Don't drive in puddles.

KikiteNeko · Apr 21, 2009

I had a job interview this morning. My printer's down so I was going to make a quick run to Staples to get my resume printed, and then I'd be all set. Simple simple?

Well, I took a backroad to fight the traffic, because Staples is on a very busy road but their back entrance is on a side street. The back entrance has a dip which sometimes creates a little puddle. You know the kind that splashes up by your windows like Moses parting the red sea. I've been through it before, no big deal.

I grossly underestimated how much it rained last night. I drove through the puddle and the water went UP TO MY F**KING DOOR. I could barely accelerate enough to get through it. But I and my car emerged victoriously! I was just about to do a victory dance when, just then, in true theatrical fashion, my car began slowing down. I looked in the rear mirror and saw smoke billowing out the back. The steering wheel locked. I swear the engine uttered "Rosebud." And then it was over. The car was dead.

Thank God for AAA, right? As I was waiting for the tow truck, I saw a few other cars turn into the back entrance intending to brave the puddle. But they all saw me a few yards ahead with my emergency flashers on, and did a U-turn out, a bit more educated than when they arrived.

Ol' Fashioned Girl · Apr 21, 2009

Sometimes the best thing we can be is a warning to others.

Hope it all turned out okay and didn't cost too much.

Pagey's_Girl · Apr 21, 2009

My car didn't stall, but it darn near floated away once when I did the same thing - grossly underestimated the depth of a "puddle." (More like an insta-lake!) Feeling the wheels almost leave the pavement was one scary moment...

Wayne K · Apr 21, 2009

tomothecat said:
Thank God for AAA, right? As I was waiting for the tow truck, I saw a few other cars turn into the back entrance intending to brave the puddle. But they all saw me a few yards ahead with my emergency flashers on, and did a U-turn out, a bit more educated than when they arrived.

The good news is that you didn't drink over it.

KikiteNeko · Apr 21, 2009

Ol' Fashioned Girl said:
Sometimes the best thing we can be is a warning to others. Hope it all turned out okay and didn't cost too much.

Meh, I thought the car was a goner, but it turned out the only real problem was water flooding the oil tank. So the repair shop just gave the car an oil change really.

KikiteNeko · Apr 21, 2009

Wayne K said:
The good news is that you didn't drink over it.

Being drunk might be the only way to justify a person thinking it would be a good idea to brave that puddle.

CACTUSWENDY · Apr 21, 2009

Out here in Arizona we don't have puddles....much. But we sure have ragging rivers that come out of no where when it rains.....

Sorry about your mishap.

Wayne K · Apr 21, 2009

tomothecat said:
Meh, I thought the car was a goner, but it turned out the only real problem was water flooding the oil tank. So the repair shop just gave the car an oil change really.

I'm glad it turned out Okay.

semilargeintestine · Apr 21, 2009

tomothecat said:
I had a job interview this morning. My printer's down so I was going to make a quick run to Staples to get my resume printed, and then I'd be all set. Simple simple?

Well, I took a backroad to fight the traffic, because Staples is on a very busy road but their back entrance is on a side street. The back entrance has a dip which sometimes creates a little puddle. You know the kind that splashes up by your windows like Moses parting the red sea. I've been through it before, no big deal.

I grossly underestimated how much it rained last night. I drove through the puddle and the water went UP TO MY F**KING DOOR. I could barely accelerate enough to get through it. But I and my car emerged victoriously! I was just about to do a victory dance when, just then, in true theatrical fashion, my car began slowing down. I looked in the rear mirror and saw smoke billowing out the back. The steering wheel locked. I swear the engine uttered "Rosebud." And then it was over. The car was dead.

Thank God for AAA, right? As I was waiting for the tow truck, I saw a few other cars turn into the back entrance intending to brave the puddle. But they all saw me a few yards ahead with my emergency flashers on, and did a U-turn out, a bit more educated than when they arrived.

Do you live in NJ? That Staples sounds exactly like the one by me.

KikiteNeko · Apr 21, 2009

semilargeintestine said:
Do you live in NJ? That Staples sounds exactly like the one by me.

Nope.

Clair Dickson · Apr 21, 2009

Yeah-- gotta be careful underestimating those puddles. Cars are not amphibious.

When we went to sign the paperwork and see our new apartment (years ago) it rained and rained. We got in to the parking lot, but there was a rather large pond that formed in the middle of the lot. It was a cheap apartment (next to the railroad tracks, no dishwasher, etc. Cheap.) Anyway, try to get out, drive through the puddle. Cars makes it through, but sputters, splutters and stalls only a few yards away. Once the car dried out a bit, it was fine-- it sucked up water into the air filter. Soaked it so bad that the car couldn't get enough air to make combustion. We learned to drive on the shallow side of the pond. The week before we moved out, they finally repaved the lot (after five years of crawling through this door-deep puddle every rainstorm).

There are other hidden dangers in water when you don't know the depth. You don't know if there's a sharp object or something underneath the water that could damage a tire or car. We lost a hubcap in a edge-of-the-road puddle once. And, of course, you don't know if your car will be able to make it through without serious damage. Go around if possible.

At least you lucked out this time, tomo. =)

nevada · Apr 21, 2009

On the other hand, how did the job interview go?

KikiteNeko · Apr 21, 2009

nevada said:
On the other hand, how did the job interview go?

I called to cancel thinking I'd never make it. But the tow truck got there in 15 minutes, and when I called my mom for a ride home, she was so eager to leave work that she offered to take me to the interview, and I made it 5 minutes early. They were super impressed that I showed up even though I was minus a car, so I think they like me.

Silver King · Apr 21, 2009

That puddle might have been a sign that you should accept the nanny job you were offered recently.

What? Don't you believe in Signs?

benbradley · Apr 21, 2009

Silver King said:
That puddle might have been a sign that you should accept the nanny job you were offered recently.

What? Don't you believe in Signs?

I'm orthogonal. I only believe in Cosigns.

KikiteNeko · Apr 21, 2009

Silver King said:
That puddle might have been a sign that you should accept the nanny job you were offered recently.

What? Don't you believe in Signs?

I was offered a nanny job? Apparently I missed this. If you're referring to the potential nanny job that was dangled in front of me for a month, that woman flaked out and went with daycare.

Maryn · Apr 22, 2009

CACTUSWENDY said:
Out here in Arizona we don't have puddles....much. But we sure have ragging rivers that come out of no where when it rains....

When I lived in Tucson, both 4th and 6th Avenues boasted underpasses with the water depth marked in inches--and feet. IIRC, they topped out at six feet. To a driver unfamiliar with those streets, I'm sure it the standing water might have appeared to be a mere puddle following a rain.

I haven't been back in ages. Wonder if it's still that way. Locals?

Maryn, who lives where the water reaches area streams, rivers, and lakes

dclary · Apr 22, 2009

"We were going to give you the job, but you look like this yokel I saw trying to drive through a 5-foot-deep canal to get to staples this morning."

Pagey's_Girl · Apr 22, 2009

tomothecat said:
I called to cancel thinking I'd never make it. But the tow truck got there in 15 minutes, and when I called my mom for a ride home, she was so eager to leave work that she offered to take me to the interview, and I made it 5 minutes early. They were super impressed that I showed up even though I was minus a car, so I think they like me.

Well, if I were in HR, I'd be very impressed.

(This coming from the yokel who almost had to row, row, row her Saturn gently down the road...

)

Pagey's_Girl · Apr 22, 2009

dclary said:
"We were going to give you the job, but you look like this yokel I saw trying to drive through a 5-foot-deep canal to get to staples this morning."

Been there, almost done that - although, in my defense, it had been the main road up until the thunderstorm....

That spot was only twenty feet away from the telephone pole that got hit by lightning while I was sitting next to it, stuck in traffic. I had a nasty moment thinking that pole was going to topple on top of my car from the way it was shaking.

Silver King · Apr 22, 2009

tomothecat said:
...If you're referring to the potential nanny job that was dangled in front of me for a month, that woman flaked out and went with daycare.

I didn't realize that happened, since it was never mentioned in the thread you started regarding that position.

KikiteNeko · Apr 22, 2009

Silver King said:
I didn't realize that happened, since it was never mentioned in the thread you started regarding that position.

In that thread I still hadn't been offered either job. Both were tentative. Both fell through.

Unique · Apr 23, 2009

ah, puddles. I was riding in a car with a friend - going through an alley with a puddle. A car passed us and the wall of water came in the open driver's window, passed completely over my friend ... and landed in my lap.

Good luck w/the job, Tomo.

KikiteNeko · Apr 23, 2009

Wow, guys, irony of all ironies. The place I nearly missed the interview with due to the puddle just called and offered me a temporary job covering a maternity leave. So, yay, I get to get off unemployment for a little while!

writeronfire · Apr 23, 2009

I like to jump in puddles.

Congrats on your job!

Don't drive in puddles.

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