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Monday, December 02, 2002
Here's a recap of what happened last Thursday... I convinced Angel to go home for Thanksgiving and was offering her a ride down to L.A. Because we were planning to leave very early, Amy and Melody came over on Wednesday night to drop off Angel. That night, we ended up watching Scary Movie, which is one of the dumbest and grossest movies ever (although not entirely unfunny).
Groggily, we all get up around 3:30am, load up the car, and are on our way. Traffic is pretty smooth (as it should be at 4 in the morning) and we are making good time. After being on the I-5 for about an hour, Vince and I noticed a strange set of sounds coming from my engine. I slow down to about 55mph, get behind a truck, and Vince and I listen more closely, both puzzled about the noises. At this point, I don't think it's a good idea to keep driving (my thought is that if we keep going, eventually something will explode). 6:30am: We pull off the freeway at Russell Ave. and park the car. Vince and I take a peek under the hood, checking the different fluid levels and visually inspecting for anything obviously wrong. We can't find anything, but the car is still making the noises. When we tried to start the car again, it had a very hard time starting, and then when I put the car in drive, the engine stalled. (We are about 150 miles from Berkeley and 240 miles from L.A.) Luckily, Vince has AAA, so we call them up and they send a tow truck. Not sure what's wrong with the car (and not feeling comfortable forging ahead), we first try to get towed to a service place. 7:45am: We end up in Los Banos, where the mechanic working there informs us that since all the parts stores are closed, he can't really do anything until Friday. Sucks..so we decide to head back towards the Bay Area as far as the tow will take us (which is 100 miles if you have AAA Plus). The tow takes us as far as Patterson Pass Road (near Tracy, CA on the I-580). 9am: Angel calls up Melody and Amy who are able to come get us from the Arco gas station (see the picture below). Transferring all of our stuff to Angel's Corolla (it was more loaded than it had ever been before..five people and a trunk full of luggage), we ditch the Taurus at the gas station. 10:30am: We go to Albertson's and pick up the turkey dinner for Melody, Amy, Angel, and some other people's Thanksgiving meal. Vince and I decide that we still want to go home, so Vince's mom is able to book us a flight for 3:25pm from Oakland to San Diego. 11:15am: Just hanging out at Melody's apartment for the time being before heading to the airport. 1pm: Melody and Amy graciously take Vince and I to the airport (Angel is left sleeping at Melody's place). 5pm: Vince and I arrive in San Diego. End result - I'm in San Diego, 14 hours after I left in the morning, carless, tired, and $230 poorer (due to the plane ticket).
12:16 PM Albert
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..a life in DUO