Today
was going like any other Tuesday. I was a little later than usual
to work because I woke up feeling rather crappy. Bronchitis seems to
have turned into a sinus infection and the combination has the potential
to make me feel very miserable. Not to mention I don’t talk, I croak.
My plan was to wait until tomorrow, when we get paid, to go back down
to the walk in clinic and say, “Help! Your antibiotics didn’t work and I
have to lead worship this Sunday!” I had an appointment at 2pm to get
my bangs trimmed and afterwards decided since I was halfway to the
clinic I would head out there today.
Halfway
there my car, which was running perfectly fine before, started to make a
sputtering noise. I decided to turn around and head back to the
office. When I put my foot on the brake, as I approached an
intersection, it died. Somehow I managed to coast from the left hand
lane across to the corner of the turn lane, but I couldn’t go any
further than that. (This is the second time in my life I’ve broken down
in the left hand lane and had to coast across other lanes of traffic
and miraculously no one was coming.) I was right by a gas station, a
somewhat scary gas station, but I couldn’t get it around the corner and
into the lot.
I
turned on my hazard lights, stayed in the car, and tried to figure out
who to call. Do I call Pastor Dan like I always do? Do I try to call
someone that lives near by? I needed a guy to come and help move the
car. I tried a combination of both... no answer. So I called Sherilyn
at the office and asked her to send one of the guys. Sick, frustrated,
and getting hot, I sat in the car.
Despite
having my hazard lights on several cars came up behind me and honked.
REALLY? What part of the flashing lights on the back of my car did
they not get? I was even more amazed at all the guys that drove by that
didn’t stop to offer help. Maybe it’s because I was in the car and not
standing out by it, but it was not a smart idea to stand on the corner
of a busy intersection. However, I may not have been all that much
safer in the car since people didn’t seem to understand the hazard
lights.
I
was starting to wonder if chivalry had died completely when a finally a
guy jumped out of the passenger side of an SUV that was headed another
direction and ran over offering to push it into the gas station parking
lot. He was with a girl, probably his wife or girlfriend that said, “Go
help her!” Either way it was really sweet of him to push my car into
the parking lot. He didn’t even wait around long enough for me to thank
him. Just ran back and jumped in his car. I got out just in time to
yell thank you and wave at them both.
Jimmy
and Pastor Dan showed up and went to work trying to figure out what was
wrong. They tried to jump the car, but it didn’t work. I went into
the gas station and bought a Coke to finally get rid of a bit.. okay a
lot... of corrosion off of my battery. Once that was gone they
attempted jumping the car again. It worked, sounded normal, so I
started to drive it home. Jimmy was behind me, all was going well until
we got about halfway back. Again as I got to an intersection and
started to put on the brake it sputtered and died. This time smoke was
pouring out from under the hood. Phrases like “there’s a lot of oil”
and “cracked head gasket” were being thrown around. Neither are
comforting.
I
left Clementine at the intersection of 98 and 331. We called Norm, the
trusty car guy, and he was going to come tow it. Pastor Dan also
called the Sheriff’s office to let them know that my car was being
picked up so I wouldn’t get a ticket for abandoning it at the
intersection.
I’m hoping it’s nothing major...
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