Duh!

It’s been pouring with rain for the last four days and this morning was no different and for some reason, rain always means traffic – I wonder why? Anyway there I was stuck in a queue of cars waiting to turn out onto a major road when I suddenly noticed a cloud of steam rising from the bonnet of my car. I instantly went into panic mode – I scanned my immediate surroundings, spotted a nearby pub and manoeuvred my way out of the queue ( I was three cars down from the traffic lights after waiting about 15 minutes to get to that spot!!) and into the car park of the pub. Parked and realised I didn’t know how to open the bonnet (my excuse is that it’s my husbands car). So I called up hubby (thank God for cell phones) who told me which lever to pull to open it. Found said lever, pulled and bonnet popped open. Got out of the car, stuck head under the hood and saw …. Nothing! False alarm.

Figured out that : hot engine = hot bonnet + cold rain = steam

Duh! number one.

So back into car, drive out of pub, try to turn into the queue again, block half the road and on coming traffic, look sheepish, hit reverse and turn car in opposite direction. By this time my blood pressure is rising - I can feel the blood pumping at my temples.

Anyway, I charge off down the road hoping to turn into a side street and find a short cut. No chance. Traffic EVERYWHERE. So I turn round once again heading in the opposite direction to whence I came and joined the queue- again! This time though I was about the fiftieth car down from the lights. Grrrrr!! Anyway, to cut a long story short finally made it out onto the major road, to my daughters nursery (yes she was with me all this while) and dropped her off.

Jumped back into the car, pulled seatbelt on, slotted car key in, pushed the start button – silence. Removed key, slotted it back in, pushed start button – silence, not even a grunt. Repeated this procedure about six more times – finally sunk in that car was a dead as a dodo. Called hubby again, I mean what other options did I have, huh? Then called the office to say I’d be late and settled in with my iPod listening to Anthony Robbins (I needed the motivation at this point).

20 minutes later, hubby arrives and starts to do impressive looking things to the car – jump start leads hooked up, covers being unscrewed and generally a lot of poking around going on under the bonnet. I am asked to try and start the car a couple of times in-between – nothing, nada, the sound of silence. After a few more minutes, he sticks his head in through the car window to ask me something when his eye catches the gear stick. His face takes on an incredulous look and he asks, very quietly, – ‘has it been in the drive position all this while?’ Yes, I say confidently, head nodding vigorously. He didn’t have to use the words but fool and idiot sprung to mind when I looked at him.

‘Darling,’ he says through gritted teeth ‘in order to start an automatic, the gear stick always has to be put in the Park position.’

Talk about a Duuuuhhhhhhhh!!!! moment for me.

I can still feel the donkey ear’s sticking out of my head.


So, the five new things I learnt this week are...

1. The fact that steam rises off from the bonnet of your car doesn’t necessarily mean the engine is on fire.

2. Always put the gear stick back into the Park position before you try and start an automatic.

3. How to put 'previous and next' buttons into the blogger template.

4. How to cook a mean Jamaican curried goat.

5. and last but not the least, How to do this



For: Life’s Little Lessons