Who is Your Marlin Perkins?

Every Sunday night when I was a kid, our fam would watch Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom (remember Marlin Perkins?). Awesome show.  It came on just before or after Disney (can't remember).  But talk about branding!  I still remember the theme song..."Mutual of Omaha is people you can count on....." Ok, you know the rest......

So, anyway, speaking of people you can count on....

Last night, on the way home from 2911Students, the Yukon dies in the middle of Highway 5.  Like they've done it before, Abby and Hannah jump out on to the dark freeway (which was kind of scary) and help me push the beast down to the Georgetown entrance (it pays to have girls w/ strong legs).  Within 60 seconds, Ford is on the scene with jumper cables in hand and a super-strong flashlight app on his phone.


Under normal circumstances, we'd jump the battery and be on or way, but it turns out the alternator's shot so the battery won't charge.  Fun times.  In a quick moment of contemplation, Abby yells out, "Hey, want me to call Russell Moore?"  I say, "Well, it's kind of late...."  Ford says, "Dad, I'd trust Russell to tow it in over anybody else."  And I'm thinking, "If my kids are smart enough to know that Russell's the guy to call, then I should just roll with it.  "Abby, call Russell!"

By the way, Russell has bailed me out of more bad situations than I care to remember.  That's just the kind of guy he is.

Same goes for the hombre that lives a few houses down from Russell:  Griff Servati.  Although Griff didn't hook up the chain and drag me home, he was kind enough to text and ask if we needed help.  Then later said, "I was checking on you but the person you really needed was Russell." True, but if it wasn't for Griff, I wouldn't have wheels to get to work today....and I reaaally needed to get to work today.

But here's the really cool bonus.... ..even though just about any vehicle is an upgrade for me, I am going to look like one extra-sharp-cool-dude in the mini-van.  Hey, what can I say, I'm a family-man, so I'm down with the van.  And since I've got lots of extra room, call me if you  need a ride to Frisco/Plano.  But if you need your car dragged off of a dark freeway late at night, you might want to call Russell.  One of the few guys I know who'll actually answer his phone late at night....and show up.

So...who do you call late at night when you really need somebody to answer the phone?  I'm sure it's not Marlin (or Russell, for that matter).  But I hope you have a friend who's just like them.