Tag: car
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Peddling my Wheres
Last week, my car started getting through antifreeze faster than it was getting through gas; I’d fill up the radiator and before I’d gone a couple of miles the Radiator light was on and I’d left a trail of blue liquid all up and down the road. This being Texas, there’s ample opportunity to overheat, so I thought I’d better get it seen to. I’m a one (crappy) car family, and the nearest Chevrolet service center is some 5 miles away, so I figured I’d strap my bike to the back of the car and drive it round on Monday… Read more
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Rental Case
Last summer I was fortunate enough to be sent on a six-week trip to Europe, courtesy of the project I was working on. Well, I would have considered myself fortunate were it not for the facts that (1) this was Rotterdam – not known for being one of the beauty-capitals of the world, and (2) I spent almost every waking hour in a warehouse stacked to the rafters with automotive oil and other specialty lubricants (and not the fun kind, either…). I’d been over to Rotterdam a couple of times before, and had spent several years living in Brussels (one… Read more
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Hit (it) from behind
I guess it had to happen sooner or later, but I was finally involved in a car accident on the I-10. And no, it wasn’t my fault. I was driving home after a particularly stressful day at work (where I had to berate one of my direct reports for falling asleep at his desk – and I’m not really one for confrontation, so that was really tough for me), pootling along in the fast lane at just around the speed limit, when my car got hit from behind. I pulled over onto the shoulder (thankfully they have one on the… Read more
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Roadside disservice
I’ve been having a couple of issues with my car, recently. For some reason, when you turn the ignition, if it doesn’t start the first time, it won’t the second, or third, or fourth…you basically have to sit back for half an hour and then try again. If I’d had the time and money I would have taken it into the dealership and had it looked at, but I’m nothing if not a procrastinator (I think – I’ll have to give it some more thought later), so I just left it. As a workaround, I just developed a specific combination of… Read more
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Driver Safety
Last weekend I bought myself a new car (well, new to me – not brand new – it’s a 2003 model). It’s a small 2-door Chevrolet Cavalier LS Sport (see picture on the MobLog). I used to have a Vauxhall Cavalier last time I lived in England (14 years ago…) and this is nothing like that. This is actually a good-looking car, although the ‘Sport’ side of things only really extends as far as the spoilers, and it coming in a rather fetching “Sporting Yellow”. It’s a 2.2 liter engine, which sounds a lot in a small car by European standards (my… Read more