Monday

The Free Sofa


Recently my wife spotted a sofa sleeper for free on Craigslist. We wanted one for the guest bedroom so we drove my old Ford truck the 40 miles to the little town where it was located. “It will be a fun little drive in the country,” she said. That didn’t sound so bad, and the sofa was priced right. We made the drive and after loading it up we stopped at a convenience store for a glass of ice for the warm bottle of water we had in the truck and a slice of pizza that we split because we had not eaten yet that day. Heading back down the highway we got about 5 miles out of town when something began to smell hot. The truck began shaking and losing power. We were just able to turn off of the highway onto a gravel road when it died. Once we rolled to a stop we hopped out and looked under the hood. What greeted us was smoke pouring out of the valve cover. I commented that this free sofa wasn’t free anymore.

It was a bright sunny day, in the 90’s and humid. Looking around us as far as we could see were waving green corn fields without a tree in site. After placing a call to AAA we stretched a blanket across the windshield to create some shade and waited. And waited. The flies were biting, the sweat was trickling and there was nothing to do but watch the corn swaying in the fields. I observed that if we were stuck out there after dark at least we had the sofa to sleep on.

The shop assigned to handle the remote area we were in was very busy and we ended up waiting two and a half hours for the tow truck to arrive. We had just drunk the last of our water when the driver showed up. He was sympathetic about our situation and invited us to wait in his air conditioned truck cab while he loaded our truck, with the free sofa still strapped in the back, onto his flatbed truck. As he hopped into the cab to drive us home we both grimaced as he somehow pegged the scenario perfectly. “Let me guess,” he said, “you got a really good deal on that sofa on Craigslist.”

Related Reading:

How I Sell on Craigslist

Is AAA Worth It?

Can You Really Find Good Free Stuff On Craigslist?

4 comments:

  1. a hahahahaha!!!! I just have to say even though you technically did end up spending money on "the sofa" I really enjoy sleeping on it and I think its well worth it!

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  2. That "Anonymous" comment could only have come from my daughter, as she and her husband are the only ones to have slept on it yet.

    Soooo glad you liked it, darling, as it was all for you! ;)

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  3. Some of us are still itching to know the diagnosis and damages on the truck....

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  4. My son-in-law, who is a mechanic, myself and my neighbor all brain stormed on it and can't figure it out yet. We checked all the fluids, plugs, timing, looked under the valve cover. It starts and runs, but very rough. For now it's a mystery.

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