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| Perhaps the appropriate attitude to have when driving or riding in the Scirocco |
Some time later the axle was ordered, installed and working properly. Decadence once again had her roaring, tape-playerless, air-conditionless, shaking, ride of doom back. (For a full description of this temperamental piece of metal on wheels, see the previous post.) It was a bittersweet reunion. The two exchanged sideways glances before they made the ride home together. The honeymoon period would not last long.
One bright, sunny Saturday afternoon a short time later, Decadence and her mother took off to town for a trip to who knows where in a quickly developing part of Oconee County (just outside of Athens, GA).
~~It should be said before this story continues, that whenever Decadence's 5'1" tall mother becomes suddenly nervous while riding in the passenger seat of a car (any car) she grips the passenger door or door handle, whichever her right hand reaches first, while her left arm flails out in front of her, grasping for the dashboard which is usually out of her reach (sorry, Moms). Once her hands are in place, her body becomes completely rigid and unmoving. On occasion, if the situation worsens, she will repeat: "Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God!" until the crisis is averted. This display never seems to quell her anxiety, perhaps it is just something for her to do while the driver remedies the situation. Having been the driver when she reacts this way, Decadence can tell you, it only makes things worse. Seeing Mama Brown performing this display only confirms the level severity of the situation and panic is usually close behind.
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| Close example, if Mama Brown was a male ginger and had switched to the driver seat at the last second. |
As luck would have it this fine morning, the light for their stream of traffic was red. Double lanes of traffic came pouring off Loop 10 and onto Eppes Bridge in both directions, as per usual. Always making attempts to be the responsible driver, Decadence pushed the the brake pedal with one foot as she pushed the clutch with the other (manual transmission if you haven't reviewed the car's description).
Not feeling the car slow, Decadence pushed the brakes harder so as not to hit the line of cars in front of her. No change. The lane to the left was clear, so Decadence merged into that lane as she approached the red light. Pushing the brake pedal to the floor with all of her weight brought no change.
Cue Mama Brown's reaction to vehicular crisis.
Seeing the Mama Brown brace-stance, Decadence knew she had to act quick. The light appeared to have no intentions of changing and the traffic off-loading from "The Loop" was not slowing. Decadence did the only thing she could think of...she hit the gas with everything she had.
Okay, so obviously not. Decadence would not have lived through that.
Instead, left with no other option aside from Thelma and Louise-ing it through the intersection, Decadence pulled the emergency brake with one hand at first and then both in order to stop the car in time. The car screeched at deafening decibels and clouds of smoke billowed from the tires, but the car stopped. The car stopped directly behind the white line in fact.
Lucky for Decadence, there was a car repair place just up the next hill in the same direction Mother and Decadence were already headed...the car was yet again admitted for some involuntary inpatient rehabilitation.
A mini-photo montage of the range of emotions this car evoked in Decadence:
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| Functional panic |
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| I just can't face it anymore panic |
One forgotten, but important detail to mention about the Scirocco is that the gas gauge was not accurate. The tank would read full one minute, halfway full the next, and 3 minutes later the car might shut down unexpectedly of an empty tank.
Seriously.
The first time this happened, Decadence just happened to be on her way to the gas station. She was hoping to give her business to the gas station just on the other side of a busy intersection from where the car shut off. Once again, the light was red and there was a busy flow of traffic crossing the intersection, preventing Decadence from coasting through said intersection (although in reality, she never would have made it to that gas station even if the light had been green). Instead she merged the dead car into the right hand turn lane where she could-hopefully-coast along in the turn lane in front of a busy shopping center and down the only sloping hill in the area, leading down to a gas station.
Because the car shut down well before it even reached the initial intersection, the act of merging into the right turn lane took most of the car's momentum. The car slowed considerably more after Decadence made the right turn. The speedometer of the car did not even register a numerical value for the speed of the car at this point. The car crawled. Someone walking next to the car with crutches could have beat the car to the intended gas station.
Decadence was reduced to "riding" along in the turn lane, waving people away from attempting to hit her while she rocked back and forth in the driver's seat repeatedly and with great vigor, hoping that this would propel the car forward until it reached the gas station. This went on for several minutes, but just when she thought she would have to abandon the car in the turn lane or physically push the car forward, the car reached the ever-so-slight downhill slope that lead to the gas station. Decadence steered the car to the only available pump and the rest of the day proceeded as normal.
This was the first, but not the last time the car would play this trick. Decadence was much closer to the gas station the next time it happened…
To be continued...again...
