I'm not sure what was behind this week's events. I think there was a full moon, but that wouldn't really explain it. Maybe mercury was doing that retrograde thing (any experts in the house?)... Maybe it was just a series of "unfortunate events." In any case, I'm just glad to see the damn week end (and the damn weekend.)
It all started last Thursday.
Driving home from work (at a little past midnite) I heard a funny noise coming from the back of the car when I was just a few blocks form the house. So, I think to myself maybe I got a flat. (It sounded kinda like that...you know that odd thump that only one tire will make.) I pull over and look. Nope, no flat. And nothing else that I can see. (I wished I had a damn flashlight...) So, I get back in the car and continue along. But the noise is still there. I think: maybe there's something stuck in the tire tread. So, I make a point of deliberately hitting that bump near my house that I usually steer to avoid. Who knows, maybe that'll dislodge it, right? Wrong. It's still there. And it's fairly loud. I pull onto my street hoping none of the neighbors will hear it, as I don;t want to wake anybody. I park, get out of the car and as I do, I hear a faint hiss. I lean toward the tire and sure enough, the hiss is coming from the tire. I can't see anything that would be causing it, but the tire was slowly leaking air. I knew it's be flat by the next morning. (And it was.) So the next morning, I had to change the tire. Today, a week later, I'm hoping to get to the tire shop to see if it can be repaired or buy a new one.
This Wed. On my way to work, just as I am waiting for the light to turn green, to make the left onto the highway to head to work, I happen to notice, not one, but two, road crew trucks backing down the on ramp to block the entrance onto the expressway. The minute the light turns green they finish maneuvering into place and turn on the flashing lights. *********! ****** ****Inc ********! Why couldn't this have happened just 5 ******* minutes later, like after I'd been up the ramp and on my way. And as always, there was no visible sign of any work being done at the moment or any other compelling reason to close that particular entry point. And it wasn't a problem on the expressway as I could clearly still see traffic moving at it's usual pace of about 20-25 miles per hour OVER the posted speed limit of 55.
Damn it all to hell, I was going to have drive a bit to get on at another point. With traffic, that meant I would likely be late, even though I had left a full half hour early so I could get to work early and not rush to start the day. Why ******* bother... (As it turned out I was indeed almost 5 minutes late. And I'd left early. Some days it seems you can't win...)
To make matters worse, that same night, as I'm about to leave work to return home (and this is also about midnight...I've had some long hours of late), I start the car and the horn just goes berserk. It goes on and stays on. It's LOUD. And annoying. And it draws attention, as the next thing I know security is pulling up net to my car. The security guard is looking at me like, "hey, *******, lay off the horn" ---then he realizes I'm NOT touching the horn. So, here we are at 12:15/12:30 in the morning, peering under the popped hood of my car trying to locate the damn horn (which thankfully has stopped for the moment, but neither of us are confident it will stay off). He doesn't seem to have the foggiest clue what we're even looking for, so I tell him to sit in the car and gently touch the horn to see if I can locate it by sound, using his dinky little flashlight (You'd think they could at least give the security people a good solid, bright maglight or something, but no. It's like a damn penlight. I swear.) I find the horn, in the place I least likely to expect---guess that's why I never really noticed it before when pokin' around the engine. Anyway, I was hoping to be able to disconnect the damn thing. Literally pull the wire on it. Then, I realize I can't because, fortunately, I happen to notice it's wired in such a way so that it's also "grounded" to the engine the in the way that it is connected. I had no choice but to try to make it home without the thing going off again. Luckily, I did.
The next day, this recently passed Thurs., I was worried about the horn when starting the car to go to work. I had no choice but to try to get to work since I didn't have time to hit a garage to have the horn checked. I get there no prob. Ok, maybe it was fluke, I think. That night, about midnight again, I get in the car to head home. Put the key in the ignition and begin to turn it and "HHOOOONNNNNKKKKK!", off it goes. Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn. After a few secs, and before security comes again, it stops. I decide my best bet is to hightail it outta there and try to get the hell home again. I do, with no other hints of a problem.
Now, the only common denominator as I see it, is it was cold and damp both nights I had the problem. During the day when it is warm or after it's been driven awhile and the engine compartment is war, there's no problem. So, I'm thinking it must be a short somewhere. I'm gonna swing by my mechanic's garage this weekend or first thing Monday morning and, if nothing else, see if he can disable the thing till we can fix it.
Does it end here? No, that would be too easy. To add to this whole series of events. I again leave early Thursday morning to attend a meeting that is not required, but pretty important. As I swing thru my building before heading to the meeting, I'm stopped by a colleague, who informs me he is HIGHLY displeased with some new policies I implemented and as a result, he informs me he WILL be filing a grievance with the union and calling for a meeting with administrative staff, and will take every measure available to him to dispute these new policies. Great. Lovely. Perfect. What a fitting complement to the week.
Let's just say, even though it's crappy today...wet, rainy, damp, chilly, and whatnot, it's the weekend. I can ignore email, tune it all out and just "chill."
And after this last few days, I need it.
