Or: How to Ignore the Signals From Your Spirit I have done some foolhardy things in my life (I could probably write a book). All of them were due to ignoring obvious signals from Spirit within. This is an account of one of those ventures. Back in the eighties my family and I were living in Austin, Texas. I was gainfully employed and we were comfortable in our living circumstances. After 8 years I became very frustrated and angry because of all the work and long hours required at my job, which left no time for studies or leisure. In my desperation I decided to move to Las Vegas, NV, where our oldest son and his family lived. Leaving my family in Austin, I set out for Vegas in an old 1971 Volvo. Before long I noticed burning smells and strange odors. Then smoke began billowing from the front of the car. I stopped and discovered that the front tires were actually smoking because the brakes were so hot. When they had cooled for an hour I found a Midas shop, where they did their customary estimate. They wanted $2000 to repair the brakes, on a car I had paid $1495 for! So I said loudly "It really is true, nobody beats Midas!" and left. I figured out that the brakes only locked up when I depressed the brake pedal, so I drove the rest of the way to the City of Lights using only the parking brake! Then my wife insisted I come back immediately and get her and the youngest girl. So I parked the old Volvo in the long-term parking at the airport and flew back to Austin. Upon arrival I bought an old ugly trailer, hitched it to our station wagon, and loaded what I could on it, leaving all our furniture behind. Three miles out of town the engine overheated. My wife told me the car had overheated badly the previous week, and she had paid some Mexican to replace the water pump. I discovered the coolant was flowing in the wrong direction-- he had installed the wrong water pump on the car! So I bought another new pump and installed it while we were behind a store after dark, using a flashlight, finishing at 10 pm. We soon discovered that the car still overheated quickly, even with the correct water pump. At that time I had dark, foreboding feelings that we were making a mistake attempting to drive to Las Vegas. But my wife pointed out that we couldn't turn back-- we no longer had a place to live and I had no job. Succumbing to her specious argument, I decided that we were committed to moving to Vegas. Have you ever tried to drive 1300 miles in a car (with a trailer) that overheats every 10 miles? Believe it or not, that is exactly what we did. In August. Across the desert, where the temperature was 100+ degrees. With no air conditioner (didn't dare use that), a whiney little girl and a hot wife. I had a several 5 gallon jugs of water; each time the radiator boiled over and we saw clouds of steam we would wait about 30 minutes (in the desert with no shade) for it to cool down, then refill it with water and drive another 10 miles. I still can't believe we made it up the steep winding road from Hoover Dam, where there is heavy traffic and no place to pull over. When we finally made it to Las Vegas, I stopped at an automotive shop. They informed me that the car needed a new head gasket, so I paid the guy $215 to replace it. It then became clear that the engine STILL overheated. I confronted the man about this, to which he replied that I had only paid him to replace the head gasket-- the head was probably cracked, but I had not paid him to scan it for cracks..... Having no more money to spend on repairs, I picked up the Volvo (the one without brakes) at the airport, and was required to pay a parking fee of $65-- don't ever leave your car parked at an airport. I barely had enough money to get us a modest apartment, which we moved into with no furniture. Positions in my line of work were not available, so I took a job as telemarketer for 6 hours afternoons and evenings to bring in a few dollars. It was discouraging to watch the top 4 or 5 telemarketers receive checks every week for $1700, $2500-- the top seller got a check every week for $3500! Those were the guys who got the good leads: the suckers with lots of money to spend. The rest of us made the guarantee of some $3 an hour, because we were calling the bad leads: the people with no money to spend. While talking with one of the privileged guys who got the good leads, I told him I had quit a job in Texas that paid $3000 a month. He exclaimed "You f----- up!" Then it hit me like a ton of bricks-- I had made a huge mistake in moving to Nevada. Spirit had tried to warn me of this with all the bad feelings I was getting, just like we are taught in the Lessons of Enlightenment. When I kept ignoring those feelings, physical obstacles were placed in my path, but in my bullheadedness I still didn't get the message! Spirit must feel extremely frustrated with me at times..... To make a long story shorter, I procured cheap parts at a junkyard and fixed the brakes on the Volvo, which I then swapped for a pickup with a flatbed and rack on the back. We even managed to trade in the station wagon for a car that didn't overheat. All our stuff fit into the pickup and we made it back to Austin, dead broke when we got there. I was hired by another company and promoted to near-management level. After 4 years I quit that job too, did some crazy things, and Spirit became very frustrated again..... But that is another story. Lloyd A    E-mail Lloyd                    Back to Readers' Contributions