Cars

The good, the bad, and the ugly. I truly believe that a car is everyone of those things. The good because it is an amazing form of transportation that has the potential to gt you and passengers to other destinations. The bad because they can have their moments where they are not dependable and you always have to keep something up, whether that is paying for gas, oil changes, tires rotated, etc. And the Ugly because when your car happens to decide that it no longer wants to run while you are driving it you end up with a big hunk of metal that you have to look at the ugly bill in order to get it fixed.

Don't get me wrong. I truly do like my car. It works for me most of time and usually gets me to where I need to be. It has air conditioning for the summer and heat for the winter. It has automatic locks and a radio. All in all, it is really all that I need. But, in all honesty....it can be the biggest pain in the butt and the wallet. I am sure that any of you who own a car know what I am talking about. Sometimes they just suck.

Now I have had my far share of car problems over the years. I have had ruined brakes and roder wheels (and yes, it was my fault for driving on them as long as I did), a shattered window, a thermostat break, an antifreeze hose burst, a dead battery, a burned out and broken transmission, worn out tires, and I am sure that there are many more to come. No matter what you do, you always seem to be fixing something. Take this last week for me as an example.

On Monday I decided that I should go and get my brakes fixed because on my way to work I heard that dreaded noise of the squeaking and then the grind. I know that noise and knew that it was not one I wanted to hear. Therefore, on Tuesday morning I found my way over to Les Schawb Tire center and got my front brakes replaced. On Thursday I realized that I would not make it very far if I did not go spend some money and fill it up with gas. And then it happened today. You know that thing that you dread will happen. The thing you don't even think about because you would never want it to happen. Yeah, well that happened to me....my car decided to no longer run while I was driving it on the freeway on my way to work this morning.

It was about 7:40 and there I was running out the door to the car so I could be on my way to work. I needed to be there by 8:15 so that I could ready before my students showed up at 8:30. I smiled because it was a beautiful morning that was just a bit windy. I jumped in my car, started it up, and backed out the driveway. Now I don't know about you, but I like to jam out to songs while I drive and think about life in the process. I found my favorite station and proceeded to head off to work. Car problems where the furthest thing from my mind. Then,just as I was jamming away and getting ready to sing the next song I heard a snap and smelt something burning.

You know that burning plastic smell, that is what it was. I wondered what it could be and whose tires were burning, then I happened to look down and realized that my car was overheating. And not just by a little, but an awful lot and the gauge was climbing higher into the awful zone of problem. I knew then that it was me who had a problem and I needed to get off of the freeway and quick. I worked my way over and headed for the next exit. As I was getting off I noticed that the gauge was as high as it could go on the overheating and that my steering was starting go out as well. Plus, the burning smell was still around, which I new was not good. I followed the curve of the exit and then turned left onto the side road. I promptly pulled off the road and turned of the car. Then I had to decide what to do.

The first thing I decided to do was make some phone calls. The first, to my mom who didn't answer her phone so I left her a message about being stranded on some random road in north salt lake. The second call I made was to my step dad Dennis who did answer and quickly started to call to get me a tow truck. The third call was to my boss, who I woke up, and told that I would not be making it into work today so he would have to cover instead. With all of that taken care of I decided to go look under the hood. That's what people do when you break down so I figured I should give it a shoot. I popped the hood and went to look under it. Upon opening it I didn't notice a whole lot. It all looked the same to me...and then I saw it. My major discovery about what was wrong with my car. The fan belt was broken. The next few hours went something like this.

More phone calls to mom, Dennis and the boss. Waiting on the random street for the tow truck driver to come. The tow truck driver arriving, loading up my car and then me riding with the driver to Big O' Tires. The guys at work asking if I was ok and what I needed done. Then the guys checking out my car to find the problem. them telling me that the water pump had stopped turning causing the belt to get stuck causing the rotater to freeze and then start to melt causing the belt to tighten and then snap, thus causing my car to overheat and essentially stop running. The guys telling me that it would take two hours to fix and wondering if I needed a ride. The tow truck driver charging me for the bill and then offering to take me home. Me accepting the offer and then riding home with the driver. Then me waiting until I get the phone call that it is finished where upon I get a ride from my mom back to the shop, pay $400 and then get to drive my car back home where it now rests in the driveway. All in all, it was a pretty enventful morning that I had never planned on.

It is after weeks like this where you wonder if you should have just bought a new car instead of trying to fix the old one. to bad you only ever realize this after you have spent the money fixing it. Like I said, cars are the good, the bad, and the ugly.