Back in 1992 or so I went with my buddy Kevin on a weekend trip to Minneapolis. The purpose of the trip – SPOOKYWORLD- a three day horror convention. The stars of the show Linda Blair (the exorcist)+ Kane Hodder (Jason-Friday the 13th) + Tiny Tim (tiptoe through the tulips). I had saved a lot of money so I could shop, buy stuff at the convention, and I also wanted to buy a video camera. We left Friday morning and everything was fine until about 20 miles to our destination. My car a 1988 Dodge Daytona, started to chug and cough- getting progressively worse and worse. I pulled over to check it out but saw nothing (I’m no mechanic). We keep on truckin and my car is getting slower and slower. The last two miles or so we were probably cruising at about three miles an hour. We arrived at the little hotel and I parked in the front. I took my foot off the brake and my car uttered a last gasp and died. I got out of the car and immediately smelled something burning. I followed the smoke trail to the back end of the vehicle. I take a look under the car- my muffler and exhaust pipe are glowing red hot and smoking. We check in and I call the nearest garage and have my car towed in. $120 bucks. The mechanic say’s he will give me a call when they find out what the problem is. They call back a few hours later and tell me it’s the water pump. It’s going to cost $350+ to get it fixed. The worst part is that it’s a special model they don’t have in stock- it’s going to take 2-3 days to get it. That means we will have to stay an extra day or 2, and both of work on Monday. GREAT. The convention is across town so now we need to rent a car. The car rental place is also across town so we have to call a cab. A 45 minute cab ride later I shell out another $65 dollars. Car rental for 2 days $150. It keeps getting better. We get back to the hotel in our white Grand Prix and the woman at the desk gives us a message. “They found the part at another garage and it will be ready tomorrow”. I guess that’s good news. Rented a car for nothing- oh well. The Woman at the front desk hears us talking about the convention we are going to and say’s “Hey my daughter is working at the convention; I can get you free tickets”. Finally some good news. Both of us are tired from running around so we hit the sack. We get woken up by the mechanic at 9:00 in the morning to say my car is ready. We drive over in the rental car to pick up my car- I shell out the $410 smackers in repairs and we both drive over to the rental place to drop off the car. We then finally head out to the convention on the outskirts of town. We get there and the place is lame city. There is hardly anybody there. There are a few interesting movie props, some memorabilia, a kiddie hayride, and a lame ass haunted maze. Kane Hodder did not even show up, and Tiny Tim looked like a half dead zombie (he actually did die about 3 weeks later). I got him to sign a Fangoria magazine I had. The highlight of the whole trip was Linda Blair. There was nobody even in line for her this place was so empty. I talked to her for about half an hour. I got her sign some photos, movie cases and other stuff. I told her I came all the way from Canada to see her. She was so happy she got out of her chair- came around the table and gave me a great big hug and a kiss. I thought to myself “hey were hitting it off- I’m 99.9 percent sure that if I ask her to dinner after the convention she will go”. Then I remember I have 3 dollars left to my name- so much for that plan, mission aborted. The next day we head back home. I get back to my house and my Dad is watching a 20/20 episode doing a story on how small town garages are scamming out-of-towners with a “You need a new water pump” story, while your car only needs a five dollar part. Son of’ a bitch.
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