Chet's Good People

Yesterday was one of those days that by the end of it, you are just GLAD it is over. It started out fine, even though I could tell pretty early on in the day that it was going to be a hot one. 9:00 yesterday morning, my boss was headed to a meeting and needed me to go to the bank to make a wire transfer for a bunch of baked beans we bought. So, I went to the bank, made said transfer, got back in my car, and was driving back towards work. It was already getting pretty warm out, so I had the A/C cranked and was listening to some music when I decided to stop into Publix to grab a microwavable bowl of Vegetable Beef Soup and jelly so I could indulge my recent craving of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and vegetable beef soup. Anyway, I got back into my car after a succesful store run, cranked the engine, and guess what wouldn't turn on? My air conditioner. I'm not even talking about the times when the A/C breaks and it doesn't blow cold air. I'm talking about when it DOESN'T. BLOW. AT. ALL. It got stifling hot pretty quick, even with the windows rolled down.

So...got back to work, boss-man checked it out, he couldn't figure it out, so he said, 'let's see if Chet can take a look.' Chet is the best secret my boss has. He's a local mechanic in town, and not only does he know EVERYTHING there is to know about cars, but he's also, as referenced in the title, extremely Good People. Anyway, Chet says he's not busy so for me to bring the car by. He checks out the fuses (not the fuse), then he says the words you never want to hear: "Let me check this last thing, and if you're lucky, that's what it'll be."

Great, I know my luck. I know that there's NO WAY that's what it'll be.
So he plays with the Blower Resister for a while, then says he needs more input. So guess who good people Chet calls? Some race car driver's son! I'm not going to say his name to protect the innocent :-)
So, race car driver's son says, "It's gotta be the blower resister. Send her over here, and I'll sell her the part at cost."

Ever heard of a blower resister? Me neither, but it looks like this:

SO--at that point I hightail it from way downtown all the way to Hoover to pick up said part. I get to where I'm going, and tell somebody who I'm looking for, and they lead me down this dark corridor. I round the corner, and this guy is walking down the other end. He says, "who ya looking for?" I say, "Blankety Blank," and he says, "that's me. Chet told me to look for some pregnant lady." That's nice.

Anyway, Blankety Blank sells me the part at wholesale cost, so then I fly back up the interstate to downtown again, and Good People Chet replaces the blower resister for no cost, since I did the leg work. Something that would have cost me upwards of two hundred dollars anywhere else cost me forty-seven. That's right, Chet's Good People.

How ironic it is that something called a Blower Resister can actually keep your air from blowing when it breaks...