Question? What is 189 over 107?

by Craig | Apr 2, 2019 | Stories from Craig

Just yesterday (back in the summer of 2009) Andy (my son, age 24) asked if he could borrow my ‘95 Camaro to go to work. He works at a pizza joint and usually, but not always delivers Pizza. I don’t allow him to ever deliver in any of my cars. So, I had some real trepidation in lending him my Camaro. But being the nice farther, the ‘sucker’ dad, I am, I Said, “You can use it.” But I gave him this one simple rule: he was in no way to use it for delivery.

“OK” says my son.

“And” using a stern voice, “I’m almost out of gas so you need to put some gas in on the way to work”

“Sure Pops”. He replied. Then off he goes.  The roar of the Camaro’s, high performance engine faded away as he left our otherwise quiet neighborhood.   

Three hours later he calls me.

With a calm unemotional voice Andy says: “Dad, your car stalled. I think it is out of gas”

“Well’ says I, “Did you put gas in it like I said?”

“NO”.

“Is the gas gauge on empty?” I asked, restraining my growing anger.

 “YES”.

 “Then I’ll be there in a few minutes. Where are You?”

“On a side street, near the DQ on Sprague Road” 

That is only three miles more distant than his pizza place is. I wondered, “Why was he driving out there?  Perhaps on a DELIVERY!!”   My heart rate then begins to rise and with it my blood pressure.

Did I mention I was being heavily medicated to control my high blood pressure?  My body retains excess water that squeezes my blood vessels increasing blood pressure. I take diuretics or water pills to compensate. Those water pills ensure my bladder is always full and needing to be emptied.  This frequently happens when I’m at the movies, like just when Darth Vader confesses he is Luke’s father.  I’ll whisper to my sweetheart: “Anything important happen while I was gone?”  Then there are the Vasodilators that relax blood vessel walls to let blood flow with less restrictions.  This drug also seems to affect my love life. My high cholesterol builds up fatty speed bumps in the vessels slowing blood flow, so, I take statin drugs and niacin to treat that. But the statin drugs cause restless legs syndrome, so I take a drug, ropinirole to treat that.  I take aspirin and anticoagulants to reduce the risk of ‘thrombosis’.  That’s doctor talk for blood clots that can stick tighter at those fatty speed bumps that stop blood flow to important places like my brain.  Sometimes I suffer an angina attack.  Like when I’m breathing cold air or too much physical labor or emotionally upset like from a son that doesn’t obey “Pops”. It’s a painful tightening feeling in my chest.  Some victims describe angina as a elephant sitting on their chest. I take Beta Blocker drugs to reduce the onset of angina.

I grabbed our lawnmower’s three-gallon gas jug and meet Andy at my disabled car.  Glug, glug, glug, gas goes in, but car still won’t start.  I called a tow truck, took Andy and his red pizza warming bag back to his Pizza joint, then returned to my car to wait an hour for the tow truck.

My car, as you know is very special.  It has what they call a high performance, small block V6 engine. Indeed, the engine has ‘tuned port, sequential fuel injection” that produces high horse power and squeal out torque.  

The fuel pump for this monster power engine is computer controlled. A high flow fuel pump feeds fuel into three different gasoline lines going up to the engine.  The computer then precisely measures and injects the fuel into each cylinder.  Now this next part is sort of important so read slowly for maximum comprehension. The fuel pump is cooled by the gas flowing through it. With no gas flowing, it won’t cool, then the pump seizes up and the car won’t run.

The mechanic had to drop the exhaust, loosen and drop the gas tank to remove the pump, change the fuel filter, bleed the 3 gas lines and put it all back together…400 dollars’ worth of labor.

Question?  What is 189 over 107? 

Answer: 189 over 107 is my blood pressure as measured within about an hour of getting the repair bill.  I wonder what it would have been without all those medications?

“Craig” my wife says, “You cannot let things get to you like this” So, I guess I should take yoga and Zen meditation courses to learn how to actively control my blood pressure and of course, it’s really all my own fault for buying a specialty car in my mid-age, then trusting my son to buy gas and not deliver pizza.