Better safe than sorry

I may sound like a wimp for turning around and skipping Contraflow when the low pressure indicator went on in my rental car Saturday morning, but some of you may recall that in the summer of 2009 I ignored some warning signs and pressed on driving from East Texas to Oklahoma City for SoonerCon and I blew my transmission.

I was stranded seven miles south of Henryetta, Oklahoma. I forgot to take my cell phone, and so I couldn't call for help. I found that that these days, because everyone has a cell phone, no one would stop and see if I needed help. After an hour a state trooper came by. By the time I was towed into Henryetta, it was past 5 p.m. and my car couldn't be fixed until Monday. Michael Moe was nice enough to drive out to Henryetta Saturday morning and bring me the rest of the way. On Sunday, Gorg Huff drove me and dropped me off in Dallas, where my mother-in-law lived.

I went back to Henryetta in October so sell the car for salvage. It was Columbus Day - which is a state holiday in Oklahoma but not Texas - and I couldn't transfer the title, so I gave it to the purchaser and told him he could send me the $100 when he got clear title. He actually did.

With all this in mind Saturday morning, I was very uncomfortable driving farther and father from home at like 4 a.m. with a warning light staring at me. Also, I had never driven from East Texas to New Orleans before, and I am completely unfamiliar with the route. Call me a chicken, I felt a lot better when I reached home.