Time To Chill, But . . .
Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 5:51 pm
Mr. Happy Squatter here did indeed pull out from behind the "Close The Gate" and back onto the road that led back to 290 West to the interstate, after a lovely sunny peaceful restful interlude.
. . . and then what happened? Well, I drove into a hurricane, Hermine was her name. Winds were below 74 mph by the time it hit Kerrville, but I have some tips for hurricane bus piloting:
*that spray coming out of the horn button is normal, as is the water leaking out between the steering column and the base
*take a lane heck take a shoulder too if the wind should catch the side
*40 mph is top speed when the wind comes around to the front
Found a spot in San Antonio to camp way above the busy city streets, but boy am I lucky I did not camp off the pavement under those trees in that Coming Soon! Retail Center! up at the top of the bluff like I had originally experimented. The front right wheel got all tarry gooey and I STOPPED, backed up, said "no! you are in the city stay on a street." I found a pretty good business park cul de sac. At 2:00AM the backside of the storm came lashing in and dumped buckets of rain on the roof and threw lightening bolts and thunder. The noise was so painfully intense, that I put on my leaf-blower ear protection and wrapped the comforter around my face so I wouldn't be continually awakened by the lightening. Fine, OK, I actually fell asleep for a bit. But I woke up to a weird weird sound, like "I most certainly did not leave the ambulance fans on" . . . no, it was the sound of the nearby storm drain just getting choked off by rising waters. Sounded like a struggling fan motor. The rapidly flowing water made it up to the wheels and gurgled under the car like a babbling brook, would have been nice in any other circumstance.
Back window leaked. Windshield leaked. Both side windows leaked. Air extractors leaked. Paper towels sogged up, as did comforter, oem boxes of Type 4 main bearings, my sweatershirt/raincoat was a sodden mess, the floor under the rubber mats was wet wet wet.
Nice.
New Project: weatherproof this car.
Dallas is under tornado watch, we are just drying out.
Colin
. . . and then what happened? Well, I drove into a hurricane, Hermine was her name. Winds were below 74 mph by the time it hit Kerrville, but I have some tips for hurricane bus piloting:
*that spray coming out of the horn button is normal, as is the water leaking out between the steering column and the base
*take a lane heck take a shoulder too if the wind should catch the side
*40 mph is top speed when the wind comes around to the front
Found a spot in San Antonio to camp way above the busy city streets, but boy am I lucky I did not camp off the pavement under those trees in that Coming Soon! Retail Center! up at the top of the bluff like I had originally experimented. The front right wheel got all tarry gooey and I STOPPED, backed up, said "no! you are in the city stay on a street." I found a pretty good business park cul de sac. At 2:00AM the backside of the storm came lashing in and dumped buckets of rain on the roof and threw lightening bolts and thunder. The noise was so painfully intense, that I put on my leaf-blower ear protection and wrapped the comforter around my face so I wouldn't be continually awakened by the lightening. Fine, OK, I actually fell asleep for a bit. But I woke up to a weird weird sound, like "I most certainly did not leave the ambulance fans on" . . . no, it was the sound of the nearby storm drain just getting choked off by rising waters. Sounded like a struggling fan motor. The rapidly flowing water made it up to the wheels and gurgled under the car like a babbling brook, would have been nice in any other circumstance.
Back window leaked. Windshield leaked. Both side windows leaked. Air extractors leaked. Paper towels sogged up, as did comforter, oem boxes of Type 4 main bearings, my sweatershirt/raincoat was a sodden mess, the floor under the rubber mats was wet wet wet.
Nice.
New Project: weatherproof this car.
Dallas is under tornado watch, we are just drying out.
Colin
