Driving a bus and trailer is sometimes difficult in the city. At least a short bus is quite a bit easier than a big one.
We were in Abbotsford BC. Dan wanted to visit his father, who was staying at an elderly assisted living facility there. I was driving the bus as we pulled into the crowded parking lot. There was a path around the bulk of the cars in the middle, I recalled, with not too much room to spare. I eased the bus to the far corner, and beheld a tight path, between a curb protecting a grassy verge and a tree, and a shiny blue truck. I kept the bus close to the curb, on the outside of my turn, and watched the trailer follow around. It looked like it was gonna clear the blue truck, but the space was not generous. It was an awfully shiny truck.
I crept the bus forward, eyes flicking between the road ahead and the side view mirror showing a limited slice of what was to my side.
*crunch* *pop*
I froze, foot planted on the brake, eyes wide. I met Dans eyes in the rearview mirror.
Oh right, that tree.
I threw the bus into park, and slid out of the door. Sure enough, the big tree had one thick branch thrust out over the roadway, already bearing scars of encounters past. This branch had halted our progress by way of my costume box. The sturdy blue lid, survivor of rain, snow, and being shipped greyhound, was flattened. Blue plastic fragments littered the ground beside the tree. Fiddlesticks.
I got back in, reversing the bus gingerly. The trailer jinked sideways, jackknifing slowly. Dan guided me as I heeled the bus over, away from the defiant tree. The bus nosed forward, the trailer cleared the shiny blue truck, and the tree merely menaced our roof storage.
I climbed up, and surveyed the damage. I would need a new roof storage box. One cargo strap had been pulled off, but was still good. The custom built shiny aluminum roof rack was thankfully unharmed. (Don’t worry Justin, I won’t be whining at you for a welding repair. Yet.)
The problem with roof bins is you have to get a good one. And good ones are hard to find unless you are willing to spend four times the amount on a bin that was actually made to ride strapped to a vehicle. I was not about to shell out megabucks for a Thule, and the rubbermaid hingelids were all but useless. You couldn’t even run across the tops of them, for heaven’s sake!
Sadly, todays casualty was my best bin. A GSC extra heavy duty with a securely clipping lid, reinforced top that could be stood on, and foam tape I had added to seal the lid when closed. It was also big enough to fit my gargoyle wings and at least half my costuming stuff. All, if you didn’t could the stilts or foam rabbit ears. Or fox costume… Ok, I might have outgrown one bin. Don’t judge me.
The resilient lid of my costume box had never been designed for tree encounters. A large piece of the leading corner was missing, and one top ridge was split. My costumes were exposed to the light BC drizzle. This was A Situation, to be sure.
After the visit, we made our way to Walmart. the bins there had lousy flat clip on lids, stuff you could dislodge with a firm blow of your hand. The tooltotes were small, and expensive. They looked sturdy, however. They had no GSC products at all.
Home Depot had some cheap rubbermaid hingetops. Those things had flimsy lids that didn’t even fasten. That may be fine for storing your christmas tinsel in the safety of your basement, but was utterly impracticle for bus top use. I bought one on sale, because I needed temporary containment for my costumes on this rainy day. We still had a ferry to catch today, and no time for this unplanned errand. I turned to the internet, where a little google-fu revealed the GSC Product toll free number.
I navigated my way thru the automated phone system, preparing myself for my shot at interacing with a real live person. Like a well trained monkey, I pushed the right buttons.
“Welcome to Big Name Company, manufacturers of Amazing Summer Clothes and Superiour Patio Furniture, and GSC Storage Solutions. Press one for English. Pour Service en Francais….” *bloop*
“….Press three for GSC products….” *bleep* One step closer to actual living beings. It is amazing how the big companies are interwoven, where all their branches are. “… Press one for Sales……” *bloop*
“GSC Sales.” A tired voice answered. Over the road noise of the moving bus, I miss his small voice at first. “Hello?”
“Oh hi!” I startle out like a stereotypical cheerleader. That’s me, lightning fast reflexes when actually reaching my goal. “I was hoping to get some information from you on where to buy a certain GSC tote box.”
“Right, do you have the model number?” His voice emerges muffled, like he has the phone cradled on his shoulder.
Oh right. That’s what I was supposed to do, when I was peering up at the label that has miraculously survived life atop the bus.
“Ummm..”
“Tell me what it looks like.” he interrupts me with. I can nearly hear him rolling his eyes. I bet the sales office of the big company doesn’t get too many calls from confused hippies bent on getting just one tote.
“It’s a heavy duty model, grey sides and a blue kinda domed top. About a 150 liter.” That was one thing I picked up in Home Depot. Bins come in fluid measurements. I tend to think of them as Keep Small Items Together size, Could Put Maeg In size and Costume Box sized. I was guessing this sales guy wouldn’t appreciate my sorting system.
“Ok, how tall is it? I need to know, because we have a 125 liter and a 174 liter. Do you know?”
“Oh boy, it could be about…” I temporize.
He cuts me off. “We don’t have a 150 liter, so it has to be one of those.”
I didn’t think the smashed costume box was quite a 174 liter. That sounded like quite the large box.
“The 125 liter?” I hazard.
“Ok, where are you?”
“We are in Abbotsford BC, soon to head to Vancouver. I was hoping to pick a new one up somewhere on our travels…” I have no idea where the call center is located. I hope this guy has heard of BC. I hope he knows where Canada is. Even roughly.
He breaks in “Rona carries most of our products. You do have Rona up there, right?
“Oh yes! That was just the clue I needed.” I am so relieved to know where to begin my search. “Because I just love that tote box. It is the best I have ever owned!” I blathered.
“Right. Glad to help.” he states, sounding anything but. I guess he doesn’t get too many hippies calling in to enthuse about the proud GSC products.
“Oh yes, you certainly have. Thank you again! Bye!” I decide to retreat before I can detect more than a hint of irony in his voice.
That call being done, we proceed to Rona. Sadly, it turns out to be a small store, with only the regular duty totes with hinged lids. These things do not stand up as well to being strapped all out of shape to the top of the bus. I decide to hold out for the extra heavy duty model. Somewhere, out there….
For now, my precious costumes are swapped into the severely inferior rubbermaid hinge top. The lid doesn’t even click shut. I wrapped the cargo straps over it, and cinched them down viciously. Hopefully that will do to keep off the intermittent drizzle.
We press on for Vancouver.
Wherever you are, Be There 