ghhhhhcooooooold!
Dec. 16th, 2008 02:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sessifetI should be on my way to my occupational health appointment right now. Unfortunately, I've only just come in. Now, I can think of few things that would be less convenient than that and to be honest, waiting for the AA is one that hadn't crossed my mind, but will now definitely be added to the list.
I've just spent the last 90 minutes or so in the cold with a flat tire. I was making my way home when, in a bend, a fuckwit in a Merc decided to overtake the cyclist on his side of the road. I've mentioned before that this is not my car and I'd like to keep it in one piece. As such, I do not play chicken with other road users, especially not when there's cyclists or bikers involved. These people tend to be a lot more squishable than people driving around in metal boxes on wheels. So I took the only option that I could, which was veer to the left. And then, a split second before I went through it, I saw it:
A lovely deep pothole with sharp edges. It waved at me and said 'Hi, I lurk at you in a menacing manner and I will jump out at you.' And it did. I tried to skirt the edge, but I ran straight through the damned thing. I knew I had to go to the garage to have the tracking checked after that one, but it felt okay for now. About a mile and half on, and the car is having amazing trouble getting up the hill and it then almost immediately started pulling so strongly to the left it almost dumped me in the hedgerow. I pulled over on pretty much the only safe place to do so and checked the car. No damage, apart from a very flat and unhappy looking left front tire. And I'm not talking 'I am empty and sad, please fill me' unhappy. I'm talking 'I am empty and sad and there's a fucking great hole in me' unhappy.
Called![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
the_ladylark (and few others when she didn't answer) to get the number for the AA. After some panicking and fuss and faff and a few cigarettes and some crying later, I was a full AA member and they were sending out a car. Cue a 40 minute or so wait. In the cold. In a car that was losing all its warmth because Micras are not know for their insulation, followed by a 35 minutes repair job. I thanked the nice man from the AA, made my way home, where I am now sat trying to get my body temperature back up from what feels like subzero.
I'd already called work to say I couldn't get to the appointment on time when I heard it was going to be an 80 minute wait max and could they please reschedule. And on the upside, I am completely unharmed, the car is otherwise okay (though it is going in for a quick tracking check) and all it needs is a new road legal spare.
On the downside, I'm fucking freezing, fucking narked off and still no closer to a comfortable desk. So yeah, whoever you are in the black Merc: fuck you very much. I wish you your own personal rain of piaos. Or elephants. Something heavy to crush the shiny extension of your miniscule cock.
I've just spent the last 90 minutes or so in the cold with a flat tire. I was making my way home when, in a bend, a fuckwit in a Merc decided to overtake the cyclist on his side of the road. I've mentioned before that this is not my car and I'd like to keep it in one piece. As such, I do not play chicken with other road users, especially not when there's cyclists or bikers involved. These people tend to be a lot more squishable than people driving around in metal boxes on wheels. So I took the only option that I could, which was veer to the left. And then, a split second before I went through it, I saw it:
A lovely deep pothole with sharp edges. It waved at me and said 'Hi, I lurk at you in a menacing manner and I will jump out at you.' And it did. I tried to skirt the edge, but I ran straight through the damned thing. I knew I had to go to the garage to have the tracking checked after that one, but it felt okay for now. About a mile and half on, and the car is having amazing trouble getting up the hill and it then almost immediately started pulling so strongly to the left it almost dumped me in the hedgerow. I pulled over on pretty much the only safe place to do so and checked the car. No damage, apart from a very flat and unhappy looking left front tire. And I'm not talking 'I am empty and sad, please fill me' unhappy. I'm talking 'I am empty and sad and there's a fucking great hole in me' unhappy.
Called
the_ladylark (and few others when she didn't answer) to get the number for the AA. After some panicking and fuss and faff and a few cigarettes and some crying later, I was a full AA member and they were sending out a car. Cue a 40 minute or so wait. In the cold. In a car that was losing all its warmth because Micras are not know for their insulation, followed by a 35 minutes repair job. I thanked the nice man from the AA, made my way home, where I am now sat trying to get my body temperature back up from what feels like subzero.I'd already called work to say I couldn't get to the appointment on time when I heard it was going to be an 80 minute wait max and could they please reschedule. And on the upside, I am completely unharmed, the car is otherwise okay (though it is going in for a quick tracking check) and all it needs is a new road legal spare.
On the downside, I'm fucking freezing, fucking narked off and still no closer to a comfortable desk. So yeah, whoever you are in the black Merc: fuck you very much. I wish you your own personal rain of piaos. Or elephants. Something heavy to crush the shiny extension of your miniscule cock.
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no subject
Date: 2008-12-16 05:28 pm (UTC)Some people just seem to leave their brains behind when they get in their cars, and the more expensive the car, the more likely it seems to be...
Well done for not risking squishing the poor cyclist though.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-16 07:41 pm (UTC)Could you keep a blanket in the car for emergencies, just in case (gods forbid) something nasty happens again? We always have a couple of sheets in the boot for emergencies.
I hope Mr Black Merc gets bitten on the arse by karma. Maybe something bigger and faster will do the same to him. We can but dream... *hug*
no subject
Date: 2008-12-17 09:00 am (UTC)Some drivers, upon seeing a cyclist, seem to jump straight to "slow thing ahead, must overtake[1]", bypassing "check whether there is room" and not collecting £200.
This was what got me knocked off my bike on the way home from work a number of years ago - fortunately at low speed. To his credit the driver did pull over, and his thoughts were:
1. Are you OK?
2. That was a really expensive heated wing mirror that you broke with your handlebars........ I may have grinned at this point...
[1] If the bike is going at the speed limit this is irrelevant - bikes are automatically classified as "slow things" regardless of the speed with which they are moving.