Richmond, we hardly knew thee

Thanks to the Xperts at Xpertech Auto Repair, we were on the road from Asheville to Richmond with a new fuel pump by about 4:00 pm. Andrew and I waited in the shop for over 5 hours and, honestly, it wasn't too bad. There were loads of friendly people to talk to, great employees, and there was even a big fluffy dog named Bo. It was very nice to see an auto shop that seemed as though it was there as a service to the community and not as a rip-you-off, soulless moneymaker like you almost exclusively find in Miami. While sitting on the waiting room couch, we witnessed the owner do at least 4 or 5 jobs for people for free. Also, he put us first in line ahead of maybe 15-20 other cars and made sure we were done in time to make it to Richmond, even with replacing our failed tire, and made sure to top off all of our fluids before we left.

The trail to Richmond was a long one, especially since our Service Engine Soon light came on immediately once we loaded all of our gear back up in the van. We arrived at the Plaza Bowl 6.5 hours later, about 3 hours late, to a woman at the door saying, "I guess you don't have to pay the cover since there's no other band playing." To which we, of course, replied, "We are the band," and within 20 minutes we were rocking the neon lanes for 25-30 people. Although there was a big, beautiful stage, the permits were unfortunately not yet acquired so we had to set up directly in front of it. The sound was weird and we were tired as all hell, so it wasn't our best performance, but still we made the most of it. It was genuinely amazing of Gills and Wings guitarist Alex to walk up to me after the show and give us the entire $100 from the gig for our auto troubles. We are so sorry that we had to miss the Gills and Wings set. They are a truly amazing band with lots of great stuff to check out (http://myspace.com/gillsandwings)

We just made the kitchen at an Irish pub and most ordered O-burgers, which would come back to haunt us, but it wasn't important at the time. We shared a few pitchers with Alex, his wife Dawn, and their friend and former neighbor Asli before heading back to Asli's beautiful ski-cabin-esque home for some much needed relaxation. We hung out for a while and chatted it up with our new friends before all passing out stone-cold and lifeless.

Unfortunately, back in O-town, Gloria got a sticker posted on her that suggested she was an abandoned vehicle and would be removed at our cost in 72 hours. My guess is this had something to do with the leaking gas tank. The cost of leaving her in the impound lot for the next week was looking to be about $1500 so after much hassle and finagling we had a wrecking company give us $160 in the morning to take her out of my street and our lives for good. So much for possibly making our money back on the tour.... We hate you Shawn Frisbie you miserable man (G-rated version.) You should be ashamed of yourself.

Oh well, on to Philly!!