Roadtripping, eventually

6/14

So right now I'm sitting at my grandmother's house killing time. I was supposed to have been on the road right now, but my car's in the shop. I took it in yesterday to get the oil changed, and as we were picking it the mechanic told my dad and me that a CV joint was shot, that the boot had cracked and all of the grease was gone. He recommended getting it replaced, of course. The grease in part keeps it cool, and if it kept running hot it could cause the whole wheel to pop off. Or something. My own knowledge, my dad's experience, and just now my uncle all say that it's much more likely to run (poorly) forever without catastrophic failure. But my dad's paranoid, and mechanic said it'd be an hour and a half, so we had him do it. I said I'd come by in the morning to pick it up. Expected cost, $60-70 for the CV joint, 1.5 hours labor?

I got a call late last night saying that the CV joint was somehow fused to the wheel bearing, and he wanted me to call him back in the morning to tell him whether he should blowtorch them apart. I called at 8:30 (I had to get up at 8:30... Ugh.) and told him to do it. Added cost, ~$30 for the wheel bearing.

He called at 11:30 and said that the CV joint he'd ordered didn't fit and he'd asked for another. I called at 2:40 and he said it'd be half an hour, so I went by at 3:20. My car's still up on the lift without a wheel. Ugh. Turns out the replacement didn't work either, so the original CV joint, which had been rebuilt, was on its way back. That was maybe an hour ago, and I'm waiting to see how much longer it takes and how much it costs. Then I have to put air in my damn tires and power steering fluid in the reservoir, after that hopefully I'll be able to get on the road.

6/15

I'm at a Panera in Maryland now, waiting for Marshall to get off work and commute over here to meet up. I hate Panera, but they have couches, AC, and free wifi, so I guess I'll let them live when the revolution comes.

I finally got the car back at around 6 yesterday. After wiping down the steering wheel and the shifter (the mechanic had driven the thing around while wearing oily gloves) I took it for a test run around town and out onto the highway, taking sharp turns and driving fast and such. This was during rush hour, so the reality is that it took 30 minutes, 20 of which were spent waiting to exit the highway. I'm not quite sure what the idea of my test run was. I guess that if anything failed I'd be close to home and family with cars, but in the event of my wheel bearing or CV joint blowing out I'd probably lose control (and the wheel) and kill people. Not that the idea didn't appeal to me after sitting in stop and go traffic in Burlington, but at heart I truly am a peaceful man. Honest. I just curse a lot. And like guns. No, fuck it, I'm lying.

So I packed the car as quickly as possible, raced my grandmother through her obligatory last-minute photos (seriously, you've spent all week with me and taken photos in Maine and at graduation, how important are a few photos outside of the house?), and sped off. I had to stop to put air in my tires and get gas, which because I was late was a serious drag, but it turned into a minor blessing by the fact that I'd left my suit carrier at the house and my mother brought it downtown to me. Had I been on the highway I'd have had to turn around, and that would have sucked.

Leaving later than planned wasn't fun, but most of the traffic was gone, so I made great time. I was cruising at about 80mph at some point maybe 20 miles after leaving, and I noticed that my hood was starting to pop up and was shaking in the wind. I pulled over (which I've never actually had to do on a highway before) and closed it. Turns out the mechanic hadn't shut it properly, the bastard. I had these wonderful images of my hood popping up and blinding me, or maybe it'd rip off entirely at high speed and I'd be driving with an exposed engine compartment.
This wasn't actually that dramatic, but getting up to speed in the shoulder and back into traffic was interesting. I mean, my grandmother's car has a turbocharger, I think it's only fair that I should have one, too. Speaking of driving my grandmother's car, that's what I've been doing lately. So slowing down at the tollbooth with the music on loud I completely forget that I'm driving a manual and ignore the clutch. I stalled the thing right in front of the toll collector, who must have been laughing at the confused look on my face.

I hit about 30 minutes worth of traffic on 95 just outside of New York. Last time I went into NYC I took Merrit Parkway on the advice of someone stuck in traffic on 95 up ahead. It's a really beautiful 2 lane highway with lots of hills and curves, and the bridges that pass overhead are all unique and made of stone. I think what makes it fun to drive, though, is the fact that there are trees on either side, overhanging the road. If I ever make the Boston-NYC commute again I'm definitely going to take it, 95's just a huge drag.

New York was brief. I didn't find parking until like 11:30, and that was only after I'd given up on finding the correct side parking for Friday morning and had resigned myself to waking up at 8 to leave. The New Yorkers went to bed early, so I didn't actually get to do much more than say hi. Ah well.

The drive to Maryland was uneventful, but I was shocked that between the NJ turnpike toll, the George Washington Memorial Bridge toll, the Delaware toll, and a toll in Maryland I hit $13.85 in about 50 miles. Apparently in NJ it's illegal to have self-serve gas stations, too. Gas was still 20 cents cheaper than in Boston, even with the attendant, but full service stations make me uncomfortable.