A Long Run on No Brakes

The brakes continue to be a challenge. I am still in pain, and that makes the nine hundred kilometres to Kelowna seem longer than it is, but I was awake at five in the morning and knew it would be a while getting back to sleep, so I left Edmonton early. I was on the road before most of the Albertans, and soon I was passing through Calgary.

Unfortunately, when I applied the brake, even a little bit, while I was driving the freeways of Calgary, they would seize on. I would then have to pull over and wait a bit, and then continue. I decided to try to make it to Kelowna, but that meant crossing the mountains without applying the brakes. I used the motor to slow down when necessary, rarely stopped, and by times, when I’d slowed for construction, I shut down the motor to stop the car. I also used the emergency brake a few times.

I eventually pulled into Vernon, just north of Kelowna, I was in time to check with tourist info so I could message my nephew, and then go to a drugstore for an antihistamine for the rash that had been getting worse. The pain is still bad, but with the brakes acting so temperamentally, I ignored it in favour of new problems.

My nephew was home shortly after my arrival, and soon we were catching up. We spent the next day sourcing a used caliper for my front right brake, and then installing it. Finally, I have brakes I don’t have to baby all the time. While we were driving around in his 1969 Volkswagen Beetle, we talked car talk. I wasn’t over ambitious about long walks or other strenuous activities, but I tried to manage my mood with the pain enough to not be too irritable.

I also used the time to help my friend organise her storage, although that was a bit much with the pain. It was nice to help her however, for she has her own health issues.

About Barry Pomeroy

I had an English teacher in high school many years ago who talked about writing as something that people do, rather than something that died with Shakespeare. I began writing soon after, maudlin poetry followed by short prose pieces, but finally, after years of academic training, I learned something about the magic of the manipulated word.
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