Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Counting the brokendown Uhauls

I drove to Las Vegas over the Fourth of July weekend on I15. The drive takes about four hours if traffic is light; it’s also very boring. I normally listen to books on tape or music to pass the time, but this time I wanted to see if Uhaul truly sucked or not. So, I counted the breakdowns. Driving out I counted three breakdowns. The first was a small truck on I15 near San Bernardino; it was towing a old Ford. The family, all five of them, were gathered around the smoking front end. They looked pissed. The Second break down was spectacular, Uhauls biggest truck, towing a beat up old Buick, with two other cars in the sand next to the road near Zzyzx road. There were about nine adults in all, they were unpacking the truck in 100 degree heat while a tow truck tried to lift the moving van. It looked like a disaster in the making. Poor bastards. The other break down was a deserted smallish looking van, parked under an overpass.

On the way back, I stopped counting at six. One large van barely even made it out of Vegas. It boggles my mind that a company like Uhaul would rent a POS Van and send people off through a desert. I mean, what if somebody dies of heatstroke?

I’m going to come up with a point system for this new hobby. Suggestions are welcome.