I hope this won’t be a theme here
August 11, 2005 – 7:50 pmToday on my way out to Rosemary Beach I heard a strange noise coming from my car. It sounded quite a lot like I was dragging a boulder. Upon hearing the noise I immediately slowed down and prepared for my car to explode, but the noise stopped. So I resumed my normal 20 MPH over the speed limit only to have the noise start again. So at the first convenient point which didn’t include 4,000 shopping tourists, I pulled over and walked around the car briefly. No boulders.
I did discover that a part of the plastic belly pan that goes under the engine had come loose. It had detached at the front and was hanging in a manner that made it act like a scoop that would catch the wind and force it against the road. That explains why it only happened at high speed.
I was on my way to a very wealthy client’s house to configure their DSL and wireless laptops, so I was in no position to lie down on the pavement and get all filthy and sweaty. All I could do was tuck it up in there as best I could and hope it stayed.
I made it to the client’s house without further incident. However, on the way home it came loose once more. Not quite all the way loose this time, so as long as I stayed under sixty five it didn’t scrape. Until I decided to pass Mr. Mississippi in his Quest minivan, that is. The piece of plastic caught one of the reflectors in the road and got flipped all the way back, right in front of the tire. It now sounded like my car had a jet engine. One that wasn’t working quite right though.
Get out. Inspect. Re-tuck. Keep it under sixty five.
I can’t count the number of elderly women that passed me in Cadillacs today. At least that’s how it felt. I’m so used to going eighty down that stretch of highway.
I need to get out there and rip that thing off before work tomorrow. But it’s so damned humid here. If I stand in front of the sliding glass door and think about going outside, I sweat. I’ll probably lose 3 pounds taking that thing off.
