The most problematic glitch was my car breaking down. Well, not exactly breaking down but it certainly has broken something somewhere. As I turned into my street on Tuesday night and throttled up there began a series of shudders and shakes and the car started to miss and I became aware there was something wrong with it. I put it in the garage and prayed that I was merely a victim of an overactive imagination and that all would be well and good with the machine come Wednesday morning. Alas, it was not to be.
As I got into the car yesterday morning and turned the ignition it became obvious that all was not well. It was running very roughly, missing and lights were flashing on the dashboard like a two-penny arcade. Not good! So, what am I to do?
Three days out from a six week sojourn in Europe, putting it in to the mechanic isn’t ideal so I will wait until I get back to deal with it, which in itself is not perfect. Getting off a plane which has just traversed half the world only to remember I have a recalcitrant car to deal with won’t fill me full of pleasure but there is not much more I can do. In the garage it goes, not to be seen again for a month and a half.
I like my Proton Jumbuck and it has come in handy from time to time as little utes such as it do but I fear reliability with this particular machine is becoming a factor. I had a problem with it a few years back which was disarmingly similar to the symptoms it is suffering now and I fear, much to my distress, it is time to look ahead and trade her in. Sad.
So, what to buy? I have a bit of a hankering for a Holden Cruze although I know a few people will jump down my throat and tell me I’m dreaming. The small car class is dominated by Mazda but every man and his dog seems to drive a Mazda 3 nowadays and as good as they are, I would like to be a little different.
I drove a Holden Cruze rental car to Sydney about eighteen months ago and really liked it, apart from the fact that it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out how to open the fuel flap, an operation which only involves pushing it to open! I figured, with all these new fangled gizmos on cars, that I would have to push a button or flick a switch in the car to open it. No, just push it! Duh! The only thing which made me feel a little better was that the fellow manning the service station couldn’t figure it out either so I wasn’t the only dummy in the vicinity. Eventually Linda, after much fiddling, discovered that the answer was hiding in plain sight and managed to open the flap and fill the car much to our relief. We had a plane to catch to New Zealand!
So there is plenty for me to think about and not much to look forward to when I return. Such is life.
Of course the next best problem is that I have to find my way to work for the next three days. Yesterday was fine as my mother, always a pillion of reliability, was at home and was happy to take me. Unfortunately she and my father are leaving for Wangaratta today and Dad wasn’t very keen on me driving his panel van. So be it. It handles like a cruise ship anyway. Who would want to drive it? It does irritate a little though that as I scrape and beg for a ride to work a perfectly serviceable vehicle is sitting idle in Dad’s garage.
Luckily for me, my boss at work, completely unprompted, assured me that he would pick me up if need be and I had to take him up on his offer this morning as there were no others forthcoming. Lucky I have a few friends who care about me!
So, as time runs out of the hourglass and my moment of destiny draws near, I sit at marooned, drawing on the goodwill of others to make my way forward in life. Let us hope this is the end of the glitches!
Take care and have fun.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 