‘99 Blazer, Rescue Truck

I’ve never won anything significant, so it was pretty exciting to receive a call from the Georgia Industrial Children’s Home that I had won a car with my $10 raffle ticket. I was thinking new Camaro. Not even close. A 1999 Chevy Blazer with 143,000 miles.
The truck was in fairly good condition, but my theory is that a SUV with over 100,000 miles is like 100 in human years. I only accepted the prize because my son was close to getting his license, and this would be a good first vehicle.
A year and a half later, it’s still on the road, but has had some issues.
First the radiator blew. My son (let’s call him Matthew to protect his identity) thought it was on fire. A good cooling system lesson for $400. Then the A/C didn’t work in the middle of the summer; $500 for a new climate control panel.
The first $400 the prep-turned-thug earned at his new job at Kroger, he spent on speakers. The subwoofer is loud enough to make your head explode.
Then ol’ Matthew had a mental lapse and took the 2WD truck, with one wheel in the grave, out to an area the kids call Brandywine. I had no idea such a vast no-man’s-land existed in Bibb County… right behind Wesleyan no less. Steep, rugged trails with deep ruts wind through acres of marsh and woods. The various trails lead to mud holes – big, red clay craters filled with slimy mud and nasty water. Catnip for a 16-year-old.
Of course the boy got stuck. His buddies pulled him out of the bog, but his truck wouldn’t run. No tow truck or repair service would venture the half-mile from a paved road.
In the days the truck sat abandoned, some idiot threw a rock through one of the windows and stole the speaker system. Then the property owner locked the gate Matthew had entered. It poured rain every night. After letting Matthew exhaust his connections, I got retired off-road experts Walt and Eddie to drag the crippled SUV out of the wasteland and to the shop. They wouldn’t accept any pay for their incredible talents and equipment, but the shop bill was $900.
This week, the driver side electric window won’t work. Another hit to the boy’s savings account.
Despite all of the breakdowns and downtime, I must say that both Matthew and I have developed a very special bond with the little rescue truck. But a few more big cha chings and we’ll have to put her down.