Oh, Poor Samson...

We have always named our vehicles. Well, I have always named them and Shawna and the kids joined in later. My first car was Pin, the Pinto (ugh!). My current vehicle is Samson (a Chevy S10), named by the kids.

This past Monday, on a trip to Memphis and back, the battery light was blinking at high speeds. As it did not come on close to home, I had forgotten to check it out later. I did not drive it at high speeds or out of town Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Consequently, the light did not come on so I did not think about it. Today, with a friend, Jeff, we went to another town in another state and we were in for a big surprise.

We took off and the light was blinking on and off at times but the truck was running fine. We went and ran some errands, saw some people, ate some food, and even stopped at the store on the way home. Everything was running fine and the light was only coming on and off from time to time. By the time we were about 15 miles from home, it was on constantly but still Samson was running fine.

As we turned into the last stretch for home, three of the dash warning lights were on, but everything was running fine. I was determined to get it checked out Monday but that was going to prove to be not quite soon enough. At about five miles, Samson began to act up but I was sure we would make it home. At three miles, he was going slower but still going. At two miles, he was going 30 miles an hour and not responding to the gas pedal. At two miles, Samson was drifting and came to a complete stop at 1.75 miles from home (the accuracy of the distance is thanks to the GPS Shawna got for me).

We took off walking and came to an elderly couple's home who are shut in but members of the church here. We asked for a tow chain and a ride back to the house. He gave us a chain and the keys to his old, old truck to get back to the house. We came back to the house and got Jeff's truck, took his truck back to him, and went back to my truck. We towed Samson to the house and returned the chain. Samson was still dead, completely unresponsive.

Right now, Samson is hooked up to a battery charger and we suspect the problem is the alternator. Right now, we are thankful that Samson gave out less than two miles from the house. It could have been 60 miles at the furthest point on this trip!!

Oh, poor Samson...

-J