Lunch Time Problems

Well there I was. Driving to lunch when all of a sudden I heard a thunk and my power steering was gone. Not only that but since I drive a diesel I had no brakes either! So I was in quite a fix while going nearly 50 miles per hour.

I down shifted and started to break the momentum while fighting the steering and keeping it on the road. There was an intersection about a block away and I was still trying to get it slowed down. The brakes were pretty much gone but my foot was on the floor anyway and down shifted one more time to the lowest gear possible and was finally getting it all under control.

I got stopped at the intersection and rolled across to a dirt road at an idle. Pulled over, shut off the engine, and popped the hood.

What do I find? No more belts! They are all a tangled mess strung over the pulleys. The power steering belt had broken which also powers the power brakes. It also took the other two belts with it!

So now it wouldn't cool since there was no water pump belt. So I limp it to a quick shop near my work place and call in that I wouldn't be able to make it back that afternoon. So I very slowly and carefully drive the back roads to a mechanics shop I know works on diesels. I make it there safely and in about two hours there are new belts and two broken brackets.

So for now there is a temporary fix that should last plenty long enough to find a power steering pump bracket and a AC compressor bracket which bolts it to the block.

So now with my afternoon shot and I wasted four hours of leave I really didn't want to waste (I was planning on calling into work and taking Friday off) I decided to watch a recommended movie called The Five Obstructions.

It is a documentary where Lars von Trier challenges his hero, filmmaker Jergen Leth to remake his shot film, The Perfect Human except to remake it five times and with different obstructions that von Trier puts in his way each time. I really have mixed emotions about this documentary.

I guess over all it is about art. Jergen Leth pretty much lives in seclusion in Haiti so Lars von Trier, the founder of the Dogme 95 film edicts, challenges him to make a bad film and is seemingly disappointed each time Leth brings back a good remake. However the end reveals that he wanted his hero to be alive again, to feel young again, and by lovingly chastising him and pushing him he did that.

The methods used are debatable though, for instance the most memorable scene to me was the one filmed in the slums of Bombay, the most miserable place on Earth is how von Trier presented it. A full meal is consumed in front of a clear plastic backdrop in front of dozens of hungry street people.

I am not 100% for sure how I feel about this movie. It has good points and then disturbing points such as the meal. I do like the premise and how von Trier was more or less playing a role to challenge his hero to become his hero again but at what cost? When is art for the sake of art a bad thing?

It is subjective I guess.