Snow Day

We're having the first blizzard of the season today. GI schools actually closed which is a rarity so Shan's home. I would dearly have loved to stay home aswell but duty called. I don't quite live far enough away to make a case for staying home. :)

So I get in the shower and get ready. Unfortunately, it was a good hair day. I say unfortunately because it's windy as hell outside and any shiny, soft 'do I have will blow into a frightful tangle the second I step outside. So I bundle up and begin the trek out to the car through blinding, drifting snow and the first problem of the day is my door is frozen shut. I literally can't open the damn thing.

I give it a few hip-checks and using both hands I finally wrench it open. I pile my laptop and purse in the back and climb in to start the car. I shut the door - rather I pulled the door shut only to have it bounce back. The latch is frozen in place and won't catch. So now the fecking door won't close.

Sighing I get out and decide to worry about that later and I start scraping windows. Soon I notice my car is making funny noises. It's spluttering oddly. It's not idling quietly like it usually does. It sounds like it has a cold actually. After I get the snow and ice scraped I get back in, holding the door shut and the car gasps and dies.

Frowning, I turn the car back on where it begins to idle funny again. After a few seconds it makes a loud pop and dies. Almost immediately my car fills with a weird smell, like something burning that shouldn't be.

That can't be good. Now it's time to make a decision. Even though I live only a couple miles from work, the thought of the car spluttering and dying on the way during this windy blizzard is not appealing. I don't know what's wrong with the car and it's not something I can go get fixed because just about everything is shut down today. So I call poor Tonya, whom I know is intrepid and made it to work just fine, as I try once again to start my car. Her voicemail is treated to the sounds of the car coughing and conking out as well as a few choice curses from me.

After I hang up, I get out and realize that my damn door still won't shut. So I dig around and find a metal.. thing shaped like a hand - I don't really know what it's for, but it's been in my car for eons and the fingers of it are small enough to jimmy the door latch. So I spend about 10 minutes fighting with the latch until I get it to loosen up and the door close.

I gather my things and slowly head back upstairs, utterly defeated, disheveled and worried about missing work when I know others made it in. I just wasn't sure my car would make it up there because I'm not exactly sure what the hell is wrong with it.

Yesterday I took Shan and her friend to the mall so they could see Corpse Bride and on the way home afterwards there were a number of huge puddles I had to drive through because of all the rain we got. When we dropped off her friend the car did some spluttering and actually died then as well. I'm wondering if a bunch of water got into it, and then with the temp drop, froze. I'm hoping it will just clear up when this weather ends and the temps rise. Otherwise I think I'm fucked.