What the? What?

You are never going to believe this one.

  A few days back (a week, maybe?) I found myself in a very frustrating position. I had nearly finished the transmission replacement on the Winnebago LeSharo, and one of the two M16x1.5 banjo bolts used on the final drive cooler was missing. Never mind the technical details - that doesn't matter. What does matter is that without that very uncommon piece of hardware, my departure could not happen on time. I need to get back to Florida ASAP.

  I had to find one. I started looking online, but I did not really want to order one without being able to confirm the dimensions, and none of the few available had all specs listed. Herb said we should take the one we have and go check with some of the auto parts stores and industrial supply stores in Tuscaloosa. So we did. Every single one of them. I had already spent several hours online looking, and then we spent most of the morning driving around and looking, and we were nearly out of options.

  In the truck, we were talking about how strange things happen when a person needs an odd or rare part. We had both experienced the phenomenon of going to the least likely place and just mentioning it casually and the person saying: "Oh yeah! I have ten of those out back!". We also talked about how the best way to find a lost part is to buy a new one and then install it, and wait until the next day; the lost one always shows up.

  We were in one of the last industrial supply locations, and the man said we should go to the other place and make sure we go straight to the "old-timer", because he would know if they had anything unusual like this. Of course, we already knew this, and we also knew that it is even more likely that an old black man would know. The really old black guy at a place usually knows more about everything there than anyone. Why? I don't know, but it always seems to be so.

  I was thinking about other possible ways to find one, and it occurred to me that I was
only looking for a banjo bolt used in similar applications. I knew that they were used in motorcycle brake systems, and after a bit more thinking, I remembered them being used on turbo-chargers, too. I mentioned it to Herb, and he said: "There's a turbo shop right down here in Buhl, about 5 miles down the road". Well, we had run out of ideas, so we figured might as well go have a look. I knew when I woke up yesterday that I would be finding a bolt by end of day, and the day was winding down, so it seemed like this was it.

  We drove down to http://www.mjmturbo.com/ to see if they might have one. Buhl, Alabama is a one-horse town, and I am not even sure if they have a gas station. They DO have the biggest turbo shop I ever saw. This place was amazing. Thousands of turbos everywhere.This looked like a serious operation, but when we got out and walked over toward the building, it seemed deserted. We suddenly heard someone calling from the stairway of one of the buildings, and we went over to see this person. It was an old black man. I showed him the bolt, and he said something like : "Oh yeah - we got about a thousand of those out back". He was not kidding.

  We went inside the big warehouse, and he started looking through buckets and coffee cans under a bench.It was dark in there, but I knew right away that we would find it. Within ten minutes, he handed me one and I said it would work. He took it over to the blast cabinet and cleaned it up, and while he was walking, I got out the only cash I had, which was a Ten. I asked what he would take for it, and he said $1. I would have given $20, but I figured I better just give what he asked, since this situation was already spooky. We walked toward the exit and I nearly walked off the dock. I told him I didn't want to do like Corie Mushrooms did when she jumped off the fallen pecan tree and her front legs buckled. He seemed to like that I had baby goats, and he laughed about that. I thanked him and shook his hand, and we left.
 

  I tested the new bolt and it fit perfectly. I had spent nearly a week looking all over the world for a seemingly rare part that was absolutely essential, and right at the very last minute before running out of ideas, all the necessary elements came together, as if by magic, and it was all settled - just like that. From the moment of remembering the possibility of a turbo application, all the clues coalesced and it was so obvious and simple. I do admit that this can be considered simple logic (a basic algorithm), and that anyone could examine all possibilities and eventually reach a solution, BUT - at the same time, it really, REALLY seems almost impossible that this worked out the way it did.

  This is actually more normal in my life than not. I always think about how people worry so much and they get mad at me sometimes because I just sorta "wing it", and everything always works out for me. It's true - I always know everything will be fine, and somehow - it always is. I have a charmed life. Somehow.