Tag Archives: automobile

i made a poor decision which resulted in a ride in a police cruiser.

i made a poor decision which resulted in a ride in a police cruiser.

went for an early run trying to beat what dark sky described as “light rain”. about 2 miles out it turned to heavy rain which is manageable but as i started to get nervous as the thunder started to get more rumbly and i noted i was one of the taller objects around while running along a road with soy fields on both sides.

i turned around to head home and soon after a police cruise passed me and went around a bend and about 20 seconds later a lighting bolt hit in a nearby stand of trees and was so loud and so startling that i almost tripped in the street and let out an involuntary stream of expletives.

i thought about asking a homeowner if i could hang out on their porch for a bit while the storm passed and while i was mulling it over, the cruiser rolls up and the officer rolls down his window and says, “hey, you want a ride home? it’s getting ugly out here.”

“you bet!”

thanks viroqua pd! i never did catch the officer’s name but i sure appreciated the ride.

#shouldistayorshouldigonow

i got 7 more rainy miles in after police ride home and storm died down. I *think* I can get a few more in before the yellow blob gets me! #shouldistayorshouldigonow

later: got back just as the booming started again!

the galaxie 500 horn has started honking on its own which can be SUPER AWKWARD.

the galaxie 500 horn has started honking on its own which can be SUPER AWKWARD.

for 14 years the galaxie 500 horn has not worked because a clip on the horn ring ( the thing you press to make contact to complete the horn circuit ) is broken. finding some parts for a 51 year old car can be a challenge and the clip on the horn ring is one of them. not impossible, but just hard enough that it’s been easier to just not have a horn.

on a recent longish road trip in the old ford i recommitted to finding the part to fix the horn because it’s sometimes it’s a safety issue to one! i stopped into the local ford dealership to see if they had the part. unsurprisingly, the answer was no.

weirdly, the week after i started thinking about fixing the horn it started honking on its own! but only when i’m cranking the steering wheel around more than a full rotation. i assume there’s a new bare spot on the horn wires in the steering column that are touching and completing the circuit when i turn the wheel?

it doesn’t honk all the time, just when i’m cranking the steering wheel around. and when am i most likely to be doing that? when i’m parking! which i’m quickly realizing can be super awkward when people are walking by. when i was leaving work some women were walking nearby when i was pulling out and the car started – HONK! HONK! HONK! of course, they looked at me perplexed which meant i had to stop and explain that i wasn’t honking at them. it was the car! doing it on it’s own! not me! crossed wires!

more perplexed looks.

adventures in transporting a giant pole for the treehouse spiral staircase.

adventures in transporting a giant pole for the treehouse spiral staircase. I.

i’m making progress on the treehouse spiral staircase and found a suitably long pole to build upon. and now i’m either going to make it 35 miles home with 7 feet of a 16 foot pole sticking out of my car without incident or I’m going to have a really good story!

the hardware store lumber dude who helped me load it in the car with a forklift exclaimed, “THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING!” which i took to mean he did not often load 16 foot poles into cars.

the optimistic twine amuses me. i don’t really think it’s going to do much to stop the pole from sliding out of the car on a steep hill ( and there are a lot of steep hills between the store and home ) but i felt like it had to do something.

adventures in transporting a giant pole for the treehouse spiral staircase. II.

[ later] well that was exciting! I forgot to bring something to weigh down the pole in the car. with about half of it out of the car it was on a natural pivot point so I had to actively hold it down for 35 miles which made shifting pretty tricky! If I ever find myself in need on transporting 16 foot pole again, I’ll definitely remember to bring something to weigh it down!