Parched and thirsty car
Everybody should have friends they can call up at the drop of a hat and ask, "What should I do if my car overheats?", coz you never know when your car might overheat, and it might occur at 1pm on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
I was in the middle of this unholy jam, waiting at a traffic light intersection -- why is it that even when the lights ARE green, the cars still hardly move? -- and noticed the engine temperature meter thingy going up. And up and up and up.
"Put out your hazard lights and turn the engine off to let it cool down," Bob said.
"I can't do that! I'm in a queue at a traffic light. I can't just stop in the middle of the road!" I wailed. "What will happen if I continue to drive?"
"It'll blow," he said.
"Oh my God!"
"Yeah. Look, try your best to cut left and find a place to stop."
I did, and of course, the left lane decides to get blocked also, coz some cars were trying to cut right instead. The needle passed the critical point. I started praying in tongues! Every second felt like an hour to me.
When the light finally turned green and the cars started inching forward again, I moved, and halted by the side of the road, in a bus-stop bay. Right now, having a bus ram into my car's behind was the least of my worries. What did I do next? Why, call AAM, of course! (the Automobile Association of Malaysia provides free 24-hour breakdown assistance to members)
They said it would take 45 minutes to an hour for assistance to arrive. I groaned. I'd been on the way to conduct an interview. Called up to reschedule. My stomach was growling -- I'd not had lunch. So I did what I normally do in situations like these: I started SMS-ing people!
"I'm stuck on Federal Highway coz my car overheated," I moaned to about 5 people. Then sat back and awaited responses.
After a while, I got restless. Then I remembered my tape recorder, the one I usually use to record interviews. Got it out and narrated the incidents of the afternoon into it. Later, when I played the tape for my housemates, they were rather... speechless *grin*
Eventually I decided it was too hot to continue sitting in the car, so I got out, opened an umbrella, and propped myself against the side of the car, reading a book under the umbrella's shade. That's how the AAM guy found me.
He determined the water pump was at fault, poured water into my thirsty radiator (the engine had cooled down by then) and tailed me home. Why do these things always happen to me?! In November, I back into a parking meter and wreck my rear windscreen (my car, a Kancil, comes without a sticking-out boot/trunk); in February, on my way to Penang, one of my tyres goes flat and is ripped beyond repair; and now my radiator gives me trouble! Arrrgh!