CAUTION: THIS IS A LONG BLOG. BEFORE ENTERING ONE SHOULD HAVE SUFFICIENT TIME TO READ IT ALL. THEN COMMENT.
In my life lately it seems as if nothing has been going as planned. At least, they aren’t going according to my plans. I am trusting God at all times to see me through though, and I know everything I’ve been put through is for a reason. I can’t tell you what the reason is for my having trouble securing another loan for school, or why my mom’s car died when I was driving it twice in the past few days. My plans were to know by now that I can go back to Cornerstone, oh how much I miss it now! Other plans were to go up to Grand Rapids this past weekend and see some of my friends whom I love so much, particularly a friend who graduated this year and doesn’t live around here. I also had wanted to leave the Harry Potter movie and drive home. Plans turned to ash as things got messed up. Now for what really happened over the weekend.
Saturday, I left for my beloved Grand Rapids at 8:30 in the morning. I had to stop and get gas in my local town to insure that I could make it to Coldwater to fill up my tank with a Meijer gift card. I also had to make a side trip to Wal-Mart to get oil, as my car was low and there was no way that I would drive all the way to Grand Rapids with low oil. As I got closer to Grand Rapids, and my beloved CU, my heart fluttered as I saw the sign for Kent County. I couldn’t believe I was almost there already. Out loud I spoke to myself, “Not too long and I’ll be back at my beloved CU! Oh how I’ve missed it so!” After I got to Grand Rapids, I went to the Meijer down the road from CU, smiling as I passed by CU. I wanted to fill my tank again before I went bowling, so I knew I would have enough gas to make it to Aubrey’s mom’s place afterwards. Well, after I filled up, using another Meijer gift card, my car didn’t start. I tried it a few times, but it didn’t start. I sighed as I got out of my car, going to the car in the truck next to me and asked if he knew anything about cars. He laughed and said, “No, you probably know more about cars than I do.” I told him thanks anyway, went back to my car, trying to get it started again. I sighed deeply again as I got out and laid my head down on top of my car. I couldn’t understand why on earth it didn’t want to start, or why it had waited until I was at Meijer to not start. I wondered why it hadn’t decided to not start when I was at the rest area, or why it couldn’t have waited to not start until I was at Cornerstone.
A nice lady who was at the pump behind my car asked me if I was having car trouble. I told her yes, and then she asked if I had a cell phone to use so that I could call someone. I answered that I did, as I had borrowed my church’s cell phone for my trip, just in case something happened. I pulled it out and tried calling my pastor’s wife, as they know cars and might be able to tell me what was wrong. Unfortunately, the cell phone had no minutes on it, so that didn’t work out. The lady, who later told me her name was Holly, let me use her cell phone. I felt a little silly calling someone all the way back home to try to figure out what was wrong with the car. I then used her cell phone to call Jon-Michael who I was going to meet to go bowling. He hadn’t even left his house yet. Fail.
Holly had to go pick up her daughter, who is my age, to take her to work. She stayed with me until her husband, who knows a little bit about cars, came to try to jump start it in case the battery was dead. That didn’t work. He pushed the car over to the side, by the pay phone, as I went inside to buy minutes for the phone I was using. I also talked to the attendant, who told me as long as I left a note, my car would be fine sitting over there until Monday. He told me if it would be later than that before I could get the car taken away to just come change the note, as they weren’t eager to tow cars from Meijer. I called my pastor’s wife, Beth, to tell her we couldn’t get it started and she told me it would be Monday until they could get up to Grand Rapids to help me out. Great, I was stranded in Grand Rapids for the weekend. That was fine with me, of course I had no idea how I could get out to Aubrey’s mom’s place now. Holly’s husband was going to take me to Cornerstone, but she came back and gave me the ride instead. She gave me her number in case I ever ran into trouble again. I made a mental note to call her to thank her again for everything whenever it was that I got home.
When we got to Cornerstone, one of my other friends, Jon, was there waiting for us. Holly told me she wasn’t going to leave until I had found one of my friends. Jon-Michael showed up about a half hour later, which means I would have been waiting at Cornerstone for him for about an hour and a half, had my car not died on me. We talked for a little bit, and then we piled into Jon-Michael’s car to go bowling! I love bowling. Sadly, I got 99 and 97. I don’t like it when I don’t break 100. While we were bowling, I called my mother, who told me to find someplace to stay for the weekend. I called Aubrey, and we arranged for Jon-Michael to take me halfway out there and she would meet us. I of course, had to give them gas money. After we went bowling, we went over to Subway. I saw my friend Kerri from school. She had to leave so we didn’t really get to talk.
We dropped Jon off at CU, then went to make sure my windows in my car were up and that the car was locked. After that we drove to Sparta, to await my rescuer Aubrey who arrived in her mother’s mini-van. I said good-bye to Jon, Kim and her brother and thanked them again for everything. I hugged my Aubrey before we got into the van and set off for another one of my “second homes.” There are very few places that I feel right at home when I go there. Some places are home Aubree’s house, CU Aubrey’s mom’s house, Sarah W’s house, my friend Melinda’s house, my friend Kimmy’s home, Molly W’s home, and of course, my beloved CU where I settled in nicely in August of last year.
A few hours after I got to Aubrey’s mother’s house, Tim S came over and we played some games. I was so excited to see his awesome red truck pull up in the driveway I ran out to the end of the sidewalk. He had already pulled his truck to a stop by that time and so I stood there, with this possibly creepy cheesy grin on my face. I did a quick penguin walk a little bit closer, stopped and stared at him. He locked his door. I did another quick penguin walk towards his truck and he laughed and unlocked his door then got out. I started cracking up laughing. We went inside to the games. We had a blast playing Telephone Pictionary. One round involved my writing doves being interpreted by Aubrey’s sister as doors, since my v went into my e as I sometimes switch to cursive and not realize it. It was awesome. Beth, my pastor’s wife, called me and told me that when I got to my car again, to have someone hit the starter with a hammer as I tried to start the car. Before Tim left he gave Aubrey and I hugs from Christi, it was almost like one of her hugs. I miss her a lot. We then took pictures, which I must upload and send to Christi. :D One is of Tim doing a pose, and I have my arm around him, pretending to be infatuated/in awe at him. I’m not sure how well that turned out. Haha. Aubrey and I went to sleep at about midnight I think. I didn’t get out of bed until about 11:30.
At about 1 or so on Sunday Beth called again. She asked if I had any way to get back to the car that day. I told her no, because Aubrey couldn’t afford to go back to GR that day and we had friends coming over. She told me things hadn’t worked out and they couldn’t come to my rescue on Monday as planned, that they were in Coldwater coming to get me. I had to give them Aubrey’s mom’s address so they could come pick me up so we could work on getting the car home. I said okay, but it really depressed me for a while. I had been looking forward to hanging out with Aubrey, and maybe seeing Matt W. and Eric. I texted Matt W. and asked if he was available to hang out the next day, before I knew I would be picked up that night. He couldn’t hang out anyway, which is sad, as my whole trip had been based on my hoping to see him while he was in town.
At around 5ish, Aubrey and I went to walk around outside as we eagerly awaited the arrival of our friends Matt P. and Thad. They called, and we went out to the end of the driveway as Aubrey tried directing them to the house. When they pulled up we grinned and I was overcome with excitement to see the two guys I’ve danced with (that I wasn’t related to). They are also two of my AMAZING CU brothers. I love hanging with them. Aubrey and I walked along the driveway and waited while Matt parked the car. Thad got out first and Aubrey and I walked over to him, he seemed to be thinking of who he should hug first, so Aubrey told him I was more excited and to hug me first. I love hugs. We ended up going inside and Aubrey introduced them to her family, and gave a tour of her house. Thad had been there once before, so he knew most of his way around to begin with.
We decided to go down to the river and walk along, so we piled into Aubrey’s car and headed off. Aubrey showed us her favorite tree and we sat down, the three of them taking their shoes off and putting their feet in the water after Matt somewhat climbed the tree. Aubrey waded in the water a wee bit as we talked. It was a nice relaxing time that involved being amused by a silkworm dangling from the tree into the water. Sadly, it got swept downstream. When we left there we investigated the grainery. Doors were knocked on and attempted to be opened. Crevices were looked into, a picture was taken, and a big spider with what looked like an egg sack was discovered. It was fun. We headed back to Aubrey’s, stopping by McDonald’s to get her mom a coffee. I got a phone call asking where Aubrey’s house was, as my pastor, his wife and my mom were in town. I told them what color the house was and directed them there which didn’t take much. They were waiting when we pulled up a few minutes later. Aubrey’s sister came out and told me they scared her as they had driven by slowly and pulled into the driveway very slowly. I laughed and told her it was my ride. I went inside and grabbed my things, not having time to take pictures of the four of us, which saddened me. I gave quick hugs goodbye and went out to the awaiting van.
When we arrived at the car, we hooked up jumper cables to the battery. We also tried starting it with the starter being hit. Finally, after charging for 40 minutes, the car started up again, after the starter had been hit again. We were not allowed to turn the car off until we pulled into their driveway. They put a different starter on it the next day. Mom and I arrived home at about 11:30 Sunday night.
Tuesday night, Court and I headed to the movies to see Harry Potter. We were the only two in there to see it! It was awesome. Imagine my mood when we get out to the car and it once again doesn’t start for me. I tried it a few times before popping the hood and getting out. I looked at a few things quickly, before Court flagged down some guys who worked at the theater that were leaving. They came over and then went to get another guy who worked there who might be able to jump start the car. After a few minutes it was decided we did not need to jump it. The battery was definitely not dead. I called Beth, thinking it might be the starter again. She didn’t answer. I then called my mother, even though it was nearly one in the morning to let her know what was going on. I got a guy to hit my starter for me, in case that was it because he said it might need another one, even if it just got replaced yesterday, as that had happened to him before. Yes, we had 4 guys helping us in front of the theater. My car still didn’t start. I finally gave permission to Court to call her friend Mike to come to our rescue.
While we waited for him, we saw a cop pull someone over, then pass the theater a couple times. Finally we saw Mike pull in. He came over and had me pop my hood and he checked a few things, tried to get it running. He even checked the fuses! Still, he couldn’t figure out exactly why it wouldn’t start. He thought it might be a cable that runs from the ignition to I think he said the engine? I told Court I really want/need to take a basic mechanics course. To me it sounded like the car really wanted to start, but it just wasn’t. Mike finally gave up and asked if I had someone to come and take a look at it or take it some place tomorrow. I told him yes, I did. We got into his car and we dropped Court off. I then got up front as Court was like, “Oh, by the way, Mike this is Eve. Eve this is Mike.” Mike offered me his hand for a shake, but my purse was currently in that hand, so I had to put it down before shaking his hand. We talked on the way out to my house and I found out he didn’t live too far from me. He also knew my neighbors, and his brother was dating one of them. Among topics we discussed were family, college, GPA and dating. When we pulled up to my house and I got out I thanked him once again for rescuing us. I also told him it was nice to officially meet him. That confused him. I told him I had been with the group that went to see Transformers 2 a couple weeks ago. He laughed and it seemed to click that it must have been there he had seen me before, if he was at all thinking I looked familiar.
The next day I felt very stupid as I learned the reason the car wouldn’t start was because it wasn’t all the way in park. One of my friend’s cars does that sometimes, so I should have thought about it, instead of just assuming it was the starter acting up again. I told Mike, and he said he was the one who should feel stupid as that should have been one of the first things he checked. I think it’s funny that five guys and a girl who has been through many car troubles, didn’t think to check that it was all the way in park.
So, for you fellow car drivers who have issues with cars, here’s a short troubleshooting guide, it might come in handy if you borrow someone’s car.
1. Make sure it is park, maybe you need to shift it out of park and back into park.
2. Just a hint. If you don’t know this, as I didn’t. People will assume you know to not leave your heat on when the car is turned off. This is a bad idea. It will kill your battery within minutes. Not to mention after a while it won’t give you hot air. I think that is because the hot air it gives you comes off the engine, and for the engine to have heat, it must be turned on.
3. Give it a little gas. One of my friend’s cars needs a little gas to start it.
4. If your headlights work, your battery isn’t dead.
5. Try turning off all electrical things, then starting.
6. If you do need a jump. Make sure your car stays running for a long while afterwards. I’ve been told anywhere from a half hour to an hour.
7. If the battery is charged, and it just isn’t starting, but making a clicking noise. It could be your starter.
8. If it is your starter acting up, it might work if you get someone to hit it with a hammer as you try to start it.
9. Always know someone you can call to come rescue you! If you have a cell phone, awesome. Put anyone and everyone’s number in it. If not, carry an address book!
10. If all else fails; and you are a girl, look a little helpless, even if you know a little bit of what the problem might be. Guys will normally come to the rescue. (Unless you’re carrying your shoe and limping across campus in the dark of a cold night…you might not get help then…but that’s a different story.) I had several guys helping last night. Yet, none of them thought it might be that it wasn’t fully in park. This isn’t the best idea if you’re by yourself!
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