Why do cars hate me?

Posted on August 22, 2007
Filed Under Australia - The land down under, Irony Anyone? | Leave a Comment

On the way to work this morning, I noticed a little smoke coming out of my bonnet and quickly checked the temperature gauge. The car was a hairsbreadth away from overheating so I pulled over to the side of the freeway before any major damage could happen.

I called Brian who fought the morning traffic to come to my rescue. From his initial examination, he deduced that one of the hoses had burst.

After having fixed it and replacing the water in the radiator which had steamed away,burst out or otherwise disappeared, we attempted to start the car again. It was still running a little hot but not in the red zone any more.

I pulled back onto the freeway and proceeded one more exit and it began overheating again. Once again, I pulled off, this time onto an exit so I could get away from the traffic and park the car. Brian then had another look in the engine.

I had a look around at the scenery and played with the sepia setting on my camera.
Brian figured out what the problem was but was unable to fix it right there.He’d drop me off at work and I offered to take the train home.

What IS it with me and cars? They always seem to break down, blow a hose or otherwise roll over and die while I’m driving them! The one thing I’m thankful for is that it wasn’t Chloe driving when it happened. She might not have known what to do and kept driving until it quit and some real damage was done. As it is, the radiator needs fixing and the temperature gauge needs adjusting. Not huge but still, an expense we were not anticipating and therefore annoying.

I can’t wait to be driving a brand spanking new car with (hopefully) no defects!

The culprit hose…

Brian assessing the damage

Me, fooling around with the camera

And again….

Nice street

See how impressed I am?

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Unlucky trucks and rubber-neckers

Posted on July 22, 2007
Filed Under Australia - The land down under, Irony Anyone? | 4 Comments

This Thursday on the way home from work, I experienced a massive slow-down on the free way. Now, normally, this might not be so odd as traffic picks up after 2:30 but the past 2 weeks have been school holidays and the traffic has been light both ways.

I crawled along wondering what the hold-up was. Perhaps a car broke down and they needed to close a lane? Maybe some debris fell off a truck and was causing a bit of havoc. Well, finally the knot loosened up and I proceeded off the free way at my usual exit getting only a glimpse of something happening up ahead - ambulances and police etc..
Upon getting home, Brian asks me if I saw the accident.

“Not really,” I replied, “How bad was it?”

As it turns out, a little white Commodore lost control on the south-bound side of the Mitchell free way and the 18-wheeler truck behind it trying desperately not to hit the little car, jack-knifed, slammed into the car and tipped over spilling it’s contents everywhere and ending up blocking all three lanes and crashing into the centre of the free way blocking the train as well.  The free way was blocked for hours and people were turning around and going back up the on ramp. Train serviced stopped for several hours as well as they cleaned the debris off the track.  So, the slow down on my side was simply people slowing down to gawk at the wreckage. The man in the white car suffered a broken arm and some scrapes. The truck driver was shaken but unharmed. WHEW! Could have been so much worse.

This Friday on the way home from work, I experienced a massive slow-down on the free way…are we picking up a pattern here?

As I once again, crawled towards my exit, I was stumped a to what it could possibly be this time. Just before I got off, I saw ANOTHER truck on it’s side, broken, smashed cars everywhere. They were totalled. I thought to myself that there was NO WAY people had survived that. Police and ambulance workers buzzed all over the place. Again, it was on the other side of the free way and the delays on my side was from rubber-neckers alone.

After watching the news (again), I discovered (to my relief and slight embarrassment) that the truck driver had tried to turn too hard in the rain and had tipped over the massive 18-wheeler, spilling it’s contents of crushed cars all over the road. So, no fatalities or even big injuries. Just another shaken driver and a bunch of car shells going to be recycled. WHEW! (again)

How odd is that? Twice in two days, huge trucks tipping over and causing hours and hours of delay in virtually the same spot?? Each incident happened within a few hundred metres of the other.

Must be something in the air….roll on spring!

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More of Murphy

Posted on June 12, 2007
Filed Under Australia - The land down under, Irony Anyone? | 2 Comments

I started work yesterday at my new job, which I have to admit is MUCH more my style. I’m doing account administration and it suits me just fine! The only negative I can think of is that it’s in the city, so I have a half hour drive in, through morning traffic, but it’s really not that bad.

Perhaps after I get settled I may shift my hours by a half hour, thereby avoiding said traffic and cutting travel time to 15 minutes.

My new office is fab! I really like the people I’m working with! They all have pretty good senses of humour (a must when working with me! LOL) and seem to be on top of things. I’m slowly getting the hang of project names and contacts and I’m looking forward to getting my hands dirty.

At some point, I’ve been informed, I will have to fly over to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to meet with the people there and get a feel for that end of company business and I must say, I’m looking forward to it. with any luck, I’ll be able to organize things so that I fly up on a Thursday and stay the weekend so Brian can join me for some East Coast fun!

However… in the midst of all that worky-goodness, there has been one fly in my soup. I’m sick! Monday morning I woke up with a sore throat and a headache. Not good for the first day at a new job. I pulled through my day and came home to sleep away the next couple of hours. Thankfully the fever went and my sore throat with it.

Today, I am sneezing constantly, coughing up a storm and have a stuffy head. Again I pulled through the day trying valiantly to absorb everything I needed to be learning.  My sniffling seemed to amuse the rest of my office but I doubt they’ll be laughing when they are doing it next week!

So let’s tally up…

1) Unexpected glasses
2) Car breaks down
3) Sick for the first week of a new job

Murphy! You’ve been busy! Give it a rest already!

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Murphy’s law at work again

Posted on June 10, 2007
Filed Under Australia - The land down under, Irony Anyone? | 2 Comments

Last week, Chelsea and I went to the optometrist for a check-up. I’ve just about always needed glasses for focus but rarely ever wore them as I found very little difference between having them on and off. I expected Chelsea to get a clean bill of eye health however….

 

After goofing off in the doctors office, he explained to me that, I have an astigmatism that causes me to require glasses for reading and computer work AND watching TV movies and driving….go figure. Chelsea needs glasses for reading, computer work and for the classroom (seeing the board etc…) This was an extra expense that I had not counted on but was of course resigned to. Hopefully, the glasses will put an end to the almost daily headaches I’ve been having!

With this weeks car incident and having to push up the purchase of a new car the budget is looking a little tight! When it rains, it pours, hey?

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Widowed…again.

Posted on May 17, 2007
Filed Under Australia - The land down under, Irony Anyone? | 3 Comments

Yes, it’s happened again. Last night, Brian had a meeting at his mate Chris’s house. While there, they had copious amounts of beer and some pretty serious discussions. When he left he was pretty much on top of the world.

At home I waited up as late as I could for him but alas I was really tired and I feel asleep. I was woken with a start at about 11:00. I gasped and practically jumped of the bed. Then, I got the news…

Brian’s been voted President of the North Beach Cricket Club again.

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