It was just another average Monday driving into work. Well, actually that's not true. It was rainy, I nearly ran out of gas, and I hit a highway patrol cruiser when my bald tires failed to stop my little Hyundai Sante Fe on the rainy and somewhat slick street.
As I left my house this morning I was hoping for a positive Monday. I thought by putting the positive energy out there it might just happen! I was about 2o minutes into my drive when I glanced down at the dashboard and saw the bright orange gas light practically screaming at me. The gas needle was all the way below the 'E' and just kind of bobbling there. That's never a good sign. I tried to get over to get off on Miramar and get gas only to have a Salvation Army truck completely cut me off and blow my chances (damn you Salvation Army!). I had to go a little further and try getting off on Mira Mesa. I was successful, but pulled into the one and only pump that was malfunctioning! There were 10 others not in use, but I managed to pick that one. Had to wait another 10 minutes while the guy inside figured out how to reset the system so my card would stop processing. I finally got my gas and was on my way.
The rain was creating a bit of a hazard for me, because I need new windshield wipers...so it was just kind of smearing the rain back and forth, keeping my visibility bad. Plus my car kept hydroplaning. Through all of this I managed to get to my exit and found myself behind a highway patrol car. I figured I needed to keep good distance and not pull any of my last minute maneuvers in cutting anyone off trying to get off on 78 East. I was being very cautious!
As I exited and strolled down the street to turn on Broadway, just a minute from work, I came to a stop as the light turned red. The police cruiser was still in front of me. I didn't stomp on the breaks, I came to a natural stop, but something happened and my breaks almost felt like they locked and then my car just started to slide in the rain. As I inched closer and closer to the cruiser I just closed my eyes and hoped I didn't hit! Closing my eyes probably not a smart idea! Then I felt the thump and realized it had happened :( I looked up and the patrol car immediately flipped on his lights and the door opened. I tried to look as sad and pathetic as I could, hoping I might have just hit a sympathetic cop and could tug at the heart strings a little! The guy looked like he wanted to rip me apart and then feed me to the dogs. I was a little scared. As he came to my car he asked me what happened. I told him I came to a natural stop and then my car seemed to lock up and just slid. He looked at my tires for a second, then looked at me again, then kicked the front tire and looked at me again. Then he cracked a partial smile...this was unexpected. He told me that it was time for some new tires and I really needed to make sure not to go so long on the next set. He told me to get my brakes checked as well, and then said "you're going to spend enough money getting this "girl" into shape, so I'm going to let you go today, but if I see you driving around on these tires again, I'm going to pull you over!"
So, I guess you can call me clueless about tires, because this is the longest I've ever kept a car, so I've never gotten to the point where new tires were needed! The Sante Fe has 85,000 miles and its original tires! Oops!
It was a manic Monday morning!
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