Since we work ALL day long through the week, we feel pretty tuckered on the weekend. It is kind of shocking though, especially for our kids, to go so hard all week and then suddenly stop. They feel a sudden sense of boredom because they have gone full throttle and then have nothing to do. Their parents on the other hand, would like to just rest. We thought that this weekend we should get out and about a little bit and change what the weekend felt like so that we didn't have to deal with cabin-fever.
Well, sometimes you can have some good intentions.
We thought that we would have lunch and then try to drive around the island. We have ventured west and south from our place (we on living on the north tip of Penang), but haven't made a loop yet and want to see some more. We headed north and talked about where to have lunch. We picked a food stall near the beach instead of opting for American fast food. We had a big lunch for five for $16. It was pretty delish. Then we walked down to the beach to see the tourists taking part in water sports. We watched some para-sailers take off and land and saw a little bit of "Bali" jammed into a small piece of beach front (water sports, massage, hair braiding, etc.).
We had parked in the lot attached to the beach. When we got back to the car, it inexplicably would not start. We both looked at each other with consternation and some suspicion because our little toaster-of-a-car has been running fine since we have arrived. Casey would turn the key and nothing would happen. We had the parking attendant and a couple of the water sports guys come up and make suggestions, but no one offered to call anyone for us. The parking attendant told Casey he had "no spark" and Casey said, "Oh, ok...is that because you have had this happen before?" The man didn't know how to respond. Later, while Casey was under the car the parking attendant came up and asked Chase, "Oh, is your Dad a foreman?" (mechanic?) After some tightening and double checking of everything he could see/do within and under the car, it started up again. We decided to head home just to be sure everything was okay and to be certain we would not get stranded again. So far, all is well.
In our discussion on the way home, we determined it is pretty likely that someone tampered with our "Mystery Machine". We remembered that the parking attendant had come down to the restaurant while we were eating and went in the back to talk to someone. Ryan also noticed that he was watching us the whole time that we were dealing with the car. At no time did he or anyone else offer some assistance (that would cost a lot of money)--which we expected-- but maybe that didn't happen because Casey immediately started work on the car. We reminded our kids to be watchful because friends have had stuff stolen out of their car while they are distracted with fixing something broken by someone.
We learned too that maybe those parking lots near touristy places aren't the best place to go. It is probably better to park and walk from a store lot or park on public streets. In a lot where you pay an attendant, there is a greater chance for tampering.
We are not sure when we will venture out again because there are political rallies this weekend and we have been advised to stay close to home. But when we do, we'll have learned a lesson.
