Under Tow

This weekend has been a whirlwind of sorts for me. I've been here and there and trying to just get everything all sorted out in my life because I have been SO BUSY. Hhh. So I guess what happened yesterday should have come as no surprise. On my way back from Santa Cruz last night, where I was visiting with my aunt and uncle and cousins, my "check engine" light came on. Now...my car isn't exactly new, so this isn't a big deal, but I pull off on the next exit anyway, since it says there's a gas station. As I roll to a stop at the bottom of the exit, not only do I see no sign of a gas station or ANY sign of civilization, but there is also huge clouds of vapour rising from my hood, so that I can't even see the road. So I sit there for a few minutes, then when it clears a tiny bit, I roll over to the side of the road so I'm not blocking anything, and cut the engine and pop the hood. Apparently the check engine light actually meant something this time, because I almost got burnt by the vapourous clouds when I opened that hood, and saw green liquid spurting everywhere, including flickering off of the engine. Perrrfect. Thankfully, I know better than to just close the hood, so I looked around a little bit, and AHA!: a huge gash in one of the hoses.

Now, we all know I'm not car buff. And I don't carry duck tape in my purse, so I couldn't fix my own hose, so I get out my phone, call my trusty dad (who is a car buff), and then call Nolan and a tow truck. An hour later, as I'm sitting stranded on a little road in creepy Menlo Park (sorry, Sarah), the tow truck pulls up, and hooks me up. So me and my purse and my little tin of fruit jellies that I had just gotten at Trader Joe's climbed into the cab, and was off! And let me tell you: I have been on some bad roads in cars that have bad shocks, but all that was NOTHING compared to this truck. I'm halfway tempted to call those guys and see if they made it home okay, because I was positive we were going to lose a tire or I don't know, even the engine maybe, and die. It was bad. So anyway, in the cab, there are these two Israeli guys, and MAN they really made themselves at home in there, because it smelled like Israel. Like, strawberry hookah and stale bread and sand. Israel. In a nutshell. After watching several youtube videos on the one guy's phone, we make it home, and an ungodly amount of cash later, I'm free with my broken car and my perfect husband who was waiting with a hug and a clean house for me (YES! He cleaned the house! Is that really what it takes nowadays? Wow.). To make a really really long story a lot shorter, I am my father's daughter afterall, and was able to fix my own car today. YES. I still have the grease on my hands to prove it, and will post a picture of my work once it's light enough outside to get one. For the time being, I'll post a diagram of what I did. The red circle is the upper radiator hose I had to replace, and the yellow spot is where the split was. I AM SO PLEASED WITH MYSELF!

As if all that wasn't bad enough, when Ash U. drove me to the auto parts store today, I shut my own hand in the car door. Shhh, don't even ask me how.