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Dec. 2nd, 2005 06:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
phthalombrageI got royally fucked by my car.
Beautiful image, isn't it?
So this morning my battery light comes on. Weird, huh?
It's on in the afternoon but my car starts and I'm on my way.
The radio cuts out.
Weird.
Then my clock shuts off. Shit, I'm supposed to be at work as early as I can get there. I wish Taylor would have told me she was going to shirk Interact because then I wouldn't have had to waste time at school.
I turn off the AC. Must be the battery.
I'm out of gas. I stop at a gas station. Hmm... it seems my car won't start.
Must be the battery.
Luckily, I have jumper cables in my trunk.
A barefoot man in a green convertible jumps my car. I thank him graciously and am on my way.
Driving down the road to work... the passenger is not wearing a seatbelt light lights up and dings randomly. The entire center console thing isn't lit up anymore.
Then the gas gage drops a quarter tank.
The speedometer goes down to zero.
Okay... I'm in a school zone.
I go with the other cars.
And I've driven a car with a turned-off speedometer before. Haha.
Then the oil light lights up.
And the car begins to shake.
And my turn signals stop working, but I manage to turn with great difficulty (the steering went out) onto Hyde Park, where my car suddenly comes to rest in the middle of the road.
I get out and begin to push it toward a parking lot.
A Hispanic guy runs over and tells me to get in the car, he'll push me up into the lot and I should steer.
He doesn't have a large English vocabulary, but he's very nice.
He gestures toward the road, and a black truck containing two more guys pulls up.
I tell them it might need oil, get the bottle out of my trunk, and the first guy fills it up.
The youngest guy looks like he's in his late twenties. He can speak English pretty well. He says they're from North Carolina and do I know where Best Buy is? Regretfully, I don't. I'm such a flake. They jump my car and I'm really grateful. They start to leave, and are just about to turn off onto 41... but my car has also turned off.
They drive back and look under the hood again. They said the battery terminals are dirty and I need engine coolant. One of them lets me use his cell phone. I call my dad. Quickly. I mean, Christ, they're from NC. Roaming charges or soemthing. I told them everything was okay and my dad was coming, and they pushed my car into a parking spot and were on their way. I thanked them. I wish I knew where Best Buy was.
So my dad came and was pissed. He had to jump my car four times on our way to the shop. It broke down at every intersection. He guessed it was the alternator. Finally, he gave up. He had to be at work and he couldn't keep pushing me off the road to rejump the car beacause his back hurt. We left my car in a parking lot and he drove me home.
So I got home, called my boss (he never answers the phone), called half of Pine View to try to get Melody or Calliope's cell number... and finally Chloe came through and saved me. Melody would have shown up at my work to find nobody there! I hope somebody picks Calliope up at circus and they can still see the movie and have fun.
Anyway... I have to figure out how to get places tomorrow. I need to get in touch with Calliope because we need to be in essentially the same places. However I may have to go in to the office Saturday morning to make up for my absence when I was most needed, in which case I can walk to Sarasota High for practice, hang out for several hours, and walk back downtown for the parade. Means I miss the Progressives thing, but my parents hate driving me places and have their own plans. I just can't go. It's all do-able, albeit WAAAAAAAY too much physical activity for one day. I can deal.
Beautiful image, isn't it?
So this morning my battery light comes on. Weird, huh?
It's on in the afternoon but my car starts and I'm on my way.
The radio cuts out.
Weird.
Then my clock shuts off. Shit, I'm supposed to be at work as early as I can get there. I wish Taylor would have told me she was going to shirk Interact because then I wouldn't have had to waste time at school.
I turn off the AC. Must be the battery.
I'm out of gas. I stop at a gas station. Hmm... it seems my car won't start.
Must be the battery.
Luckily, I have jumper cables in my trunk.
A barefoot man in a green convertible jumps my car. I thank him graciously and am on my way.
Driving down the road to work... the passenger is not wearing a seatbelt light lights up and dings randomly. The entire center console thing isn't lit up anymore.
Then the gas gage drops a quarter tank.
The speedometer goes down to zero.
Okay... I'm in a school zone.
I go with the other cars.
And I've driven a car with a turned-off speedometer before. Haha.
Then the oil light lights up.
And the car begins to shake.
And my turn signals stop working, but I manage to turn with great difficulty (the steering went out) onto Hyde Park, where my car suddenly comes to rest in the middle of the road.
I get out and begin to push it toward a parking lot.
A Hispanic guy runs over and tells me to get in the car, he'll push me up into the lot and I should steer.
He doesn't have a large English vocabulary, but he's very nice.
He gestures toward the road, and a black truck containing two more guys pulls up.
I tell them it might need oil, get the bottle out of my trunk, and the first guy fills it up.
The youngest guy looks like he's in his late twenties. He can speak English pretty well. He says they're from North Carolina and do I know where Best Buy is? Regretfully, I don't. I'm such a flake. They jump my car and I'm really grateful. They start to leave, and are just about to turn off onto 41... but my car has also turned off.
They drive back and look under the hood again. They said the battery terminals are dirty and I need engine coolant. One of them lets me use his cell phone. I call my dad. Quickly. I mean, Christ, they're from NC. Roaming charges or soemthing. I told them everything was okay and my dad was coming, and they pushed my car into a parking spot and were on their way. I thanked them. I wish I knew where Best Buy was.
So my dad came and was pissed. He had to jump my car four times on our way to the shop. It broke down at every intersection. He guessed it was the alternator. Finally, he gave up. He had to be at work and he couldn't keep pushing me off the road to rejump the car beacause his back hurt. We left my car in a parking lot and he drove me home.
So I got home, called my boss (he never answers the phone), called half of Pine View to try to get Melody or Calliope's cell number... and finally Chloe came through and saved me. Melody would have shown up at my work to find nobody there! I hope somebody picks Calliope up at circus and they can still see the movie and have fun.
Anyway... I have to figure out how to get places tomorrow. I need to get in touch with Calliope because we need to be in essentially the same places. However I may have to go in to the office Saturday morning to make up for my absence when I was most needed, in which case I can walk to Sarasota High for practice, hang out for several hours, and walk back downtown for the parade. Means I miss the Progressives thing, but my parents hate driving me places and have their own plans. I just can't go. It's all do-able, albeit WAAAAAAAY too much physical activity for one day. I can deal.
