Triskaidekaphobia
I Has It.
With the week I've been having, it seemed almost poetic that Friday the 13th would be no better.
It was worse. Much worse.
Oh, it started off alright. I drove in early, snagging a prime parking space inside as the weather office predicted a stormy day. In my office (Room 3013 believe it or not), as I counted down the hours to the weekend, I received a notification to inform my co-workers that three funnel clouds had been spotted and we were under a Tornado Watch for the city.
Great. We don't get those very often, but we take them seriously since last year when a deadly F5 hit north of here.
But what was more unnerving was that it's rare to get one inside the City.
So I kept the radio tuned, reviewed emergency procedures with staff, informed my family by cellphone and tried unsuccessfully to concentrate on work again.
After five hours, the Watch was lifted and we breathed easier, joking about the irony of the date.
That would be all the Gods of Fate would throw at me, right?
Wrong.
When I drove daughter to Starbucks for her evening shift, I heard a familiar "ding!" from the van's dash on the way home.
"Weird", I thought. "I HAVE half a tank of gas."
Obviously preturbed I was ignoring it, the warning quickly developed into something along the lines of:
'DINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDING!"
I began to worry. No, scratch that.
I. Began. To. Freak.
The temperature gauge needle strained in an attempt to propel itself beyond the highest setting.
I envisioned the red hot engine rocketing free of my hood.
Luckily I was close to home, pulled into the driveway and immediately turned it off.
Fluids and steam were spewing out, a trail of coolant flowing down our drive into the street....
Not. Good.
So today my baby was admitted to the car hospital and I am nervously awaiting the prognosis. I am also hoping today's thunderstorms wash away the antifreeze I so obviously polluted the road with.
Will I still have a car?
Will we be out auto shopping today?
Will I have anything left in my bank account?
Will we get out to buy some Father's Day gifts?
I am crossing my fingers for good news.
After all, it's not the 13th anymore, is it?
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You're right! It's not the 13th any more so today will bring wonderful things - I hope!!
Oh, so sorry to hear of your car troubles. With all the bells that went off, sounds like it could be troublesome. If it makes you feel any better, my last car hospital visit cost me $1,200. Er, maybe that won't make you feel any better. Sorry. I shall now pray to the patron saint of tiny car bills, if there is one. If there isn't, there should be!
the sun will come out tomorrow!
with any luck you'll get off easy. Maybe duct tape and bailing wire will hold it together for a while.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you! Crazy weather we've all been having this year, no?
Oh noes! We had a tornado watch here on Thursday and I have to say it scared the S-h-i-t out of me. Hope your car is better soon. :)
Never be superstitious, Maureen. It is bad for the general health of all things around you. Remember, those tornadoes never hit and maybe you weren't meant to drive the car today and are averted from an accident. It is fate!
Oooh, thinking of you and waiting for an update!
"I envisioned the red hot engine rocketing free of my hood."
HA! That's awesome. But only because it didn't really happen. Hope your poor car is OK.
And thanks for teaching me a new word.
JD at I Do Things
The DINGDING of American cars is soo annoying, and it seems to have migrated to new cars over this side of the pond. Hope the car isn't too poorly!
Stumbled in via Bart, I'll probably be back - sorry! ;-)
The last time that happened to me it was a blown engine, and thus a new car to follow. But in your case I'm sure it's just a leaky hose or stuck thermostat. Yeah, that's it. But do keep us posted will you?
Oh no! I can feel for your car troubles, it's become a pass time for me lately.
I have something for you on my blog today :)
Yike! You had quite the day! I battle myself about the triskaidekaphobia thing (had to look the word up actually, but I knew what it would be).
My daughter got her bat mitzvah date almost THREE YEARS AGO & didn't realize until just a few days ago that the first service would be on Friday the 13th! Believe me, I realized right off the bat! Luckily it went off without a hitch so I'm chalking one up for nothing to worry about over here, just while you're chalking one up on the lousy side...
I hope you did get out to get some father's day gifts & that your car is salvageable & that you don't have to car shop and that you had a nice father's day with the fathers in your life! :-( :-( :-(
ug. Lovely. HOPE it's good news!!! =P
I do suffer from this condition myself. Always seem to wake up at 13 minutes past 3am... very disturbing.
Toners: Thank goodness. Yes, the 14th was much better; we got the van fixed and it didn’t break the bank. Whew!
Kathy: Yikes, $1200… luckily, ours only ended up being $300. But it scared the begeezus outta me!
Ha! Patron Saint of Car Bills! I agree, there should be one (although I’m not really religious…)
Lady Banana: It was better, thanks!
OhMommy: It did (well in-between rain showers), but it was a better day.
PG: Hah! Duct tape! You know your Canadian folklore, don’tcha?
Phoenix5: It worked! And yes, crazy is a good descriptor, alright.
Andi: Car better. Tornados bad. Glad yours didn’t come to fruition either; they ARE scary!
Nora: I shouldn’t be, really. And you are right. Thanks for reminding me to “look at the glass half-full!”
DJ: Van back. Gifts bought. All is okay in our world again…
JD: It’s funny now. It wasn’t then… My stomach was in knots.
Brom: Welcome! Yes, those dings screamed “LISTEN to me, dammit!”
Jeff: You were exactly correct. Er, on the second guess. A stuck thermostat. A $ 14.99 part that ended up costing nearly $ 300 by the time they flushed and fixed everything… sigh. It could have been a lot worse. I thought for sure I had blown the engine and was already getting my head around whether to buy another van or go for a hybrid car…
DrowseyMonkey: Aw!!!! You are too kind! Thank you so much!!! I shall get over there and add it to my awards page. What a great thing to get after the week I’ve had! You’ve brought a big smile to my face!
Jill: My mom was born on a Friday the 13th, so she says it’s lucky. Yes, we were able to rush around and get everything we needed to do. Serves me right for leaving it to the last minute. So unlike me (yeah, right…)
Ann(ie): It was, well, as far as good news from a repair garage can get, that is.
Rol: Yikes! Wasn’t that in a movie? Disturbing indeed!
Nooooooooooooooooooo. I hope all is well and your bank account is still intact.
Hope it's not life-threatening! I've been ignoring the "maintenance needed" light on my dashboard for quite some time now. Maybe I should pay more attention to that? :-)
My goodness, you are certainly having a bad string, aren't you. This is precisly why I try not to leave the house on Friday the 13ths. I have never had anything good happen to me on those days. Except, ironically, this year since I did not even know it was Friday the 13th because my parents were visiting and we were out doing fun activities. So perhaps NOT thinking about it is the way to go.
I hope your car is okay. Nothing is worse than car problems.
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