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Post by inuvik on Mar 30, 2006 15:05:09 GMT -5
I love this paragraph! Gave me a great laugh. Charles had been spoiled, led a priveleged life in the garage, drove only two miles a day to work and back. Suddenly he found himself parked in the driveway, and the first time it frosted, I came out to find he'd thrown up his water pump all over the driveway in protest. But we had a talk, about how, yes, he had to live outside and drive thirty miles to work and back now, but I fed him more often and gave him baths and changed his oil and did routine maintenance and doctor's checkups. |
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Post by inuvik on Mar 30, 2006 15:23:32 GMT -5
The VW mentions got me thinking. My Dad and my Grandpa owned several VW bugs over the course of my child hood.  AW, so cute! |
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Post by inuvik on Mar 30, 2006 15:26:10 GMT -5
I always thought no one would touch my car because of the hand controls. Most people don't realize that anyone can drive the car as normal and just ignore them. Count me in as one of them! That's good, it means families wouldn't need more than one car. Or on long trips, more than one person can drive. |
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Post by housemouse on Mar 30, 2006 16:50:54 GMT -5
For the longest time my husband's main mode of transportation was a 195 Ford pick-up truck. For almost the entire time he owned it the starter didn't work. Whenever we went anywhere we parked on some kind of incline so we would be able to get a good start and bump start it. One thing I learned from those days is that when people see you pushing a car they always get out and help. I believe that every single time we bumped that truck, at least one stranger was there to help us get it going.
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Post by shmeep on Mar 30, 2006 17:48:00 GMT -5
One thing I learned from those days is that when people see you pushing a car they always get out and help. I believe that every single time we bumped that truck, at least one stranger was there to help us get it going. Once my Audi died on an offramp and, almost before I knew what was happening, a group of (attractive, if I recall  ) guys jumped out of their car and pushed me to safety around the corner on the street. They took off and drove away before I could thank them but then, when I looked up, I saw an Audi repair shop across the street I had never noticed there before. Turned out the problem was something my brother had previously suspected so I told the mechanic and he came across with a simple part that needed to be plugged into something and I drove home a few minutes later. Easiest break down ever. |
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Post by Duchess of Lashes on Mar 30, 2006 20:10:11 GMT -5
Perhaps this would be better titled, Stupid Car Story, rather than Weird Car Story.
My second car (I am currently on my third having waited until I was mature enough to secure my driver's license -unfortunately that didn't happen until I was 29!) was a brand new 1995 Isuzu Rodeo with less than 10 miles on her when I drove her off the dealer's lot. I considered her my absolute pride and joy and I loved driving her. She got her oil changed every 3,000 miles without fail, had her regular check-ups, was hand washed and babied. She got 95,000 miles on her first set of brakes, 80,000 miles on her first set of tires, 105,000 miles on her first spark plugs, she was an absolute dream of a car......until the night I picked up the green nozzle instead of the red nozzle and filled her 1/2 empty tank with diesel fuel! I couldn't for the life of me figure out why all of a sudden she hesitated all the way home from the gas station, why she had no guts in the engine, especially when trying to get up and go from a red light, why she had this sudden change of heart and wasn't being her usual responsive self.
The next morning, when I went out to start her, she hesitated again, belched a couple of times and blew out a thick, heavy exhaust, coughing like a chain smoker until there was so much of it in the air, I had obliterated any view I might have had of the house across the street. The receipt from the previous nights purchase, resurrected from the depths of my purse confirmed my worst fears - although unitentional, I had tried to kill my car!
Thank heavens for AAA and a local, small town mechanic who didn't laugh at me or my stupidity!
"Anyone can make a mistake like that these days," he said, with a completely straight face. "What with those big, new pick up trucks and those big diesel engines, they've changed the shape of the nozzle so it fits anyone's gas tank. Didn't use to be that way, but it is now! I had a woman in here last week done the same thing!" God bless him!
After draining the tank, flushing the system, changing the gas filter, the air filter, and I'm not sure what all else, driving my car for almost an hour, trying to get the last of the diesel out of her system, he presented me with a $90.00 bill for parts and labor and sent me on my way.
I am very pleased to say that she forgave me for polluting her inards and happily provided several more road trips to Canada and back. Now, an old lady with 156,000 miles of wear on her, she doesn't shine quite so bright, but she still sits proudly in her parking space, right next to my third car: another Isuzu Rodeo!
Hey, why change a good thing?
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Post by carl1951 on Mar 30, 2006 21:43:44 GMT -5
As I have said before, Love ya Shmeep.
Later, Carl
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Post by hoosier on Apr 1, 2006 17:19:14 GMT -5
When I was in high school my dad owned one of those boxy Dodge vans. One May we all went to Indianapolis to the track ( the Speedway where the 500 is run). At the end of the day, on the way home, the van began to overheat. We pulled into an A&W. My brother and I were sent across the street--actually a 4 laner!!!--to a gas station. The mechanic drove us back and took a look. If I remember rightly, it was the water pump. Anyway,we had to keep it filling the radiator with water to make it home. The folks at the A&W gave us a couple of bottles with water. We smelled like root beer all the way home  Another funny one--my brothers owned an old red Dodge pickup truck. It was fun to drive but the little arrow that tells you what gear you're in had fallen off so you had to feel as you changed gears--okay I am in drive or reverse??? One day my sister was driving it and the hood flew up! Another day, as she turned a corner, one of the wheels came off! I really hated it when they decided to sell the thing! |
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) guys jumped out of their car and pushed me to safety around the corner on the street. They took off and drove away before I could thank them but then, when I looked up, I saw an Audi repair shop across the street I had never noticed there before. Turned out the problem was something my brother had previously suspected so I told the mechanic and he came across with a simple part that needed to be plugged into something and I drove home a few minutes later. Easiest break down ever.
