Friday night...
Nov. 17th, 2009 03:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iestynapmwgI meant to post this over the weekend... My drive home from work on Friday was eventful.
After I get off the highway, most of my route home is along windy back roads through farm country, with very few street lights. I had just entered a 50mph zone and was starting to speed up, when i noticed a shape in the road ahead. I didn't have my high beams on and it was beyond my headlights' range, but there was enough twilight coming through the trees to see there was something. So i tapped the brakes a little, to give whatever it was time to finish crossing the road.
Only it didn't, it started to run towards me! Fortunately my foot was still on the brake, and i hit the pedal hard enough to make the tyres squeal as i came to a stop. At the same moment a deer appeared in the headlights, still charging straight towards me. At the last moment it veered slightly to the right, shot past me and disappeared into the darkness. For all i knew, it continued on down the centre of the road, on its mission to scare other drivers. I was certainly wide awake again...
A few miles farther down the road is a small pocket of what passes for civilization in North-West New Jersey, called White Township. I usually stop for gas at a station by the only traffic light in town and i was running low. I pulled in at one of the pumps, perhaps a little too close to the attendant's booth. He had to squeeze in between the booth and my car to get to the pump. (For those who haven't had the pleasure of pumping gas in NJ... you don't, the attendant has to do it for you.) After reminding me to pop the gas tank cover (still a little shaken after the close encounter with psycho-deer), gas was pumped, i signed the credit card slip, turned the key in the ignition and... nothing. Less than that, really, the radio which had been playing also died.
Long ago, this car had a tendency in cold weather for the contact on one of the battery terminals to loosen, so that's the first thing i checked. It was rock solid, as i had cranked it down ages ago. The attendant, squeezing through again, offered to push the car away from the pump before the next wave of customers arrived (it's usually pretty busy there that time of day). So i got in pressed the brake pedal and tried to shift the car into neutral. It wouldn't budge. Apparently there wasn't even power to the little sensor that checks you have the brake pressed before unlocking the gear shift. There's a mechanical override thingy in the shifter, which was going to be the next thing to try, but figured i'd get AAA moving first.
While on hold, the interior light would occasionally come on, and some of the dashboard lights would glow feebly. Several times everything would come on, only to laugh at me and die again the moment i tried the key. Meanwhile, i'm still blocking one of the pumps, the attendant has to keep squeezing past and another wave of people looking for gas has arrived. I finally get a person on the phone and tell them i need a jump start, and failing that, a tow. The attendant meanwhile has found time between pumping to pull his car around and has jumper cables. During another lull we hooked up the cables and i waited for the battery to charge up a bit.
I finally got the car going after having been stopped at the gas pump for about half an hour. I pulled over into the parking lot, WITHOUT turning the engine off, in order to call AAA back. They picked that moment to call me instead, to let me know the driver had just left. I told them i didn't need him to come out after all and then pulled out. As i stopped at the traffic light, the driver himself called, and i told him the same thing (he sounded pleased about not having to come out).
I don't really remember the rest of the drive home... except for a brief call to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
luvcherbear to let her know i was running late. I'm not superstitious, but the fact that this was Friday the 13th is a bit of a coincidence.
It's Friday, I'm in love.
After I get off the highway, most of my route home is along windy back roads through farm country, with very few street lights. I had just entered a 50mph zone and was starting to speed up, when i noticed a shape in the road ahead. I didn't have my high beams on and it was beyond my headlights' range, but there was enough twilight coming through the trees to see there was something. So i tapped the brakes a little, to give whatever it was time to finish crossing the road.
Only it didn't, it started to run towards me! Fortunately my foot was still on the brake, and i hit the pedal hard enough to make the tyres squeal as i came to a stop. At the same moment a deer appeared in the headlights, still charging straight towards me. At the last moment it veered slightly to the right, shot past me and disappeared into the darkness. For all i knew, it continued on down the centre of the road, on its mission to scare other drivers. I was certainly wide awake again...
A few miles farther down the road is a small pocket of what passes for civilization in North-West New Jersey, called White Township. I usually stop for gas at a station by the only traffic light in town and i was running low. I pulled in at one of the pumps, perhaps a little too close to the attendant's booth. He had to squeeze in between the booth and my car to get to the pump. (For those who haven't had the pleasure of pumping gas in NJ... you don't, the attendant has to do it for you.) After reminding me to pop the gas tank cover (still a little shaken after the close encounter with psycho-deer), gas was pumped, i signed the credit card slip, turned the key in the ignition and... nothing. Less than that, really, the radio which had been playing also died.
Long ago, this car had a tendency in cold weather for the contact on one of the battery terminals to loosen, so that's the first thing i checked. It was rock solid, as i had cranked it down ages ago. The attendant, squeezing through again, offered to push the car away from the pump before the next wave of customers arrived (it's usually pretty busy there that time of day). So i got in pressed the brake pedal and tried to shift the car into neutral. It wouldn't budge. Apparently there wasn't even power to the little sensor that checks you have the brake pressed before unlocking the gear shift. There's a mechanical override thingy in the shifter, which was going to be the next thing to try, but figured i'd get AAA moving first.
While on hold, the interior light would occasionally come on, and some of the dashboard lights would glow feebly. Several times everything would come on, only to laugh at me and die again the moment i tried the key. Meanwhile, i'm still blocking one of the pumps, the attendant has to keep squeezing past and another wave of people looking for gas has arrived. I finally get a person on the phone and tell them i need a jump start, and failing that, a tow. The attendant meanwhile has found time between pumping to pull his car around and has jumper cables. During another lull we hooked up the cables and i waited for the battery to charge up a bit.
I finally got the car going after having been stopped at the gas pump for about half an hour. I pulled over into the parking lot, WITHOUT turning the engine off, in order to call AAA back. They picked that moment to call me instead, to let me know the driver had just left. I told them i didn't need him to come out after all and then pulled out. As i stopped at the traffic light, the driver himself called, and i told him the same thing (he sounded pleased about not having to come out).
I don't really remember the rest of the drive home... except for a brief call to
luvcherbear to let her know i was running late. I'm not superstitious, but the fact that this was Friday the 13th is a bit of a coincidence.It's Friday, I'm in love.