glass half full, much??

I had two off days unexpectedly but they were so welcomed albeit the reason for them.

I have not had a chance to take leave for the past couple of months except for medical leave which is not the same thing though it does allow you to be home, but you can’t do anything coz you’re ill. So these two days of so called “emergency leave” was nice despite the reason for them.

Thursday morning rushing at 7am to get to work before 8am, I did not look at any of my car meters especially the most important – temperature meter. But when I got out of the jam and hit the highway, only then did I glance at the meters, only to see that the temperature was at H. High! Not just higher than normal but the needle was already up on the highest peak of the red area.

At first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. As I was cruising on the highway, the temperature dropped slightly and so I thought it could have been the cooling fan having problems i.e. turning off and on. But when I came out of the Smart Tunnel, my engine started making clanking sounds and the temperature went all the way up and stayed up.

Not good!

Please, please, just let me get to the office and I’ll figure something out there.

I know, I know. I should have pulled over the moment I saw the indicator on high but I was testing my luck.

Pushing my poor car approximately 5 km more, “Check Engine” indicator came on as I approached the Sungei Besi toll plaza.

Ok, ok, I surrender. I’ll stop at one of the petrol kiosks after the toll plaza.

Hah! I wish.

Slowing down and aligning myself approaching the SmartTag lane, my poor car died.

I was surprisingly calm when it happened.

There were cars passing me left and right but I just turned my hazard lights on, guided my car and parked it in front of the barrier separating the Touch-n-Go lane and the SmartTag lane.

Lots of white smoke came out of my bonnet and of course the distinctive burnt smell.

Thank God for mobile phones.

Daddy, S.O.S!

Thank God for Daddy.

It was 7.20am.

I sat in my car and made all the necessary calls while I waited for Daddy.

The Plus Ronda made their way to me 20 minutes later and parked behind me.
One guy came over while another stood behind their truck to alert oncoming traffic.
General observation: Yup, water out and oh oh, engine oil oozed out already. A not-too-good sign, he said but it could go both ways for the engine - either very bad or it could be nothing at all.
He wants to move my car from this rather dangerous location.
So, he said, we’ll cool the car down and see if it’ll start at all.
He added water to the radiator.
Woah! Look at how much steam’s generated.
Woah! Look at the water spitting and spewing out of the radiator.

COOL!

Three 1.5litres of bottled water went in.
He went into the car and ...

“Vroom”, it’s alive!

I then made my way to one of the petrol kiosks, parked and not 10 minutes later, Daddy came to my rescue.

9.30am I was back home; even managed to go get breakfast on the way home with Daddy.

Of course, Daddy did all the necessary calls to get a tow truck and sending my car to the mechanic's.

Yes, thank God for Daddy.

Mechanic report: At the bottom right-hand corner of my radiator, there is a hole, a cavity where all the cooling fluid was drained out. I must have hit something, some time. It could have been weeks or months ago and after awhile, a small crack became larger. True enough, checking our garage, where my car was parked last, there was a substantially huge watermark on the ground.
As with the engine, nothing major. The pistons, all still good.

As of 5.30pm today, my car is still at the mechanics – burnt parts being replaced and whatever tubes that are old, replaced, among other things.

So, I was technically car-less. But we do have spare cars at home. And no, I am not going to take those to work. I have a valid reason for taking an “emergency leave” and I plan to fully utilize it, as I already did.

Thursday, had a nice dinner with sweetheart and today, KLCC I went; had a long, lazy, relaxing lunch with a few magazines, did a little shopping and walked around leisurely.

Yes, what happened was a disaster actually but I reaped whatever positive there was from it. I had two full days of waking up late, lounging and doing absolutely nothing at home except for the occasional checking emails, reading blogs and a little shopping. And tomorrow is the weekend already. YIPPIE!!

I’m more worried about the mechanic’s bill actually! Eekksss…

(Monday 14 July 2008:

Got my car back Friday afternoon and no major damage. Phew!

I drove it around on Sunday just to get the feel of it after repairs. Felt ok.

I didn't think I would be nervous this morning but as I got nearer and nearer to the "historical spot", I found myself in a little anxiety attack - feeling a bit panicked, heat beat faster, breathing harder, silently praying that everything will be ok.

It wasn't like I was thinking about the incident as I drove this morning but subconsciously, it did affect me.

Considering what happened to me was rather minor and nothing substantial happened, it still bothered me.

I wonder how those involved in major accidents get pass their fears.

I suppose if you have to, you will.)