- Aug 18, 2006
- 9,976
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So for right now, I drive a Volvo station wagon and/or a Dodge Caravan '91 to school. The Dodge Caravan is a beaten up old thing, it's been around for 17 years, it's been keyed, it just looks like something you'd see in a drive-by shooting or something.
Today, the heat stalled my caravan--that is, I got out of school, it was blazing hot, got into my caravan, and put the key in the ignition. I turned it, but the thing wouldn't turn on (the engine is a bit old). Its a bitter-sweet reality that I knew what I to do (this happens a lot)--I throttle/pump the gas petal while turning the ignition.
Unfortunately, the other 20 to 30 people around my car were unaware of the procedures being undertaken in my car.
I finally got the car's engine to respond, the car slowly started shuttering in a very clk-clk-clk-clk-clk type of way that erupts into a VROOM VROOM VROOM.
Now let me digress--the rubber belts within my car used for connecting different gears and wheels become really squealy when its really hot/cold.
So not only does my engine sound like 1 million banshees experiencing ecstasy for the first time, the rubber belts in the car start squealing like your pet skunk would when making love.
Not to mention, my constantly throttling the car had meant that I had floored the car while it was (luckily the parking brake and P-gear were on) and I didn't roar over the hill I was parked in.
In the meanwhile, Dodge Caravans are something of a rarity for a student to be driving, so I was getting eyeballed by kids, parents, etc.
When the engine started spinning and the rubber belts started squealing, I cannot describe to you the mass amount of confusion. Kids rolled their eyes in terror and uncertainty, thinking the car would explode at any minute. Parents shouted for kids to get out of the way, and students walking along the sidewalk parallel to the animated parked car hurried along in a frenzied pace.
I got my car into Drive, and went off, looking in my rear view mirror, kids who had stopped at the stop sign gave me one final glance, wondering how such a hunk of metal was able to get itself together and go, and how someone would be so out of touch, as to drive one of those things to school.
I thought it was a story worth sharing, because I was proud that I could without help; deal with a car that's 17 years old and desperately shows it; get myself out of the stall I found myself in whenever the engine was turned on, and be able to gracefully extircate myself from a somewhat embarrassing, but quite amusing, situation.
Cliffs:
-Its hot
-My car does not turn on--that is the engine fails to start RPM'ing
-I pump the petal
-Car turns on, creates a racket
- People look at me like I'm a goner (as in car will explode)
-Get the thing going
-I am proud of myself (mildly)
Today, the heat stalled my caravan--that is, I got out of school, it was blazing hot, got into my caravan, and put the key in the ignition. I turned it, but the thing wouldn't turn on (the engine is a bit old). Its a bitter-sweet reality that I knew what I to do (this happens a lot)--I throttle/pump the gas petal while turning the ignition.
Unfortunately, the other 20 to 30 people around my car were unaware of the procedures being undertaken in my car.
I finally got the car's engine to respond, the car slowly started shuttering in a very clk-clk-clk-clk-clk type of way that erupts into a VROOM VROOM VROOM.
Now let me digress--the rubber belts within my car used for connecting different gears and wheels become really squealy when its really hot/cold.
So not only does my engine sound like 1 million banshees experiencing ecstasy for the first time, the rubber belts in the car start squealing like your pet skunk would when making love.
Not to mention, my constantly throttling the car had meant that I had floored the car while it was (luckily the parking brake and P-gear were on) and I didn't roar over the hill I was parked in.
In the meanwhile, Dodge Caravans are something of a rarity for a student to be driving, so I was getting eyeballed by kids, parents, etc.
When the engine started spinning and the rubber belts started squealing, I cannot describe to you the mass amount of confusion. Kids rolled their eyes in terror and uncertainty, thinking the car would explode at any minute. Parents shouted for kids to get out of the way, and students walking along the sidewalk parallel to the animated parked car hurried along in a frenzied pace.
I got my car into Drive, and went off, looking in my rear view mirror, kids who had stopped at the stop sign gave me one final glance, wondering how such a hunk of metal was able to get itself together and go, and how someone would be so out of touch, as to drive one of those things to school.
I thought it was a story worth sharing, because I was proud that I could without help; deal with a car that's 17 years old and desperately shows it; get myself out of the stall I found myself in whenever the engine was turned on, and be able to gracefully extircate myself from a somewhat embarrassing, but quite amusing, situation.
Cliffs:
-Its hot
-My car does not turn on--that is the engine fails to start RPM'ing
-I pump the petal
-Car turns on, creates a racket
- People look at me like I'm a goner (as in car will explode)
-Get the thing going
-I am proud of myself (mildly)
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