
...5 minutes has passed. The bar staff has changed shifts and I had to give the former bartender his tip and do the customary chit chat before he left.
The WiFi service here is on the fritz. The barkeep told me they'd been having problems with it for a week or so. I could probably fix it for them if it's something that didn't require unavailable parts, but I doubt they could afford me. I'm using my cellular card as I just couldn't get connected through their system.
It feels pretty good to be back in familiar surroundings. It feels even better to know that I have a nice comfy hotel room for tonight. Once I've had my dinner and brews here I'm going to go back to the room, have a hot shower, turn on the Sci-fi channel, and veg on the king size bed for a few hours. I think I'll sleep in too.