Interactions with God #10

Tim Burns was the name of a guy who I went to high school with in Wexford, PA.  I didn’t hang out with Tim much, so I never really knew him well.  Tim also went to West Virginia University after graduating like I did.  I didn’t see, or hang out with him there either.  I did have one class with him the spring semester in 1983 though, the year I moved to Texas.  He was retaking an Accounting class that he failed the prior semester, just like I had.  We both had the same teacher, but at different times.  Apparently, this teacher failed half his students, in all his classes.  Just one of those guys I guess…

Oddly enough, Tim had also transferred to UT in the fall of 1983, just like I did!  Both our decisions were completely unrelated.  I had known he was there, but never hung out with him or saw him on campus…until late in August of the year 1984. 

Tim was a nice guy, so it was a pleasure to bump into him while walking along the main courtyard of the UT Campus.  We talked for a while and I shared my struggle for transportation.  Tim said that the City of Austin had an abandon vehicle auction every week or so, and that I might be able to get a car, or motorcycle, for really cheap there.  I decided to look into it. 

Rose Corcoran, was a girl I met through the Lebanese neighbors who John and I hung out with at the earlier apartment.  She had been dating one of the guys named Chaukie (Don’t think I spelled his name right), everyone just called him Jackie.  Rose had a cleaning business as well.  During the trouble in August, I had reached out to her to trade help as another means to get transportation to my cleaning contracts.  I would basically help her with her cleaning contracts, and she would help me with mine.  She had a car. This worked out well because Phil was not always able to get me to my job sites. 

Once I looked into the abandon vehicle auction thing, I found that these were vehicles that people basically left on the side of the road.  After the city tried to reach the owners, and could not, they would auction them off to the highest bidder just to get rid of them.  They generally didn’t have keys in them, so you had to hire a lock smith, or get the vehicle towed.  If you didn’t get the vehicle out of the lot by the end of the day, the city would again own it again, and you would lose the money.

I talked Rose into taking me to the auction.  When we got there, I had no idea what to expect, so I began to ask people what was going to happen.  The first guy was great.  He explained the whole key thing, and the rest of the rules.  He then introduced me to several other guys.  We had a good half hour before the auction started, so he and the others, who seem to take a liking to me, walked around to check out the different vehicles, that were scheduled to be auctioned that day. 

I didn’t have much money to spend. Really, I only had about $25.  Most of these vehicles would go for $100 or more, then additionally, the cost of towing, or the locksmith…this posed a problem.  So I settled on a small Yamaha street trail motorcycle.  It was old (1973 old), it was ugly, but amazingly, it had a key in it!  While walking around with the group of guys, the one that I first spoke to saw the key and said “Wow! These things never have a key!”  He then took the key out of the ignition switch, and handed it to me quietly. “You should take this.  No one will want it without the key.”  A few weeks earlier, I would have agreed. But now things were different. I was different. I told him “No, I can’t do that”, and I put the key back.  Surprised, he shrugged and said “Suit yourself”. 

Just as the auctioneer was about to start, one of the guys in our little group, said to the others, “OK, you want the VW, you want the Toyota, you want the van, I want the truck, and the kid wants the motorcycle.  Nobody bid on the other’s items, OK?” They all quickly agreed before I even realized what was happening! 

These auctions were a regular thing in Austin.  They were a prime place for Used Car dealers to pick up cars to sell real cheap, and turn an easy profit.  Apparently, the group of men I had connected with were the biggest Used Car dealers in the area.  In one quick moment, my greatest competition for that little motorcycle was gone.  Watching God move is really cool.

Now keep in mind, I had prayed that morning, asking God for a vehicle for just $25 dollars.  I did have a bit more, but figured I would need to get the vehicle off the lot, and probably repaired somewhat. 

The bidding started for the vehicles on the list.  As we went through the cars, we came to the motorcycle and then passed it.  I started to get discouraged thinking maybe it was not to be auctioned today.  My new buddy, the guy who took the key out, then said to me, as the auctioneer had already started on another car, “Hey what about your motorcycle?”  I told him “I don’t know, I guess it is not going to happen today.”  The guy then interrupted the auctioneer, yes he did, and said to the auctioneer “Hey what about this kids motorcycle?” Surprisingly, the auctioneer stopped the bidding, and then went back to the motorcycle.  He even apologized to everyone for missing it.  

I was a bit nervous by now.  I never should have been.  I still get nervous, and worry, and I should not.  Faith is a funny thing, and forgetfulness is its greatest enemy. 

The bidding started with me at $5.  Another guy, who I didn’t meet already, said $10.  I, voice probably cracking, said $15.  The guy again said $20.  Terrified now, I said $25…  Yes, the bidding stopped with me at $25.  I couldn’t believe it.  I joked for weeks later that I should have prayed for $5, instead of $25!

It doesn’t end there.  After Rose and I stuffed this little dirty old motorcycle into her hatchback, and drove it away.  A few days later we took it to a nearby mechanic shop to get it fixed.  It needed a clutch cable, flat tire fixed, and who knows what else.  The shop wanted a $50 deposit to look it over, and get it running. They would total the charge as it was completed, figuring it to be around $100. It would take about a week, they said.  Ok, the $50 I had, but that was it.  It was going to be a beans and rice week.

I struggled through the following week to scrape up another $50 or more, to cover what it would fully cost.  When I called, they said they got it running, and it would cost $50.  I was thrilled, but I would still need to get the insurance, tire fixed and a new clutch cable.  It would probably sit for another week or two, but I HAD a means of transportation now! 

When I got to the shop, I took out my money to pay them.  They guy at the counter said, “What is that for?”  I told him that they said on the phone it would cost $50.  He said, I had already paid the $50.  You see, I had assumed that the $50 was additional to the deposit.  It was not.  I now had enough to get the cable, insurance, tire fixed, gas and anything else I needed to get that thing on the road that day.  

That motorcycle lasted several years.  It was ugly and looked like it shouldn’t run at all.  I often joked that it really didn’t work.  I said that God had assigned it two angels, one was pushing, and the other made the motorcycle sound.  I was even pulled over twice by cops who didn’t think that it could possibly have passed inspection.  I eventually sold it to a kid in Houston for $20 after I had run over it with a van…there was my motorcycle from God for $5. 

He really does have a great sense of humor.