Gimme a Brake!

            I’m so happy to have gotten the chance to spend the Easter weekend with my family at home. Unfortunately I’m not going to have the three full days I was going to get though because on the way home my mom and I took a little (or an entire night) pit stop along the way.

            So I’ve come to terms that I may have the WORST car luck in the entire world.

Let’s flash back to mid-February. It was around 10^o and with the wind-chill it had to have been below zero at 9:00 PM on a Friday night. My equestrian captain at school was bringing a group of us home from our lesson at the barn and we were all freezing from our lesson and also the fact that her car didn’t have heat. As we were waiting to turn at a red light her car stalled out. Which you may think this really isn’t a problem, but she drives an automatic so we knew something was wrong. We could smell burning and there was a little bit of smoke coming from the hood. We didn’t know which was worse, being in a car that we didn’t know if it was going to catch on fire or standing out in the freezing cold while waiting for AAA. Let’s call this strike one on Francesca. (On the plus side, I ordered food to be delivered to my dorm when I got back and since we broke down they actually delivered it to our intersection! I think that was the first time the delivery man had every done that…..) Thankfully, her boyfriend wasn’t busy and he came to our rescue while we waited for AAA. As we were sitting in his car though, his battery died. Strike two.

            We ended up jumping the car and getting the other towed and all was well. But a week later I was driving with another member of our team to a horse show out of town. We got settled in at our hotel and went to meet the rest of the group at a restaurant down the road. When we pulled out I could tell something was wrong and I insisted that he had a flat tire. He didn’t believe me though and kept going. Well, needless to say, I was right and it was flat. So strike three?

            I should be “out” but I keep pushing my luck.

            The following weekend I was on my way home from a horse show except this time I was riding in the trailer so I could help unload when we got back to the barn. When we were leaving, my coach’s mom knew she had enough gas to get back to the barn but as soon as we got going the gauge dropped drastically and we coasted through the hills, a full horse trailer in tow, running completely on fumes.

            I knew then I must be cursed; yet I continued.

            That same night I was going to a banquet out of town with a guy I show horses with. I warned him of my luck and he said his battery wasn’t corroded, he had a full tank of gas, his tires were good, and engine was sound. We had a good time at the banquet and were on our way home. After a long day of showing we were both beat and he still had to wake up the next morning to be at the barn at 5:00 AM again. He had a long drive to Syracuse and then had to back track to get back to where he lived. There were a few snowflakes in the air and he was cruising down the interstate as he saw a cop sitting on the side of the road. He slowed down right away and continued on for about a mile before the cop finally pulled us over. We got off lucky though in what must have been the quickest traffic stop of my life, but regardless, we did get pulled over.

            The following weekend I went home for a wrestling tournament and to spend some time with my friends and family. My dad was picking me up in Syracuse where we were going to turn around and make the 4-½ hour trip home. As soon as he pulled in though I could tell there was a problem. His back tire was completely flat. So change it, what’s the big deal? Well his spare was only one of those compact tires that can get you 100 miles or less and you can’t exceed speeds of 55-mph. Well that wasn’t going to do us much good for the 274-mile trip home. It was 6:00 PM on a Thursday night though, most garages were closed, and the only garage that was open couldn’t even get the 18-inch tire he needed until Monday morning.  Somehow though my charming father was able to sweet talk a deal out with the Audi dealer and we made it home by 1:00 AM in a car off their lot.

I thought my bad luck had finally ceased, but boy did I think wrong.

The tournament I came home for was about 45 minutes away from my town and I wanted to leave early in the morning to see my best friend wrestle in the first round. I was going to the tourney with a friend of mine because we hadn’t seen each other in awhile but he had to work that morning so we knew we were going to be cutting it close. The two of us always argue trucks because I’m a Ford girl and he drives a blacked out Chevy (that is a little eye-catching I must admit….). I kept giving him hell for us being late and possibly missing the first round so he was flying (also trying to prove what a smooth ride the Chevy was). Well he flew right by a cop who pulled us over not even 100 yards from the exit we were going to get off at. Unfortunately, this friend of mine wasn’t so lucky and he got slammed with a hefty fine for going way over the speed limit.

So all has been well and good for the past few weeks. Until last night my mom and I were coming home. It was around 8:30 or so and the trip had been smooth. We stopped for a quick dinner at a Wegman’s and we were right on the New York/Pennsylvania border. I was driving and drifted, ever so slightly, off the side of the road and all you could hear was boom, boom, boom, boom, BOOM and what it must feel like when a rocket lands. The damn torn up road completely popped one of my tires and since it was late and my mom doesn’t have a spare on her vehicle we ended up staying the night at a hotel. We were towed the remaining way this morning so I finally made it home!

Phew.

I admit that’s a lot.

           Now I kindly warn people about the luck I have and the danger that comes with riding in a car with me.

            Hopefully the worst is behind me and there are no problems in the near future! I don’t think I can take much more?

            I hope my ridiculous luck at least put a smile on your face today and you can pity the people who still have the courage to drive with me.