Daily Journal February 10, 1998, William Thomas Thompson. It’s a great new day here of bright sunshine and a mild Tuesday morning. I arrived home late after a nightmare last night on the highway. As I was traveling North on I-95 about 10 miles inside South Carolina, I noticed suddenly that I had no headlights. I begin following other vehicles to use their lights but I realized that soon my car will shut down and I will be out there in the dark and I do mean dark. Many miracles happened suddenly, I saw a sign of a parking area, so I slowed down and when seeing the arrow I begin to turn leaving the light of the truck I was following. I had to almost guess at the entrance. My engine quit running in the turn just as I passed the sign saying cars to the left and trucks to the right, it was too late to change my direction, so I let it roll onto the parking for trucks having no power steering or brakes. I was doing only about 3 MPH when I rolled into place. I tried to call home on my digital phone but a recording came on to say that there is no service in that area. There were no pay phones at this stop; it was like a rest stop but no facilities. All these big trucks with their motors running and drivers were sleeping inside; it looked hopeless to me. This entire trip I had been plagued with this thing of no starting at random. I stopped at a new AutoZone in St. Augustine before I left. The store was not officially open yet, the manager was nice to check my battery on his new machine for me and it showed that I had a dead cell. He asks me to return the weekend to buy a new one. At this point my car was running fine and starting every time. Other times it would start if you let it set awhile. I saw a driver out there walking his dog in the dark and went out to ask for help, he got on his radio to ask about a wrecker service or repair. Later he pulled out promising to stop 45 miles North at Walterboro and send a tow truck. I realized that even the door locks would not work if I had no battery and would be exposed for the night to anyone wishing to rob or whatever. I was sitting in the car saying or thinking to myself, you are in real trouble now. This is the big one and there is no way out. Suddenly the driver in the first truck got out and came over to my car. Was he a welcome sight? This was the Good Samaritan with a big flashlight, he went over all the wires even though any body would know that my alternator went out I thought. After he finished and seemed sure that he could not help, he offered to call for help, give me water or soft drink or whatever he could before leaving me there, he suddenly started to search all wiring all over again. I was so proud just to have him there because I felt so helpless to save myself. He found 2 wires behind the alternator broken into. I thought he was kidding me. Why would 2 wires be broken and how did I ever get here if so? He said, yes I found your problem. But, I cannot fix it. He showed me what to have the mechanic fix if and whenever I got one. He got into his truck as I was thinking, those wires could be fixed, and there he stood again with a pair of wire cutters in hand and twist the wires back together. How we needed a jumper cable but I could not get my trunk open because my battery was dead and who needs a key anyway with all electric everything on cars. He was most willing now to jump me off but he had no cables, after many tries, my trunk opened.