1.29.2009

Ice Skating Rink

Is that an ice skating rink in your back yard? Oh no, I'm sorry that's just my driveway trying to kill me.



So yesterday I walked to work in a heavy snow shower and walked home in pouring rain. What is this, Seattle?

Well, the newly fallen snow was washed away by the rain and unfortunately the temperature dropped below freezing last night so all the little droplets of H2O turned into ice. So like a scene out of a movie, I walk outside this morning to clear the ice and snow off my car to find the entire parking lot covered in a thick coat of ice. About an inch in most places! Not fun and not safe.

So I slip-slided to my car thankful that the only accumulation of snow and ice was on my windshield. As I scrapped my windshield my neighbor came down, we joked about not hitting the wall as you fishtail around the corner, made a little small talk, he put his windshield wipers down, and then hopped into his BMW and drove off. [If you aren't aware, wise people leave their wipers up when it snows so that they don't get frozen to the windshield or caked on with ice. I am not wise.] Well, as soon as he leaves I break my windshield wiper off. I don't know if it's broken, I don't know if it's fixable, I don't know how to put it back on, and I can't figure anything out with all the ice accumulation on it. (As a little background story: Andrew and I bought new wipers sometime before we drove the car out East. We purchased them at an Autozone or something and headed out to the car to replace them in the store's parking lot. They came with instructions and seemed simple enough to fix. Well, apparently it was so obvious that we were clueless and incompetent that the man who sold us the blades came out to help us. No big deal, they do that all the time at those places, right? Well, I should mention that he only had one hand. He had one hand and a hook on the other hand, but so easily did what Andrew and I's four hands couldn't do. Pathetic.)

So I took my gloves off so I could try to fix the windshield wiper. I dropped them and they slide across the ice rink. I then hobble over to them hoping not to pull a hamstring and angrily throw them into my purse. Needless to say, I chucked the wiper blade onto the passengers seat and hopped in the car. I was already late enough for work.


I then proceeded to back out of my parking spot...easier said than done. I got out into the middle of the lot and couldn't move. My wheels had no traction and wouldn't spin. My engine just revved. I was worried that I would wake my neighbors and then be embarrassed about being stuck in the middle of the parking lot so I avoided giving the car too much gas. I straightened the wheel and was able to inch forward. I started to turn to make the corner to exit the lot and fish tailed towards the building. I wasn't going anywhere. Not by automobile at least. I couldn't leave the car in the middle of the lot for the day so I managed to back it into the spot (as displayed in the photo above) and walked bitterly to work, frustrated and defeated. Not a happy morning:(

3 comments:

  1. Wow! I always told you not to park your car on that lake.

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  2. So... Why did you not walk in the first place?

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  3. CM, give me a little credit;) I had a meeting at 5:30 pm that I had to drive to so I didn't have time to walk home, clear off my car, and then get to the meeting.

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