First off, I work in a financial industry...and we didn't get the holiday off. So there was that.
Second, I didn't drive my car all weekend. It sat out in the cold for over two days. It has been no warmer than 10* for weeks. As a result, my battery froze. My car would not start, and I felt like I was killing it more every time I turned the ignition. It just sounded like death.
After about 10 minutes of trying, I got the ol' gal to start. And man, she did not want to get going. Cold as shit.
So. My car was cold. And frozen.
I let it warm up for about 10 minutes and went out to see how much the windows had defrosted.
None.
My ice scraper was missing. I thought...Hot water would get the frost off the windows and I could just get going. I grabbed a cup of hot water and poured it over my windshield.
It melts half the ice, and freezes over the rest.
Now, I have an extra thick layer of ice on my windshield.
So this time I think, "Ok, I just need to get the wipers going before I dump the water." I turn on the wipers. Dump the water.
And BAM!
Those wipers flip that water right back in my face. It freezes in my hair. On my coat. More obscenities.
WHAT THE HELL.
It's actually all really, really stupid and a little bit funny now that I look back at it.
I was in panic mode. And it made me stupid. Obviously.
Have you ever experienced a frozen car? Worst car story. Go. (That doesn't involve death or dismemberment)
Once upon a time, when I was a young a newly licensed teenager. I backed my parents car out of the garage...and hit the side of the garage. Then tried to act like it didn't happen. Like maybe they wouldn't notice the large crushing dent in the front right wheel well.
They noticed.
-Stef-
My hard was a hard start this am since I was out of town and it was -16. -16!!! What the goddamn ass hell?! Your warm water story was cute though as I can imagine myself doing something equally as dorky.
ReplyDeleteI have! Once it rained all night and got down to freezing, and I had 3 inches of ice block on my car! But I learned a valuable lesson: NEVER POUR HOT WATER ON YOUR WINDOWS! the hot water on frozen windows will cause them to shatter! use cold water from the tap..it's still warmer than the ice and will melt it without cracking your windows! I poured several pitchers of cold water along my door until I could pry it open, then cranked the car heat all the way up, then started dumping water on the windshield until i could pry chunks of ice off. Granted, we were at 10 degrees, more like 25 but it took me a good 30 mins just to get going!
ReplyDeleteOh, I am glad we have a garage now. We never have to scrape our windshields. But back in the day when I lived in st. George I tried the hot water on the windshield trick. It did not work. I then tried it with the wipers on. Haha. I feel your pain.
ReplyDeleteugh, my car is hating the cold right now too. Starting it up sounds like an elephant being tortured.
ReplyDeleteI do have an ice scraper though, so no ice issues here. :)
Luckily I haven't done anything too stupid to a car, but my brother in law backed his mom's car out of the garage with the driver's door open - breaking both the car door and the garage door frame.
So, like, what about salt? Isn't that what they use on the streets? You could put that on your windshield? A hair dryer to melt part of it so you can chip off the rest?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the last thing you need is advice from a Florida girl.