Broken Down on the Side of the Pennsylvania Turnpike at 5:00 AM
This is about par for the course at this point.
So, here I am, it's 5:00AM, and I'm broken down on the shoulder of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
I just dropped her dad off at the airport for a 2 week vacation...he's going to Nashville to visit his son, then travelling around to some other relatives down south. They're not from the south, but several of his cousins and other family have ended up down there...
I'd say it's between 35-40 degrees F out here, and I can't run the car to keep warm.
It's my "winterbeater" I'm driving, the 93 Eclipse AWD Turbo. Bought it this summer when I came to the realization that owning a "Summer Mustang" and "Winter Mustang" was pretty stupid with gas prices over $2/gallon. Mustangs are really shitty snow cars, even the excellent driver that I am. :)
So I'm driving back from the Philadelphia airport, about an hour and a half from my house. His flight leaves at 6:45 so we got him there by 4:45.
EL was going to drive him, but then she was going to come home, get The Boy and her mom, and go on an all-day shopping trip to the outlets and malls in Lancaster, PA. I didn't want her to have to do that, so I said I'd take him. Trying to do a favor, you know?
Joke's on me. On the way down, we drove through a recently (like, last 10 minutes) smashed deer on the highway. Almost skidded off the road in the fresh guts.
Then, nearer the airport, there was some plastic debris on the road - a wash bucket or maybe small garbage can - that I ran into at 65 mph. Didn't seem like a big deal, but when I got out just now to look under the hood, I realized the front air skirt on the car is cracked in 2 places. It's a winterbeater so I don't care, much, but it still annoys me. The car WAS in pretty nice shape outside, just a big dent in one door and I had already bought a junkyard door - same color and everything - for $15 to replace it.
Finally, this. After going through the tollbooths and getting on the turnpike, suddenly there's a POP and I've got no power steering. Uhoh. Idiot lights come on and the temp gauge was visibly moving up within 30 seconds.
I lost the "fan" (really, accessory drive - new cars have electric fans, y'know) belt. It's still on the pulleys, so either one of the pulleys on one of the accessories has come loose and thrown the belt, or one broke off, or the water pump (most likely) has thrown it's bearings.
I called AAA about 30 minutes ago, should be another 30. Blogging this by mail from my wireless iPaq. Over the cellular connection so it's SLOOOOW.
(It has Wi-Fi 802.11b also, and in most urban or suburban areas these days I can usually pick up an open home wireless LAN that someone's not secured and get free highspeed internet that way, but not on the turnpike. I am picking up an office building across the way, I think, but they've got a secured LAN there, I guess. And I'm not a "hacker" that knows how to scam that. :)
It's freezing in here, I'm barely awake, and trucks are roaring by about two feet from my door. I'll have to get towed somewhere nearby and then EL has to come get me. So much for the favor - well, she did get about 3 hours more sleep than she would have, anyway.
I really, really wish I'd worn socks.
So, here I am, it's 5:00AM, and I'm broken down on the shoulder of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
I just dropped her dad off at the airport for a 2 week vacation...he's going to Nashville to visit his son, then travelling around to some other relatives down south. They're not from the south, but several of his cousins and other family have ended up down there...
I'd say it's between 35-40 degrees F out here, and I can't run the car to keep warm.
It's my "winterbeater" I'm driving, the 93 Eclipse AWD Turbo. Bought it this summer when I came to the realization that owning a "Summer Mustang" and "Winter Mustang" was pretty stupid with gas prices over $2/gallon. Mustangs are really shitty snow cars, even the excellent driver that I am. :)
So I'm driving back from the Philadelphia airport, about an hour and a half from my house. His flight leaves at 6:45 so we got him there by 4:45.
EL was going to drive him, but then she was going to come home, get The Boy and her mom, and go on an all-day shopping trip to the outlets and malls in Lancaster, PA. I didn't want her to have to do that, so I said I'd take him. Trying to do a favor, you know?
Joke's on me. On the way down, we drove through a recently (like, last 10 minutes) smashed deer on the highway. Almost skidded off the road in the fresh guts.
Then, nearer the airport, there was some plastic debris on the road - a wash bucket or maybe small garbage can - that I ran into at 65 mph. Didn't seem like a big deal, but when I got out just now to look under the hood, I realized the front air skirt on the car is cracked in 2 places. It's a winterbeater so I don't care, much, but it still annoys me. The car WAS in pretty nice shape outside, just a big dent in one door and I had already bought a junkyard door - same color and everything - for $15 to replace it.
Finally, this. After going through the tollbooths and getting on the turnpike, suddenly there's a POP and I've got no power steering. Uhoh. Idiot lights come on and the temp gauge was visibly moving up within 30 seconds.
I lost the "fan" (really, accessory drive - new cars have electric fans, y'know) belt. It's still on the pulleys, so either one of the pulleys on one of the accessories has come loose and thrown the belt, or one broke off, or the water pump (most likely) has thrown it's bearings.
I called AAA about 30 minutes ago, should be another 30. Blogging this by mail from my wireless iPaq. Over the cellular connection so it's SLOOOOW.
(It has Wi-Fi 802.11b also, and in most urban or suburban areas these days I can usually pick up an open home wireless LAN that someone's not secured and get free highspeed internet that way, but not on the turnpike. I am picking up an office building across the way, I think, but they've got a secured LAN there, I guess. And I'm not a "hacker" that knows how to scam that. :)
It's freezing in here, I'm barely awake, and trucks are roaring by about two feet from my door. I'll have to get towed somewhere nearby and then EL has to come get me. So much for the favor - well, she did get about 3 hours more sleep than she would have, anyway.
I really, really wish I'd worn socks.
posted by Fensty at 5:38 AM
1 Comments:
You are a hoot!
Blogging from the shoulder of the turnpike.
Sheesh!
Well, I hope you are home, safe and sound, by now. If you had broken down near Lancaster I could have helped you out.
SH
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