Mitigated Disaster

I am a worrier by nature. Maybe it runs in the family.

For every exciting new venture that presents itself, I always imagine a thousand potential calamities strapped to its underbelly, lying in wait to sabotage the whole thing.

As excited as I've been about The Road Trip, I've also envisioned a solid dozen different ways by which it could end in flaming disaster for me and my Toyota Corolla.

So when the ominous "check engine" light flashed on my dashboard and the motor began to hiccup, it was not so much a shock as a glum resignation that came over me. Of course this was happening. My overactive imagination had prophesied it already.

The kinks started in Mount Vernon, Ill., and the car (let's just call her Josephine) managed to limp to Paducah, Ky., where I had her inspected by the local Toyota dealer.

Three hours later, a prognosis: "I was able to save the headlights," said the mechanic, with the grim finality of an oncologist delivering word to a new widow.

Thankfully, he was kidding: just a misfiring coil. They didn't have the replacement part in Paducah, but the staff assured me that I could make it all the way to Nashville (my intended destination for the night) without Josephine combusting along the way.

So, hey, I made it to Music City, maybe a little later than planned, but still had chance to share dinner with a fellow NCCC'er who is bound for Perry Point. We had a nice talk over tacos, bound by our shared nervousness and excitement. But we'll do fine, right?

Josephine received her final replacement surgery this morning, at considerable but hardly crippling expense. She has recovered nicely, and this afternoon we blasted down to Atlanta, where hopefully we can both catch our breaths. I am staying at the home of one of the editors of Paste magazine, where I interned between September and December of 2007.

So I'm actually feeling better now that this whole car trouble ordeal is behind me. One of the worst things that could possibly happen on this trip happened, and I'm still in one piece. My schedule remains more or less intact.

For the one person who asked, my in-car play list so far:

The Staple Singers - The Very Best of the Staple Singers
Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
Portishead - Dummy
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
The Wrens - The Meadowlands
Various Artists - Nuggets From Nuggets: Choice Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era
The Roots - Game Theory
The Rolling Stones - Aftermath
The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet

I'm quite fond of all these albums... check 'em out if you haven't heard of 'em.