May11.2010 Long Tuesday, longer Wednesday.
-Replaced my washer-fluid pump, as it wouldn't push any fluid!
-Ouch, transmission needed flushed. The red stuff was brown, almost black (the mechanic came out to show to me even!). Extra 190$. Bleh.
As I sit making flash cards for the sphincters of the digestive system, I can't help but recall my Anatomy teacher's ridiculous "study guide" ramblings on Monday. He reminded us to "know the sphincters, because we know how much [he] loves sphincters." He said it with a grin, making a funny, though I doubt if he understood the way the entire class was taking it. "Yes.." we all surely thought, "we know you do."
So, as an addendum to this entry, I drove right home after the mechanic. The next morning I slept through all three alarms, woke at 925 and screamed out of the house. About 10mins down the road I hear this horrible sounds, like my engine's tearing through cardboard. I roll the windows down and it sounds more like the right front tire. I know I should stop and check it, but I cannot be late for this final, so I hit the hazard lights and keep going. The sounds lessens, and stops after a couple miles (after some old gent assures me he doesn't see anything stuck in my tire (me praying for a cardboard box.) Then the smell hit me: burning. I couldn't tell if it was rubber or plastic, but it was thick and petrol based. I didn't see any smoke, and still needin to haul butt, I burned rubber all the way to school (so to speak!) I didn't even have time to check once I got there, 5 min til the door I grabbed my pencil and ran up the stairs to slide into seat.
After the looooong wait through the hour long final and about 30mins after (we were requires to "attend" the last day of lab, at least til he gave us our lab grades), I was able to inspect my car. Besides that I'd parked under a tree that sapped all over it (sigh), I looked under and saw some weird plastic stickin out, and I hoped it was something I hit and it stuck in the wheel well. Then I looked on the posterior of it, and found it to be the molded wheel-well guard, and it was shredded.
During my drive, the molded piece that runs from the back of the wheel well to the front, and then kicks out and up at a 90° to cover the windshield fluid reservoir and transmission hoses. The nose piece apparently came off and 45mph winds pressed the molded plastic into the tired and rattled against the body. The burning smell was my tire burning a hole through the deep edge. And then through the superficial side. Yea, this thing is borked. So I spent 10 mins on my back on the hot asphalt, in the only clothes I have unpacked, when I should be scoopon up my cat. Called husband and we decided it was too coincidental to not be connected to them replacing the Trans/Windshield pump. So I called the Hyundai, folded the plastic up so I wouldn't run it over and rip the whole wheel well out, and headed to Hyundai.
With a pit-stop at my local DQ, cause I hadn't eaten yet that day, and I had a BOGO left from me bday. I'm pretty sure this DQ will go out of business when I'm gone.
I sat at the mechanic for two hours while they fixed it enough to drive to FL, and have the part sent to me, with no charge. Though, the guy who ran the place came out to ask me what I hit. I explained what happened again, and he said there's a huge scrape under the car that the mechanic says wasn't there yesterday. The scrape in question is almost a year old, when we took the car over a well concealed rock at the botanical gardens in Fayetteville. Sigh, just tryin to blame it on me :(
So after 2 hrs at the Mechanic's I scream to the house, chuck everything left in the house (along with the cat) and finally make it on the road at 3pm. I checked in on FB each time I hit a new state (or saw a weird billboard: "Who is John Galt?" with no link or number; just the quote) and only stopped for gas once. Was terrified by construction once, by big rigs once (dood swerved over three lanes, while apparently digging in a bag on his lap!!) and was cut-off, waved over, and irritated people, several times. Hit Erich's around 1030. So happy to see my husband again! Allowed he and Faygo to take me to TGIFs for dinner (mm broccoli soup). THEN, and only then, after socializing the family unit until one, was I able to finally sleep!!
I let Shane drive us the next day :P PS: Bento's in Gainesville has fantastic sushi!
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