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Sputtering Noises
Aug. 18th, 2004 08:41 amWell, If you end up bitching about being down about this and that, the universe always has a little gift for you to show you it could be worse.
As I left work, at 6:30 - which has been early as of late, I went to Soundwaves, and picked up the new Scissor Sisters, The Killers, and Franz Ferdinand CDs. I also found a copy of a 1990 Red Hot + Blue tribute album of Cole Porter Tunes. Now I just need time to listen to them all. I should have noticed that the car hesitated before starting, just a little hiccup.
I decided not to go shopping and grab dinner at Chipotle. The music was turned up really loud, and when Chris called I couldn't hear him, so I went outside to the car, put the windows down, and talked to him there. We chatted for a while about this and that. Finally, after being in the Chipotle parking lot for a while, I decided it was time to get moving, and I turned the key and...
*sputter, Sputter, sputter*, then *click, click, cklickclickclickclick*
Crap. Luckily I was still on the phone with Chris. I told him of my frustration, and I as I do often, I got extremely flustered. I think I said something like, "Well fuck. What the hell am I going to do now!?" This was followed by a long period of silence as my mind trying in vain to sort things out. it's the way it goes when something unexpected comes along. I know i can manage, just I hit some sort of overload and panic for a bit. I considered the walk home.
Chris reminded me that he had put me on his AAA coverage, but all I could think of was that the temp card was at home. Chris calmed me down and gave me the number and the phone number. It was running late for him, so I told him good night and dialed. I told the guy what had happened and they sent a truck, but it would take 45 minutes to get to my location.
I went into the Chipotle and headed to the bathroom, and the manager asked me why I was still here. She was nice to give me a coupon for a free burrito. This is why I love eating here.
Well, things looked bad when the rescue truck arrived, and he hooked up my car to his truck via jumper cables. it's interesting that he could just plug in his end, since I wondered how he was going to reach the battery in the extremely tall truck. There is a connection on the bumper with a plug. Who knew? He plugged in, and we waited. After a few minutes, he tried turning over the engine.
*click, click, cklickclickclickclick*
Well, we waited some more. He tried again. *click, click, cklickclickclickclick*
OK, this wasn't going to be so easy. We started making arraignments for the tow to my house. He looked to make sure the battery had water, which it did, then he made some adjustment in where the jumper cable clamps connected. He went back into my car, and I stood next to it, with the door open.
The car started, but even better, the car jumped backward since he didn't have the brake on, and the open door knocked me down. I told him to hit the brake. The car was still in reverse, since that's usually where I keep it. It locks the wheels when I'm stopped. I remember earlier having to tell him to push the clutch when starting, but forgot about the brake.
He got the car under control, still running, thankfully, and apologized for being unfamiliar with manual transmissions. Really? You can get this job and not know how to drive stick?
Well, It was running, so I shook his hand and drove off to the house.
So this morning i have to hope I can get it to turn over, and then drive over to NTB to get a new battery, and hope that's all it is. Nothing else seemed to go wrong during the trip home. I am worried because this seems to be the month for car trouble, as I've seen at least three other LJ'ers having problems, and even Chris blew out a tire a week or two ago.
I really can't afford to have any other problems. Doesn't my car know I'm poor? I want to trade this car in next year - can't it wait one more year? On the brightside i got to finish Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. On to the Naomi Nash books.
Oh well, this morning will be an adventure, I'm sure. Hopefully I won't have to call AAA again, but man, I'm really grateful to Chris for the membership - a sort of partner benefit, I guess. It's no wonder I love him.
oh well. Wish me luck...the Karma Police already seem to be after me!
As I left work, at 6:30 - which has been early as of late, I went to Soundwaves, and picked up the new Scissor Sisters, The Killers, and Franz Ferdinand CDs. I also found a copy of a 1990 Red Hot + Blue tribute album of Cole Porter Tunes. Now I just need time to listen to them all. I should have noticed that the car hesitated before starting, just a little hiccup.
I decided not to go shopping and grab dinner at Chipotle. The music was turned up really loud, and when Chris called I couldn't hear him, so I went outside to the car, put the windows down, and talked to him there. We chatted for a while about this and that. Finally, after being in the Chipotle parking lot for a while, I decided it was time to get moving, and I turned the key and...
*sputter, Sputter, sputter*, then *click, click, cklickclickclickclick*
Crap. Luckily I was still on the phone with Chris. I told him of my frustration, and I as I do often, I got extremely flustered. I think I said something like, "Well fuck. What the hell am I going to do now!?" This was followed by a long period of silence as my mind trying in vain to sort things out. it's the way it goes when something unexpected comes along. I know i can manage, just I hit some sort of overload and panic for a bit. I considered the walk home.
Chris reminded me that he had put me on his AAA coverage, but all I could think of was that the temp card was at home. Chris calmed me down and gave me the number and the phone number. It was running late for him, so I told him good night and dialed. I told the guy what had happened and they sent a truck, but it would take 45 minutes to get to my location.
I went into the Chipotle and headed to the bathroom, and the manager asked me why I was still here. She was nice to give me a coupon for a free burrito. This is why I love eating here.
Well, things looked bad when the rescue truck arrived, and he hooked up my car to his truck via jumper cables. it's interesting that he could just plug in his end, since I wondered how he was going to reach the battery in the extremely tall truck. There is a connection on the bumper with a plug. Who knew? He plugged in, and we waited. After a few minutes, he tried turning over the engine.
*click, click, cklickclickclickclick*
Well, we waited some more. He tried again. *click, click, cklickclickclickclick*
OK, this wasn't going to be so easy. We started making arraignments for the tow to my house. He looked to make sure the battery had water, which it did, then he made some adjustment in where the jumper cable clamps connected. He went back into my car, and I stood next to it, with the door open.
The car started, but even better, the car jumped backward since he didn't have the brake on, and the open door knocked me down. I told him to hit the brake. The car was still in reverse, since that's usually where I keep it. It locks the wheels when I'm stopped. I remember earlier having to tell him to push the clutch when starting, but forgot about the brake.
He got the car under control, still running, thankfully, and apologized for being unfamiliar with manual transmissions. Really? You can get this job and not know how to drive stick?
Well, It was running, so I shook his hand and drove off to the house.
So this morning i have to hope I can get it to turn over, and then drive over to NTB to get a new battery, and hope that's all it is. Nothing else seemed to go wrong during the trip home. I am worried because this seems to be the month for car trouble, as I've seen at least three other LJ'ers having problems, and even Chris blew out a tire a week or two ago.
I really can't afford to have any other problems. Doesn't my car know I'm poor? I want to trade this car in next year - can't it wait one more year? On the brightside i got to finish Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. On to the Naomi Nash books.
Oh well, this morning will be an adventure, I'm sure. Hopefully I won't have to call AAA again, but man, I'm really grateful to Chris for the membership - a sort of partner benefit, I guess. It's no wonder I love him.
oh well. Wish me luck...the Karma Police already seem to be after me!
