Author:
The world has changed from hardly ever meeting anyone on the highways to a constant stream both ways. X amount of years back I never gave it a second thought about things going belly up. Different times I asked strangers who stopped to call Daddy and tell him where I was and what went wrong. Broken axle, lost duals on a Bobtail, tractor lost it's axle and rear tire, front axle fell out, rear tire on PU threw all it's rubber off, and so many others lost in time and memories.
Too many trips to OKC medical the past few years. Last year felt the rear tire go flat. I was in the passing lane. I swear no one was willing to give to let me get off the interstate. I hogged over knowing the drivers were cussing me. I joined them when I raised the trunk and looked at the jack the car companies think is sufficient. Emergency brake will lock the rear wheels but I'm jacking up a rear wheel. I love danger! God probably wanted to wash my mouth out with soap after I got the tire changed. I was wearing a tight skirt and satin blouse but had enough sense to pack coveralls and gloves in the trunk several years earlier.Chivalry is dead, no one stopped to offer help. Purchased a small, light, hydraulic floor jack when I got home. Added a decent lug wrench. Hope I never need it.
Less than fifty thousand miles on this vehicle and it has started to road walk. Don't turn loose of the steering wheel or it will be in the grader ditch. Shop replaced all the linkage, couldn't believe how wore out it was. As the weeks progressed there was no way I was taking this vehicle on a road trip as it was acting up again. Took it back to the mech and told them to check for an out of round tire. Two new tires and I finally have a vehicle I'm not afraid to drive. Tires are no longer made with steel wire in them. Polly is the cord that holds them in shape. Only in this tire it didn't hold. Time and miles I would have had another flat or possibly worse.
I know there are those on this channel who drive long distances and the big rigs. They feel whether something is or isn't right as soon as the vehicle is started or when it is moving be it eighteen wheels or four rolling. This is for those who are Sunday drivers, the vehicle is basic transportation. Be prepared and pay attention to what your vehicle is telling you. The traffic around you is your biggest concern as there are those who I refuse to call drivers are behind a wheel anyway. Your other concern is getting family, friends, yourself safely to the destination and back home again. Pay attention to that little voice telling you when everything is okay and especially when it isn't. Could save your life and others.
Hugs People stay safe, stay alert, it's not only you on that highway now.
Barb
Comments
Memories of the road
Remember back when the tire belts before steel were nylon? Get on the road good at 70mph, they would get nice and hot, but park them overnight and they would develop a nice flat spot you could feel go thump, and maybe hear, as it rotated , until it got hot and smoothed out. Before it HAD to be a pressurized system, if you had a thermostat go bad, or a small leak, you could make sure you were topped up on antifreeze, leave the cap loose so it did not build pressure, and limp into a mechanic or parts store. Or when if you broke or tossed a fan belt, they were all individual, and cheap, could be temporarily fixed by a tightly stretched nylon stocking, and didn't cost an arm and a leg to purchase, or god forbid, pay 100$ to have replaced due to its placement or a hidden belt tensioner, instead of being readily replaced and adjusted with a simple wrench and bolt.
re: if you had a thermostat go bad
I had this happen to me for the first time last year on my Triumph Motorcycle. I was in a place called Tromso when it made its first dump of coolant onto the floor. Tromso is not exactly the centre of the world so I filled up the header tank and carried on to Nord Kap (71deg N). Sitting in traffic would cause it to overheat.
I found a helpful dealer in the city of Tampere, Finland (4 days riding from Nord Kap) who for the grand sum of 16 euros replaced the radiator cap which doubled as the thermostat.
Needless to say, I now carry a spare cap with me. (along with bulbs and brake pads, tyre repair kit and the like)
Talk about closing the barn door etc.
Be prepared people.
Samantha
Now that You Mentioned It
Remember those nylon belted tires very well as would anyone who drove on the thumpy thumpy things. Even if one considered the price of thirty two dollars a tire they still weren't worth the money. As long as we are tripping back down memory lane..., Five cent soda pop, five cent candy bar, and ten cents to go to the movies. Don't forget the penny gumball machines, or the ones that dispensed peanuts for a penny. Fifteen cents for a hamburger, ten cents for french fries, toss in a nickle for the soft drink. Gas was eighteen cents a gallon.
Anyone says I'm old, is dead meat! I'm just well matured.
Hugs Stacy
Barb
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
You are well matured
Like a fine wine.
Hugs,
Samantha
OLD? Who, me?
I'm not old, I'm just well aged, like a good wine or extra sharp cheddar.
I remember as young kid (under 6) my brother (13 or 14) was responsible for taking care of me. He'd take me up to the neighborhood theater (remember when every neighborhood had one and they ran double features) drop me off, and give me a quarter. That was enough for me to get into the theater, buy a candy bar and a drink. I'd watch the double feature through and then the first one over. That gave my brother 5 to 5.5 hours to go off with his friends and do what ever it was that kids that age did. Pretty cheap babysitting.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin ein femininer Mann
Thursday I bought my first beer…
…that cost over $10. One pint draft to have with a sandwich. Waiting to see what the expense account folks allow. Nothing is inexpensive now, only cheap.
I remember in ‘81 needing a fuel pump for a ‘61 Falcon. Had to call all of 2 parts stores. Imagine sourcing 20-year-old car parts today. Also remember fixing an oil problem on that engine, with plumbing supplies.
Let’s not get started on the quality of clothing. Anything 30 years old will last until I’m dead. Anything 5 years old is already a rag.
expense account
I live in Western Oregon (USA) and there's an urban legend in these parts about a salesman from a southern California company who was sent to Portland to open a regional office. The first month he was there, he sent in his expense account including the entry - 1 raincoat $30. The check came back in the mail $30 shy with a note attached. "Raincoat disallowed." The next month his expense account included the entry - 1 raincoat $30. Again the check came back in the mail $30 shy with a note attached. "Raincoat disallowed."
The following month he sent in his expense account with no entry about a raincoat, but attached a note:
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin ein femininer Mann
Memories
When you went to the station for 20 cent gas and THEY pumped it, cleaned your windows and headlights, checked and aired your tires, were pleasant with you,as they checked your oil,,( even if you watched to make sure they didn't short stick so they could get another 30 cent for a quart) then handed you a page of green or yellow stamps you could save to redeem. They often handed out quality glassware or bathtowels. You could collect entire sets. How about Breeze laundry powder were you could collect a glass or towel in the box. Box size varied the type glass or style towel you got.
I recall i bought my first radio for $5.00 portable personal size, am/fm that worked, fully transistorized with a good heavy duty extendable antenna, and it ran off a 9 volt battery that lasted forever.
Remember trying to clear the birds nest in the fishing reel when you didn't thumb it properly and it backlashed ,(that means the reel kept spooling off line after the cast hit the water and stopped pulling it out resulting in a huge snarl of knots to clear.) I bought my first proper casting rod of fobreglass with a zebco 202 reel for about 4.00 and still have and use the reel today. ( I'm now 72 not 14 on my first job. Which btw paid .55 cent an hour. I had to have a health check and chest X-ray , since it was at the neighborhood drugstore at the fountain and grill. Thought i was hot stuff when i got a raise to.60 cent, a penny a minute).
And right now I'm driving a 2004 chevy i bought in 2006 before i retired the first time
Checking the oil
I was working my first job (Pump Jockey) during the gas wars of the early sixties. My boss taught us that island where the gas pumps were was not a "pump island"... it was a "sales island" and that gasoline was a loss leader. (I remember prices as low as 9.9 cents/gallon) Yes, we checked the air in your tires and opened up the hood to check the oil. We also washed the windshield.
While we were checking the air in the tires, we were also looking at tread depth with the idea that we'd sell a set of tires if we found it getting low. While under the hood to "check the oil" we also looked at the fan belt for signs of wear (cracked or slick belts meant an opportunity to sell a fan belt) and we looked the battery to see if there was corrosion at the terminals and how old it was. Oh, and we took out the air cleaner and if it had any amount of discoloration, we knocked it off on the curb where the driver could see it and then tried to sell a new one, While washing the windshield we wiped the dirt from the wipers so we could see their condition and if they were dry or cracked we could sell new wipers. Remember, it was a sales island. The real money in the service station game was made in the service bay.
If I remember correctly, minimum wage was about a buck fifteen in Oregon, but we got five percent commission on TBA (Tires, Batteries and Accessories) and sold them at the sales island.
Gas prices today are so high because the sales island became a pump island and now they need to make a profit on gasoline. That profit is figured after they pay the wages of the guy who takes your money while you pump your own gas.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin ein femininer Mann
Pumping gas
I had the same job when I was 16 or so. Last place in my entire region that would pump gas for you. Mostly people did it themselves, some people requested it, most times you'd just offer and they might say yes or no. People would come from far and wide to us to get it done. We'd do the fuel, check oil levels, refill water levels in the windscreen reservoir. We would absolutely never top up the radiator, despite some people getting in a strop. "It's cold to the touch!" No, no thanks. And I would suggest you don't do it either. Somehow they never went ahead despite their insistence it was safe.
Another part of the job was refusing sale to kids. Sure, yeah, you're coming here to get it for your dad's lawnmower and not to start a bonfire somewhere. If your Dad wants to come down he can get it. The final part was ensuring people putting it in canisters had approved canisters, and empty plastic milk bottles with loose caps were not "approved canisters." "But they allow me do it in XYZ place!" I suggest you go there then.
Some people were lovely. They'd give you a £1 tip and on a good day you could make up to about £8 on top of whatever minimum wage was for a kid. Which would easily cover your lunch from the deli inside the store if the nice people weren't working there to stick the 25p sticker on whatever you ordered.
Memory lane and inflation
Growing up in the 1970s I remember getting an ice-cream cone with two balls (a.k.a. scoops) for five Guaranies (PYG 5). The last I know, now a small ice-cream cone with one scoop costs five thousand Guaranies (PYG 5'000).
On the other hand, back in the late 1960s my parents paid almost three monthly [doctor's] salaries for a used refrigerator. Now a days you can get a new refrigerator for about 80% of a monthly minimum wage salary. But then my mom had to dispose of that refrigerator less than seven years ago after almost 50 years of use. Meanwhile I had to replace a new refrigerator I got around the year 2002 after just 10 years.
Tire change help
These days people assume you have a cellphone and can call for help. AAA is how I've got all my roadside help so far.
It is not as quick as doing it yourself but it is there
When I was a lot younger (middle thirties) I pulled over to the shoulder off a highway and used CB to request help and eventually a police officer came by to call for a tow for me. This is before the age of uniquitous cell service as this was the mid 90s. Before said officer came by though I got a car full of young guys who offered me 'help' in form of a ride to a phone.
Yeah, right *rolls eyes* as if I am dumb enough to fall for that one.
I was just dressed in jeans and casual top, sneakers etc, no makeup even and they still took the opportunity to try to take advantage of me. I mean, quite tellingly, they never offered to drive to a phone and make such a call for me as it is obvious I had to keep an eye on my vehicle. I mean like *duh*.
Point is, it is not necessarily a good thing to attract untrustworthy help so if one has the time, just wait for AAA.
A woman alone, yes even armed, can still be taken advantaged of more easily in certain situations.
Edit: BTW, I a had an older vehicle at the time.with over 170K miles on it, a basic Nissan Sentra. It may very well be worth it to buy a more reliable replacement car (used or new) when one gets older to minimize the possbility of such a situation.