Great Recall

I had a lovely flashback last night, while driving home, of my road trip in Australia. It was quite vivid actually, involving my friend Kerri and I about 2 hours into our road trip with our recently purchased station wagon- Old Faithful- a 1988 white, rusty box on wheels. I remember a certain amount of coaxing on my part, going into the purchase. Kerri wanted something a bit more reliable.. but reliable meant $3000 and Old Faithful meant $1600.. and she came with blankets!
So, we went for it. She was perfect. And she ran beautifully for just over two hours.

Then things started smoking and bubbling, and making noises, so we had to pull over and find a mechanic who knew what all the tubes meant under the hood, and could explain to us why they had to stay attached to things... YES. That is STILL all I know about engines three years post-trip. Get over it.

$50 later and we were in good shape. The only problem with a little tantrum like that is that try as you might, you can never really trust her again. We watched her temperature gage like a hawk for the 3000 or so remaining miles, steering clear of the mountains to avoid any back spasms, and staying just around 110 km to avoid the shakes. She had it easy.
And here's where my little theory comes in. If you hold a grudge against your car for being temperamental, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
There was one time after all this pampering, (maybe 4) where we required a favour. A simple climb up an unavoidable mountain on highway one. And as we climbed, so did her temperature, until we found ourselves pulled over on the curb, enjoying the scenery through the haze of exhaust and overexertion . Man, what a blast.

BUT, back to my flashback from last night. Here I am, driving our car (I wish she had a name) back from school after a torturous 10 hour day of seat work. And I'm enjoying the scenery. People have their Christmas stuff up, lights are everywhere.. including inside the car, specifically the ones that have lit up around most of the gages, saying crazy things like "change oil" "low coolant" "low tire pressure" and "service engine soon". All of this would not have concerned me, if I hadn't then noticed that little gage that I used to watch like a hawk in Australia, specifically while climbing mountains. And yes, it too was climbing, right into the red zone, while I frantically recalled what overheating can do to an engine.
Ah yes. Cook it.

Luckily, I remembered something useful as I approached the peak of the mountain (the escarpment, to those of you who might have the wrong idea because you know what a mountain really looks like) and I cranked the heat, and for extra good measure, popped the car into neutral and cruised the remaining five miles down the "mountain" (still averaging 65 km/h I might add).

Well, we made it home. I shamed the car with sound verbal abuse, then picked up James at a gas station, where he was waiting in the rain with a bottle of coolant. Unfortunately, it was the wrong type, so I braved another trek out to school this morning without the coolant, which probably was not smart, but I had a test to write.

Our car is now being serviced. And I am trying to avoid holding a grudge. I am thankful for the flashback though. Time to re watch some old videos ( I definitely caught Old Faithful's geyser on tape... as Kerri frantically tried to pop the hood and colorful fluids rushed down the highway. Oh boy. What fun :)