Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/131367
Bloody Knuckles By Peter D. DuPre CHANGING LANES Rise From The Dead? I Sure Hope So. My friend, Warren, called me a few weeks ago to break the news that a mutual friend had passed away and suggested that I come down to his cabin in the mountains for a weekend memorial service and barbecue. Regretfully, I had to decline. Warren, his wife, five big dogs and two hairy cats live in small cabin out near the middle of nowhere and the cabin is just too small to accommodate overnight guests. Usually, popping down to Warren's is no big deal; we load up the motorhome and head on down. This time it was different. "Sorry, Warren," I said. "We can't make the memorial. Cedric is dead." For those not in the know, Cedric is my old, but usually reliable, '77 Dodge 18 bloody knuckles 0613 cl.indd 1 Tioga motorhome. I got lazy over the winter, forgot to keep it on the trickle charger and didn't start it even once. So now Cedric is deader than a road kill possum and the engine won't fire up even with a jump from the emergency generator. Luckily, the big 440 engine still turns over so at least it didn't seize up over the winter months. Even so, Cedric's resurrection will certainly take longer than the measly three days it took Jesus to come back to life. It may take a bigger miracle, too, because I suspect there is more wrong with the motorhome than is immediately apparent. First off, I know for sure that the battery is toast and that there is corrosion on the terminal cables. I also noticed that the fan belt has disintegrated into June 2013 // WWW.CHANGINGLANESDIGITAL.COM 5/7/13 10:41 AM