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What kind of moron drives 15 mph in a 45, blocking traffic and annoying every motorist around them?
Oh, that would be me yesterday, unfortunately.
I have known for months now that my clutch was wearing out. I first noticed it when every now and then while I was accelerating to get on the freeway the engine would suddenly rev for no apparent reason while the car was still in gear. It didn't get noticably worse over time, so I had kind of mentally filed it away as something I needed to have done when the car got its standard 150k service in another two or three months.
Yesterday morning I noticed it had gotten a little worse. I was still able to drive reasonably well, but it was definitely a little more difficult to accellerate. I began entertaining the thought that I needed to get it into the shop this week instead of waiting any longer. Then I made the mistake of taking Ben to the Magic Kingdom again yesterday afternoon. The visit to the park itself was great, Ben went on Jungle Cruise again, and I am sure if we had stayed longer I could have gotten him back on Haunted Mansion. Unfortunately we were on a timeline, and I needed to get him home. Leaving the park, I actually stopped to top off the gas tank since (contrary to what people might think) the gas stations on Disney property generally have the best prices in town and at the moment are a full ten cents cheaper than the stations by my house.
My first inkling that something was critically wrong was when I got on the freeway leaving Disney. Getting the car up to freeway speed took a great deal of finesse, trying to give the engine just enough gas to keep power without going overboard and causing it to rev. Still, I did get it up to speed and began mentally making my plans to park the car on Monday and then drive it into a shop on Tuesday while it would still move on its own. Yeah, right. Once I got off the freeway it bacame increasingly difficult to get the car in motion from a dead stop. I got Ben dropped off at Sara's place, and then had a nerve-wracking half hour drive back to my place. I stuck to low-traffic side roads wherever possible, and started to seriously doubt whether I would actually make it home. I did eventually make it, barely, but the car is not going to move under its own power again until that clutch plate is replaced.
By the time I walked in the door I had a screaming headache, my chest hurt, and I pretty much wanted to kill anyone and anything that got in my path. A couple of excedrin later coupled with some rest in a quiet room, and I was feeling much more civil.
The good news, if there is any to be had, is that Ben is out of school now. This means that I am not driving out to his school every weekday. Assuming I can get the car into a shop on Tuesday, and that the repair doesn't take more than a few days, I won't need to rent a car. I'll have to pay for towing, but the shop I am taking it to is less than five miles away so it shouldn't be too bad.
Oh, that would be me yesterday, unfortunately.
I have known for months now that my clutch was wearing out. I first noticed it when every now and then while I was accelerating to get on the freeway the engine would suddenly rev for no apparent reason while the car was still in gear. It didn't get noticably worse over time, so I had kind of mentally filed it away as something I needed to have done when the car got its standard 150k service in another two or three months.
Yesterday morning I noticed it had gotten a little worse. I was still able to drive reasonably well, but it was definitely a little more difficult to accellerate. I began entertaining the thought that I needed to get it into the shop this week instead of waiting any longer. Then I made the mistake of taking Ben to the Magic Kingdom again yesterday afternoon. The visit to the park itself was great, Ben went on Jungle Cruise again, and I am sure if we had stayed longer I could have gotten him back on Haunted Mansion. Unfortunately we were on a timeline, and I needed to get him home. Leaving the park, I actually stopped to top off the gas tank since (contrary to what people might think) the gas stations on Disney property generally have the best prices in town and at the moment are a full ten cents cheaper than the stations by my house.
My first inkling that something was critically wrong was when I got on the freeway leaving Disney. Getting the car up to freeway speed took a great deal of finesse, trying to give the engine just enough gas to keep power without going overboard and causing it to rev. Still, I did get it up to speed and began mentally making my plans to park the car on Monday and then drive it into a shop on Tuesday while it would still move on its own. Yeah, right. Once I got off the freeway it bacame increasingly difficult to get the car in motion from a dead stop. I got Ben dropped off at Sara's place, and then had a nerve-wracking half hour drive back to my place. I stuck to low-traffic side roads wherever possible, and started to seriously doubt whether I would actually make it home. I did eventually make it, barely, but the car is not going to move under its own power again until that clutch plate is replaced.
By the time I walked in the door I had a screaming headache, my chest hurt, and I pretty much wanted to kill anyone and anything that got in my path. A couple of excedrin later coupled with some rest in a quiet room, and I was feeling much more civil.
The good news, if there is any to be had, is that Ben is out of school now. This means that I am not driving out to his school every weekday. Assuming I can get the car into a shop on Tuesday, and that the repair doesn't take more than a few days, I won't need to rent a car. I'll have to pay for towing, but the shop I am taking it to is less than five miles away so it shouldn't be too bad.
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That means that if I called right now, I couldn't use the service until Thursday at the soonest, possibly Friday depending on how they run the clock. The car would wind up being in the shop over the weekend, which means I would need to rent a car for at least three days. That pretty much offsets the savings.
But thanks for the suggestion. I didn't know Cingular offered that. If I thought I was going to continue to have problems, I would probably sign up. As it is, the engine on my car is still in great shape and probably has at least another hundred thousand miles left in it. Given that this is the first time I have needed a tow in over a decade, and given that we are fortunate to have two cars in generally excellent condition mechanically, I don't think it would be a good investment. I'd have to be getting towed once per year for it to pay off in the long run.