Mittwoch, 16. Februar 2011

Well Hello Roller Coaster...

... long time no see!

Although this isn't really true, as my life has been a steady roller coaster ride for the past 6 years, I went down the vertical loop with high speed once again.

On Monday, I win a trip to the Bahamas...

On Tuesday, my car breaks down in the middle of 5-lane I-95, 6 days short of it's 2 year anniversary with me and up to now, I was soooo proud that it was well worth it's money... hmm. Of course I had my baby on board, but luckily also a German friend loaded as we were on our way to visit another friend in Pompano Beach. If I would've been on my own I would've probably panicked and gotten another cry-episode as this seems to be quite normal lately... Maybe some left over hormones from the pregnancy or just the fact that it can be quite hard at times if you have to figure everything out on your own and don't have a massive support system around you.

So what happened!? As I was driving in the beautiful sunshine, we were coming up to a traffic jam caused by a 2-lane closure about 3 miles ahead of us. There was no way out. After about 15 minutes of a very slow stop and go, I noticed some "smoke". I thought it was a truck next to us, but upon paying closer attention, I realized that it came from underneath MY hood and that it was more steam than smoke. Okay, now trying to move over from lane 4 to lane 5 before the engine would blow up (you know, crazy thoughts when this is the 1st time that happens to you...), was the goal. I did manage and had enough brain left to head for the bridge ahead of us. Hello!??? Baby on board! You definitely don't want to be in the sunshine that heats up cars in no time down here. So I found myself a shady place right next to the median and 5 lanes away from what I would have considered the "safer (right hand) side". Luckily for us, due to the traffic jam, cars were not speeding by as quickly as usual and we were able to put the thoughts of being hit by a car going 70+mph aside. Now I believe we all know by now that when your car breaks down on the highway, you're safest by climbing over the guardrails and waiting for help behind them. It does get a little difficult though, when you have an infant with you and the median behind the guardrails where you stopped is covered by bushes, small palms and other shrubs and you have no blind faith that there is no poisonous snake or other wild animal hiding, waiting to bite you.

Okay, okay, I do realize this seems very unlikely, because why should this wild, mean creature wait just for me in the bushes of a very loud 10-lane highway median!? However, my education in regards to Florida's dangerous wildlife could be a lot better and so all I was thinking was "alligators, Burmanese pythons, teeth, bite, bite, bite...". We stayed in the car! I did take a look underneath the hood though, where some fluid container was shaking due to the boiling fluid inside. Impressive! Never seen that before, but it was very clear that this engine had completely overheated. Back inside of the car, I was very happy about the little sticker Pepboys (like ATU in Germany) had attached to my windshield after my last oil change and it read "Need a tow? Call..."

I needed a tow. I called (didn't know who else to call). 50 minutes later the tow truck arrived! At the sight of my baby, I noticed that the driver started thinking and thinking and thinking, but didn't say anything. I somehow figured out that he was worrying about how he was going to get us off the highway. Luckily, I had arranged for our Pompano Beach friends to come pick us up and when I mentioned that, he was VERY relieved. The reason why: Apparently tow truck drivers down here are forbidden by law to take infants on board. He said if caught, it would mean a $1.000 fine and he didn't want to risk that of course.

Well, my friends came and picked us up. Interesting picture, seeing a highly pregnant woman (she's 38.5 weeks) with her very tall husband rescue two chicks carrying a baby... :)

I ended up having to get a rental car and have no news yet on what is wrong with my car, but I guess it is safe to say: There goes my tax refund! :-/

This much about "My life is a roller coaster" and another 1st in the USA... actually another 1st ever! Always wondered what it would be like to be one of these broken down cars stranded alongside the highways of this world... now I know and I prefer not to have a rerun.

To be continued.... :)

1 Kommentar:

  1. Mannomann... was für eine Erfahrung... hätte man gut verzichten können...

    Du schreibst so bildlich... konnte mich direkt hineinversetzen...

    Hoffe Deine Kleine hat alles gut überstanden...

    LG

    Andrea

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