Public Service Announcement

Over the weekend, I had one of my first awful car experiences and I had to deal with it alone. My wonderful car, Gertie, had a bit of a mishap and decided to overheat pretty badly. To be fair, I hadn't been diligently checking my coolant/anti-freeze levels, but I swear I was about to do it as soon as I had gotten to my destination... Any way, I had basically lived out my dad's biggest fear with this car: breaking down far enough away from home that he wouldn't be able to bail me out. I was driving down the off ramp and onto 130 in Jersey when may car just pretty much shut off. It was pretty damn terrifying, but I tried to maintain my cool and look for a shoulder to pull off onto. Just my luck, there wasn't a shoulder, but instead a shady little driveway that I could partially glide onto before my car decided it did not want to go any further. 

Spending some quality time with
Gertie on 130

I did everything my wonderful father had taught me to do: put on my hazards, open the hood, and then call him for help. Being stranded on the side of the road in Jersey was not the phone call he wanted to get, but hey, shit happens right?

After trying to figure out what the hell had actually happened, it dawned on my dad that I had not been listening to him and monitoring the fluids in my car. (He wasn't wrong, but I swear I was going to do it later...) My dad decided my best bet was to tow the car to Tess' house (which was seriously only FIVE MORE MINUTES AWAY FROM WHERE I BROKE DOWN), let the car cool off, and then add the anti-freeze to it later. I called Tess and laughed my way through my predicament and she said she would call her dad to see if he knew a tow truck. Instead of sending a tow truck, her dad and step-mom came to help me out themselves, which was seriously the best thing ever.After sitting with my hood up on the side of the interstate for about forty five minutes, it had cooled down enough to add the anti-freeze and get me back on the road.

I'm so thankful that I have so wonderful people in my life who so graciously offered to help me out. Shout out to everyone I snap chatted and offered a hand as well. Also, shout out to all of the assholes who drove by me on the side of the road and honked at me as if I purposefully stopped my car partially in a lane because I wanted to do it. 
From now on, I am going to take better care of my baby. She's been in my life for about seven years now and she is quite old (almost twenty-one!) so she needs extra attention.

This has been a public service announcement in the form of a story so I hope you all take better care of your cars than I do so you don't have to learn the hard way.

Thank goodness for best friends,
beer, and the Sons of Ben <3
(Neshaminy Creek Brewing Co. was Tess
and I's final destination on Saturday.)