Emergency? Well maybe not, but it sure would have been nice to have something.
Here is one for the books, as well as a good reason to have a safety / emergency kit around.
Last month on my way to work my car stopped.
I know, that doesn't mean much to the guy who can fix anything, but to me, "just stopped" means just that.
I stopped at a stop sign, started to pull forward and the engine just stopped running, right in the middle of the intersection.
Well, since the car was still moving, quite slowly I might add, I opened the door, jumped out and started to push.
I have a quite large car, a Ford Five Hundred.
This thing must weigh 5,000lbs.
Thank goodness it was still rolling because there would be no way for me to get that big thing moving by myself from the start position.
For the visual, I wear a suit and tie every day with Floresheim Leather soled shoes, plus it has still been cold so I had my trench coat too.
See now, doesn't that make the story better? A guy in a suit pushing a car...
Well, unless you were there.
So to continue, there I was pushing this big car into the middle median, you know what we call the "before the turn" turn lane and TA-DA...
I made it.
So there I was, in downtown 3 blocks from my office, sitting safely in the middle of vehicles moving both ways going 15 to 20 miles per hour...
safe.
I have carried AAA for 13 years and only used it once, well, twice now.
I had my car towed to the guy who does all my work and that was that...
well almost.
This wouldn't be a very good article if that was that.
Yep...
you guessed it.
He got into the car, turned the key and...
it started.
Better than that, he plugged in all his "thingamabobs" to test the computer and yep...
you got it, nothing.
He said it could be this or that but there wasn't really any way to tell because whatever it was, my car wasn't "throwing a code".
So now what? I asked.
He said to drive it until it happened again.
If it did happen again to wait 15 to 20 minutes and try to start it...
just like he did.
Then bring the car back in and see if it showed anything.
I told him that wasn't such a great idea because of what I do for a living, that I might end up in the middle of nowhere on the freeway next time with my luck.
He assured me there was really nothing he or any other mechanic could do at this point, unless I wanted to start throwing money at it to replace censors, then wait and see if we picked the right censors.
So, reluctantly, off I went, hoping that it wouldn't happen again.
Guess what...
just yesterday it happened again, and just like I thought, 65 miles per hour, middle lane 5 lane freeway.
Hit the gas to speed up, because I was slowing down and...
pbluhah...
the car acted like I took a vacuum hose and started sucking the gas backward away from the engine.
The good news was it didn't actually just quit this time, but it sure wasn't giving me any power.
I hit the turn signal, made my way to the right side emergency median and rolled to a stop.
Tried to start the car several times and every time I turned the key, the car started until I hit the gas and then...
pbluhah and it would die; quite frustrating to say the least.
Now, more laughable fun stuff; same thing like before, suit, tie, Floresheims, over coat, all the same except now I am not safe with cars speeding past at 55-65mph and spraying dirty road mist making .
On top of that, it is March in Washington State where it is still rainy, windy, and a balmy 38 degrees.
So, I did what my mechanic said.
I stayed in the car, and waited 15 minutes...
waiting 20 minutes was completely out of the question.
I cranked the starter and the car started.
I revved the engine and...
pbluhah it died.
I tried two or three more times and each time same result.
So, I stopped trying and decided to wait another 20 minutes.
While I was waiting, I started getting chilled.
After all, with it being a balmy 38 degrees outside with a wind chill really cools a car off quite nicely and quite quickly after 30 or so minutes.
Anyway, I started to think what I had in my car to keep warm while I waited.
I remembered I had a road hazard kit in my trunk that someone gave me as a birthday present several years ago.
I don't think I have ever opened the thing up to see what was in there so I went about getting the kit.
Getting to the trunk was an adventure in itself, trying to time the cars so I didn't get sprayed with nasty road mist or hit by a non-seeing driver.
I made it to the trunk, found the road hazard kit and looked inside, hoping there might be something of use...
Do you know why they specifically call that kit a "Road Hazard Kit"? Jumper cables, a baggy with first aid Band-Aids and things, a couple of 5 inch tall red "cones"; but nothing in case you are some poor sap stuck on the side of the road freezing.
Also, I had been leaning over looking in the trunk while several trucks blew past so now I am not only cold, but wet too.
I went back to the "safety" of my car, (I say safety with quotes because if one of those trucks or even a Mini-Cooper were to hit me from the rear at 55-60mph, safe is not the word I would use to describe my position either in or out of the vehicle.
So, back in the car, tried to start it one more time...
didn't work.
I called my AAA folks that guarantee 1 hour on the spot and waited.
I was thinking I needed a real Emergency Survival Kit.
You would not think sitting in the middle of a metropolitan city on the freeway for 90 minutes that you would consider the word "Survival" but...
Once the tow truck driver got there, I sat in the cab while he winched my car up on the flatbed.
Nice warm cab...
we drove the 15 miles to my mechanic where he off-loaded the car.
I went inside the shop...
Nice warm shop...
gave the keys to my mechanic who went out and started my car for me...
Cranked right up...
Well, we have determined that I am not crazy and that the car does have a problem.
They have ordered parts, but that will take a few days, I brought the car home and immediately went on-line to look at...
you guessed it, Emergency Survival Kits.
No matter where I am, or where you might be, you never know.
I didn't, but I do now.
I found what looks to be a good spot to get everything I need for an emergency.
Just consider if you were in that spot.
Remember, I wasn't in the middle of the desert, or mountains, I was in the middle of 1.
2 million people for 90 whole minutes.