sitting on the side of the road

waiting for the truck to show.

ok, so it's not worthy of an otis redding song, but that's pretty much how i spent 2.5 hours of my morning when the pulley that holds the accessory belt in place decided to give away and have the belt come off. Without the belt that is part of the cooling system and is responsible for the power steering and the alternator among other things, you can imagine the dramatic effect. All the lights on the dash come flying on, steering becomes way difficult, coolant starts pouring out, steam comes erupting, you get the picture. Then the tow guy couldn't find me for 45 minutes (he was looking on the on-ramp instead of the off) not to mention he was late because he got pulled over on his way to work. Anyways, i am grateful that at least for today the Jed was free to entertain me and let me encroach on him for a good chunk of the afternoon. The damage wasn't too bad considering the dramatic effect and i drove off in the afternoon.

it was pointed out to me during the tow that i had a flat front passenger tire. i was wondering why the car veering to the right last week. i wonder how long i drove on the flat? hopefully i didn't wreck anything too bad, those are expensive tires. don't ask how i didn't notice i had a flat, i just assumed they were underinflated (it wasn't totally flat obviously). Anyways, after the engine work i took it to the tire shop for a patch. spent most of the day waiting if you can imagine, although i did end up going to volunteer. jed will be thrilled to know that.