Friday, January 30, 2009

Slip, Sliding Away

Wow, yesterday I decided it was time to get my little red car out of the garage, down the drive and off to the office. I waited around till about noon then piled into my car. The garage door open, my car idling I put the thing into park. Looking into the rear view mirror I saw that my paper was still in our sloping driveway, so I slowly started down the drive, grinding to a stop to open my door and grab the paper. You see, my car is a sports car so I am VERY low to the ground. I punched the button to put the door down, closed my door, slipped on the seat belt and was ready to back out the rest of the way. Well, I was stuck, even on a stupid incline. I tried to put it in drive then in reverse a few times and I ended up sideways in the drive. That is no problem as my car is tiny. I could probably put it sideways in my garage it is so tiny. I thought I would just go with what it was trying to do since I knew I might end up forwards. Just as I got it to the point I could move again, after a lot of spinning and noise, I saw the neighbor from across the street, a senior in high school, had just pulled to the curb of his house. I put my car in drive and as I passed his car, he was sitting behind his steering wheel with his mouth hanging open,I just smiled, waved and moved on.

I drive effortlessly to the office and pulled up out front. Another slight incline, much smaller than the driveway was awaiting me. A delivery guy had just pulled up too as I parked in my usual spot. I put it in park and added the parking brake when I saw Joe, the delivery guy, was approaching my car. I hit the button to down my window and then realized I was sliding out into the street, with both breaks on! Wow! I got stopped and he just kind of grinned and told me that he left the delivery in the back. Window back up I took the car out of both parks and slid the rest of the way into the street and tried several times to get back up the parking. Finally, I parked in The Hubby's spot that had lots of pavement showing through and was able to stay put. Later in the day when The Hubby arrived he parked in my spot with his huge Avalanche truck. B and I were inside watching our security cameras and she commented that it looked like his truck was sliding. I really didn't notice it when all of a sudden she said, "OH MY GOD, IT'S SLIDING." It was totally out of the picture and had slid in to the street. I jumped up ran to The Hubby who was on a call trying to sell a generator and said, "I need your keys." Being the observant one that he is, he shrugged his shoulders like I was crazy. I said rather loudly, "Your truck slid down the drive." He jumped and wrangled his keys out of his pocket and I ran out to reposition his truck. I found some more pavement and made it stick that time.

Then came the end of the day and the trick to get into our garage. I knew that not enough of the stuff had melted and was just slush on the road which is a problem on it's own. One of the problems we are having right now is the cold is jacking with our garage door. It starts to open and then just sticks or goes back down. Not good when you are in a little car that needs momentum and I can't get out to help it up as I probably can't even walk up the drive. My first try of course the door did it's thing and I had to sit and open/close it a few times before it finally heaved up. I knew since I had to stop my run up the drive that I would not make it the first time, but I had to try. Of course there was a slide and a grind of my tires as I rolled out into the street. This time I was able to back into the different direction where there was a lot of dry pavement but the steepness of the drive just was not going to allow me up. I kept rolling backwards and going further down the street and hitting the gas to get a fast run up the hill. After the fifth try I was able to bully my way through the stuff ending up going into the other side, The Hubby's bay but since I had the little car I was able to back and forth in a small space to my side. WHEW! What a day and I really didn't do much. Today, it is just now a few minutes till 8 am and I'm still unshowered and in my jammies. I emailed B and told her that I would not be in until there was more sunshine. I was not about to have another repeat of yesterday morning. I have to do payroll this morning but the guys will just have to wait until after lunch! I'm already tired.

6 comments:

Char said...

whoa - that's dedication to get in yesterday. I know the last time I drove in the ice I hit a curb and bent a tire rod, so no, I don't drive in it anymore. be careful!

DeeBee said...

I have feared being completely stopped and my car just sliding off into no man's land. I would have loved to see you parking into your spot in the garage by shimmying over the way you did. Sounds very comical!

Unknown said...

today was the first day i have been out due to the ice....i was so scared lol.....ice i ce everywhere ice....thank goodness it is melting now

Anonymous said...

I can feel you pain...please no more winter, please!!!

I nominated you for an award BTW, go to my blog and grab it, and thanks for being such a great blogging friend!!!

hugs!

Flea said...

The last storm in December had me sliding down my driveway. My Hunny parked the minivan and found it in the street the next morning. I had the same results after grocery shopping the next day. This ice is insane. Crazy! But I'm loving it. And loving that it melts pretty quickly. :)

I'm actually pretty new to Tulsa, only being here two years. But it felt like home from the beginning.

Dawn said...

Laughing at how fast your husband moved when HIS truch was sliding down hill! LOL!

Aren't you glad it's 57 out today!??! :)