Car Drama and random happy accidents

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GregN

aka The Grinch
20 Year Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2000
Posts
17,570
9:30 at night. I pull out of the parking lot of my 2d job, finished for the day. After the mass exodus of everybody leaving, I pull on to the road. I notice my anti-freeze light is on. Oh shit. This has happened before - a leak in the hose. I pull up to a gas station and park. I call my Dad. "Run the car, see it if over heats." I do for 10 minutes. It stayed at normal operating temperature. "Well - just get back on the road." Thinking ahead, having a car break down on the freeway (hwy 169) with little shoulder on the side is a dangerous idea, which is my normal route. I drive on. I take a wrong turn and go the opposite direction. I thought of going back roads to get back on 169. Then a thought - you may call it intuition- crossed my mind at the exact moment to make a turn. (Why not take 494 (another freeway) home instead?" I did. Right then I noticed that was a much better idea, because that freeway has much more real estate to pull over on. I drove 1.5 miles, and suddenly, the tempature gauge goes to red. I pull over immediately. What now? I called my Dad. He's retired, and more than willing to help. I told him the situation. He said he'll be there when he can, he'd have a 42 mile drive.

I turn on my blinkers, and sit and wait. I try calling a friend who I thought was home to kill some time waiting for my Dad. No answer. Now what? I guess I wait. I thought to myself. "This sucks ass. Now we're gonna have to call a tow truck, which will at least be a bill, and go to a nearby garage, which will fuck us in the ass." Or so I thought. I stayed very calm. I've been through this before, and trust myself completely. I function better in situations that involve randomness, instinct, and split-second thinking. Call me crazy, but I actually enjoyed this situation. For the past 2-3 years, my life has been route, safe, predictable. I've been like the living dead in that respect.

A cop pulls over and asks what's going on. I tell him the situation. "Call us if you need help." An hour passes, and I call my Dad. "Where are you?" I'm in Champlin, 20 miles away. "Ok, call me if you need direction on how to get here." I hang up. I brought a bottle of mexican coke to work that I didn't feel like drinking up until now- I didn't have the appetite for it. Now I do. So I sit there, wait, and drink it. It gives me the jitters.

A car pulls up to me. It could be dangerous to open the window or the door. I don't know who they are or what they want. But something tells me they will not be malicious, so I let my guard down. A young guy in his late 20s, early 30s approaches. "You need a ride, or some help?" "No, I say. I've called my old man and he's on the way to help." He leaves.

A 1/2 hour passes. My Dad calls. "Where are you? I ask." "Took a wrong turn, and I'm in bloomington". (He doesnt get to the city much, even though I used to have an apartment in the area). He was quite a few miles away. He said he'd turn around and try to find his way there. I hang up.

More time passes. Another cop pulls up to me, shines his bright lights at me. An Asian Cop approaches. "What seems to be the problem here? He asks. "My anti-freeze is leaking, and my engine overheat." He shines his mag light on the odometer. "Do you need some help." "No, I've got my Dad coming." He asked me where he was coming from. Ok, just call us if you need help. "911? I ask? Is that considered an emergency?" (I though you got in trouble if you called 911 for non-emergencies, I just wanted to double check.)

By this time, I had to piss really bad, my dad was close, but I wouldn't be able to get to a gas station to piss for awhile. What the fuck do I do? I talk to my Dad and said - Why not just go on the side of the road?" "Too risky. I told him. I risk indecent exposure." "Do you have an empty can or bottle." "Yea, I said - an empty coke bottle." "Just use that." Good idea, I thought. I got in the back seat, pissed in the bottle and dumped it on the side of the road.

Around 11:30, my Dad pulls up and finally finds me. I thought we'd have to mess around with towing, but he has a potentially cheap solution. He brought two gallons of water. "We'll just cool the engjne with water, and take it to mike (a family mechanic who does great work, gets us in fast, and is real cheap). Sounds good, I say. "Do you want to drive your car, or should I? My Dad asks. "I have a feeling you should drive it." After my dad fumbled with how to turn off the emergency lights, we continued onward. We drove about 17 miles and the engine overheated again. We stopped and waited for it to cool, pouring water into the tank. At this point we were out of water.

Continuing on, we talk on the phone. "It's gonna over heat again, and we'll need water. We don't have too many places to stop to get it that are open." "We won't make it home if we don't stop for more water" "The only place that's open is Walgreens. Let's stop there. So we go in there and stop. I've worked there, so I know the lay of the place. I take the empty jugs, and proceed straight to the sink at the photo center. The clerk (a black dude) up front is befuddled. "What are you doing? He asks. "My Anti-Free is leaking, and I need water to get home. He was visably taken aback at my brashness and street smarts. I look like some 9-5 middle mannered, stereotypical suburban office cubicle slave. I thank him and continue on my way.

We drive on our way without incident until we hit St. Francis. We turn the corner of the light, and someone's following us. It's a St. Francis op. He follows us all the way to our frontage road to our house. "Oh shit." I think to myself. I've had 2 tickets in the past 3 weeks, I don't need another one. He pulls my Dad over. I don't know why. I sit there behind him and the cop. We go home. It's 1:30am

"Dad, what did he pull you over for?" I ask. "I stopped over the line. I think he was thinking, 2 guys, driving home following each other at 1:30am on a Tues. night. They must've been drinking." "I just told him our situation, that I wasn't familiar with the cars controls." He let me off.

Call me crazy, but I liked this situation. It reminded me that I can think on my feet, and spontaneous adapt to things. Most people would be stressed out and complain, but I actually enjoyed it. I have a feeling more of this stuff will happen, but I'll be ready for it.

I know a lot of people would say "fuck calling your Dad, take care of it yourself." And I'll tell them to fuck off, swallow your pride, and don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. It ate up a lot of our time, but it saved me hundreds of dollars of towing, and lost time at work.

*Disclaimer - parts may be embellished. Don't trust everything you read.
 

OMFG

The Portuguese Chop
15 Year Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2007
Posts
4,704
I know a lot of people would say "fuck calling your Dad, take care of it yourself." And I'll tell them to fuck off, swallow your pride, and don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. It ate up a lot of our time, but it saved me hundreds of dollars of towing, and lost time at work.

No one in life is keeping track of the way you solve a problem. Pride nowadays is cheap and overrated. When a situation occurs a trusted family member usually trumps any other form of help when it comes to having compassion toward your issue at hand.

Lesson learned: Carry some antifreeze, water, an empty fuel container, windshield washer fluid and oil in your vehicle. Some sealant also goes a long way.
 

GregN

aka The Grinch
20 Year Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2000
Posts
17,570
Kernow said:
War room = new slacker blog

Fixed. Wrong generation. And blurty was down, otherwise I would've posted it there. I had nowhere else to go!

No way am i reading all that.

Merc will, if he's bored enough. He'll enjoy it.
 

OMFG

The Portuguese Chop
15 Year Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2007
Posts
4,704
War room = new emo blog

emo_philips_old.jpg
 

kernow

The Goob Hunter
20 Year Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2001
Posts
34,811
Fixed. Wrong generation. And blurty was down, otherwise I would've posted it there. I had nowhere else to go!



Merc will, if he's bored enough. He'll enjoy it.

So much for being on ignore :make_fac:
 

Mike Shagohod

Stray Dog Grunt
20 Year Member
Joined
May 16, 2002
Posts
13,947
Merc's got competition

Currently still reading through it on another open window. Greg isn't my competition, he's another high context individual who I consider a comrade, and I really wish more people would expound/elaborate on their personal experiences, adventures and more.
 

GregN

aka The Grinch
20 Year Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2000
Posts
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Another difference is that I'm like Batman and don't use guns. I refuse to use guns. Guns invite trouble. If I can't get myself out of a situation without my smarts and intuition, I won't find it and it won't find me.

Disclaimer: Certain parts were embellished.

he's another high context individual
As of now, that is (for better or worse) how circumstances have aligned themselves.
 

norton9478

So Many Posts
No Time
For Games.
20 Year Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2003
Posts
34,074
Did you try running the heater on High?

That will help cool the engine too (depending on where the leak is). The heater coil is a secondary radiator.

When my brother's Saab had a bad radiator, he had to run the heater 24/7... All summer... Was a bitch.


And why tow?

You had a second car and driver... All you need is a Chain.
 

aria

Former Moderator
Joined
Dec 4, 1977
Posts
39,546
Eerie read --Parts of that reminded me of some awful times I've had with cars growing up, particularly with the rotating carousel of used cars that went in and out of my parents house (I'm talking in the range of 20+, most were 5-10 years old when we got them --I don't think we ever owned a new car). Thankfully I was never that far from anywhere, and I had a good enough insurance plan that I could get towed with little fuss. I remember living in LA, I used to go to the same damn Pep Boys at least once every several months. On the plus side, I can diagnose a car, and fix or temporarily fix minor problems (like what you dealt with) pretty well from experience. With that said, I never ended up in quite such an odyssey, even in my various wrecks.

Those past experiences, and the horrific "minnesota winter" effect on cars, are a big reason why I lease now. I only started driving new cars when I moved to Minnesota, I just got tired of f---ing around with all the problems, and the last thing I wanted to do was deal with it in the dead of a -40 day.
 

RocketLawnChair

Dyslexic Mods FWT!, , got me 2 scalps, ,
15 Year Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2005
Posts
2,088
Random car problems are always fun. I had a sudden (bad) coolant leak one time, at like 2AM. Since I was in a 24/7 grocery store parking lot, I ended up buying a couple gallons of water.

Fill reservoir, drive a few miles, cool down, repeat until home. Pain in the ass. :(
 

Murray

Akari's Big Brother
Joined
Aug 16, 2005
Posts
2,533
I know a lot of people would say "fuck calling your Dad, take care of it yourself." And I'll tell them to fuck off, swallow your pride, and don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. It ate up a lot of our time, but it saved me hundreds of dollars of towing, and lost time at work.
Sometimes calling your dad is the best fucking thing you can do. This reminded me of a few times mine bailed my ass out when I was commuting 100 miles to school in some flaky-ass cars.

*sigh*
 

TonK

Least Valuable Player
Joined
Apr 24, 2001
Posts
20,049
Dude, you called your dad for advice on where to piss?

Greg, I'm sorry man - you need to grow up.

You couldn't handle a radiator hose? (which sounds like a headgasket from the way its losing water)

You were scared to roll down your window?

Call this post "tough love" - but you're a pussy, man.

You need to hang out with me for a week.

BAD.

I'd be embarassed to tell this story to customer service at Frigidaire let alone post it on the internet.

What's wrong with you?
 

SML

NEANDERTHAL FUCKER,
20 Year Member
Joined
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Posts
11,170
It would have been a happy accident if you found you could use your urine to cool the engine.

2/5
 

SonGohan

Made of Wood
20 Year Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2001
Posts
23,652
There's no fucking way this story is real. Nobody is this much of a child that they need their father for (what is sounds like is) everything in their life. What the real topper is that your dad came up with (what you believe to be) a genius, money-saver plan to cool it off with the 2 gallons of water. Then I read the following:

The clerk (a black dude) up front is befuddled. "What are you doing? He asks. "My Anti-Free is leaking, and I need water to get home. He was visably taken aback at my brashness and street smarts. I look like some 9-5 middle mannered, stereotypical suburban office cubicle slave. I thank him and continue on my way.

Why the hell would a clerk be "befuddled" because you're getting water? What does him being black have to do with anything? And why would he be so taken back by your "brashness" (how are you being brash by getting water?). There's nothing in this story that indicates that you have "street smarts," either.

So either a) this whole story is bullshit lie, or b) you really are this sad person with absolutely nothing interesting going on in your life that this is a major event, but even then you have to spice this (boring) situation up by over-thinking things like a Walgreens clerk who doesn't give a fuck about you is completely taken back by your off-the-cuff thinking.

You're a big pile of sad, man..
 

TonK

Least Valuable Player
Joined
Apr 24, 2001
Posts
20,049
There's no fucking way this story is real. Nobody is this much of a child that they need their father for (what is sounds like is) everything in their life. What the real topper is that your dad came up with (what you believe to be) a genius, money-saver plan to cool it off with the 2 gallons of water. Then I read the following:



Why the hell would a clerk be "befuddled" because you're getting water? What does him being black have to do with anything? And why would he be so taken back by your "brashness" (how are you being brash by getting water?). There's nothing in this story that indicates that you have "street smarts," either.

So either a) this whole story is bullshit lie, or b) you really are this sad person with absolutely nothing interesting going on in your life that this is a major event, but even then you have to spice this (boring) situation up by over-thinking things like a Walgreens clerk who doesn't give a fuck about you is completely taken back by your off-the-cuff thinking.

You're a big pile of sad, man..

I'm still wondering where the "street smart" comment fits.

"Dad, where should I piss?"

I'm sure your dad is sick of you acting like a baby, man.

All you do is log on here and play videogames.

You have no idea what it takes to be street smart.

I honestly thought you were gonna kill yourself when the board was down theother day.

You really can't be this sad.
 

TonK

Least Valuable Player
Joined
Apr 24, 2001
Posts
20,049
9:30 at night. I pull out of the parking lot of my 2d job, finished for the day. After the mass exodus of everybody leaving, I pull on to the road. I notice my anti-freeze light is on. Oh shit. This has happened before - a leak in the hose. I pull up to a gas station and park. I call my Dad. "Run the car, see it if over heats." I do for 10 minutes. It stayed at normal operating temperature. "Well - just get back on the road." Thinking ahead, having a car break down on the freeway (hwy 169) with little shoulder on the side is a dangerous idea, which is my normal route. I drive on. I take a wrong turn and go the opposite direction. I thought of going back roads to get back on 169. Then a thought - you may call it intuition- crossed my mind at the exact moment to make a turn. (Why not take 494 (another freeway) home instead?" I did. Right then I noticed that was a much better idea, because that freeway has much more real estate to pull over on. I drove 1.5 miles, and suddenly, the tempature gauge goes to red. I pull over immediately. What now? I called my Dad. He's retired, and more than willing to help. I told him the situation. He said he'll be there when he can, he'd have a 42 mile drive.

I turn on my blinkers, and sit and wait. I try calling a friend who I thought was home to kill some time waiting for my Dad. No answer. Now what? I guess I wait. I thought to myself. "This sucks ass. Now we're gonna have to call a tow truck, which will at least be a bill, and go to a nearby garage, which will fuck us in the ass." Or so I thought. I stayed very calm. I've been through this before, and trust myself completely. I function better in situations that involve randomness, instinct, and split-second thinking. Call me crazy, but I actually enjoyed this situation. For the past 2-3 years, my life has been route, safe, predictable. I've been like the living dead in that respect.

A cop pulls over and asks what's going on. I tell him the situation. "Call us if you need help." An hour passes, and I call my Dad. "Where are you?" I'm in Champlin, 20 miles away. "Ok, call me if you need direction on how to get here." I hang up. I brought a bottle of mexican coke to work that I didn't feel like drinking up until now- I didn't have the appetite for it. Now I do. So I sit there, wait, and drink it. It gives me the jitters.

A car pulls up to me. It could be dangerous to open the window or the door. I don't know who they are or what they want. But something tells me they will not be malicious, so I let my guard down. A young guy in his late 20s, early 30s approaches. "You need a ride, or some help?" "No, I say. I've called my old man and he's on the way to help." He leaves.

A 1/2 hour passes. My Dad calls. "Where are you? I ask." "Took a wrong turn, and I'm in bloomington". (He doesnt get to the city much, even though I used to have an apartment in the area). He was quite a few miles away. He said he'd turn around and try to find his way there. I hang up.

More time passes. Another cop pulls up to me, shines his bright lights at me. An Asian Cop approaches. "What seems to be the problem here? He asks. "My anti-freeze is leaking, and my engine overheat." He shines his mag light on the odometer. "Do you need some help." "No, I've got my Dad coming." He asked me where he was coming from. Ok, just call us if you need help. "911? I ask? Is that considered an emergency?" (I though you got in trouble if you called 911 for non-emergencies, I just wanted to double check.)

By this time, I had to piss really bad, my dad was close, but I wouldn't be able to get to a gas station to piss for awhile. What the fuck do I do? I talk to my Dad and said - Why not just go on the side of the road?" "Too risky. I told him. I risk indecent exposure." "Do you have an empty can or bottle." "Yea, I said - an empty coke bottle." "Just use that." Good idea, I thought. I got in the back seat, pissed in the bottle and dumped it on the side of the road.

Around 11:30, my Dad pulls up and finally finds me. I thought we'd have to mess around with towing, but he has a potentially cheap solution. He brought two gallons of water. "We'll just cool the engjne with water, and take it to mike (a family mechanic who does great work, gets us in fast, and is real cheap). Sounds good, I say. "Do you want to drive your car, or should I? My Dad asks. "I have a feeling you should drive it." After my dad fumbled with how to turn off the emergency lights, we continued onward. We drove about 17 miles and the engine overheated again. We stopped and waited for it to cool, pouring water into the tank. At this point we were out of water.

Continuing on, we talk on the phone. "It's gonna over heat again, and we'll need water. We don't have too many places to stop to get it that are open." "We won't make it home if we don't stop for more water" "The only place that's open is Walgreens. Let's stop there. So we go in there and stop. I've worked there, so I know the lay of the place. I take the empty jugs, and proceed straight to the sink at the photo center. The clerk (a black dude) up front is befuddled. "What are you doing? He asks. "My Anti-Free is leaking, and I need water to get home. He was visably taken aback at my brashness and street smarts. I look like some 9-5 middle mannered, stereotypical suburban office cubicle slave. I thank him and continue on my way.

We drive on our way without incident until we hit St. Francis. We turn the corner of the light, and someone's following us. It's a St. Francis op. He follows us all the way to our frontage road to our house. "Oh shit." I think to myself. I've had 2 tickets in the past 3 weeks, I don't need another one. He pulls my Dad over. I don't know why. I sit there behind him and the cop. We go home. It's 1:30am

"Dad, what did he pull you over for?" I ask. "I stopped over the line. I think he was thinking, 2 guys, driving home following each other at 1:30am on a Tues. night. They must've been drinking." "I just told him our situation, that I wasn't familiar with the cars controls." He let me off.

Call me crazy, but I liked this situation. It reminded me that I can think on my feet, and spontaneous adapt to things. Most people would be stressed out and complain, but I actually enjoyed it. I have a feeling more of this stuff will happen, but I'll be ready for it.

I know a lot of people would say "fuck calling your Dad, take care of it yourself." And I'll tell them to fuck off, swallow your pride, and don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. It ate up a lot of our time, but it saved me hundreds of dollars of towing, and lost time at work.

Just in case he realizes what he posted and deletes it - I have to re-read it anyway to see if its really this bad.
 

LoneSage

A Broken Man
20 Year Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2004
Posts
44,746
Since Greg stopped growing mentally around age 17, if you think about that happening to a 17 year old then yeah, it's a nice little story about car trouble.
 

Mike Shagohod

Stray Dog Grunt
20 Year Member
Joined
May 16, 2002
Posts
13,947
Someone fucking needs to.

People like him need help.

How can you be so dependent on a gaming forum to sustain your life?

I'm assuming you mean in regards to him right? If so, I'd say that from what I've seen of Greg's posting... as well as in PMs between he and I, and from when he was a member of my Aggressive World MX 5000.NET Forums powered by InvisionFree...

The guy is just a conversationalist no different than the rest of us. I use this forum as a comedy piece (myself) to joke around on, and enjoy the banter with others. It's a virtual playground to be goofy. With the way a lot of ppl overreacted during the server going down for 18 hours you'd think "We All Are Dependent On This Forum" to one degree or another. Greg is simply burnt out is all, maybe moreso than most of us. I find his postings (like Steve) to be both introspectively interesting, to the point of subjective cognitive understanding as well as bizarre. That's more or less all of us.

So the guy doesn't swing from trees with his Johnson like I do, or represent in the manner others do. He's still a guy finding his way is all. He's certainly not posting these experiences of his to get "favor" or to "be cool with" the community at large. In fact I'd say he does this knowing full well he's going to probably get slammed for it, but it's his own way of finding center, at least that's my theory.
 

LoneSage

A Broken Man
20 Year Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2004
Posts
44,746
So the guy doesn't swing from trees with his Johnson like I do represent in the manner others do. He's still a guy finding his way is all. He's certainly not posting these experiences of his to get "favor" or to "be cool with" the community at large. In fact I'd say he does this knowing full well he's going to probably get slammed for it, but it's his own way of finding center, at least that's my theory.

Greg's justifying his existence by letting people know these things happened.
 
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