Car Wash

I have very serious advice to all of those out there in bloggerland: don't ever, under any circumstances, ever open your car door when you are inside an automatic car wash. Even if it seems like a good idea at the time.

My latest used car is a Saab. It is a top of the line model, all the gadgets and bells and whistles. It says "God Bless you" when you sneeze. But alas, it is a USED car. Therefore, there are a myriad of gidgets and gadgets that can go wrong with it. And, one of those little quirks of Sally Saab is the rear window on the driver's side sometimes creeps down on it's own.

One Friday recently I needed to kill time between driving home from work and meeting
Bethany on Rt 910 to pick her up from carpooling with a coworker. Sally Saab was dirty, so I drove into the neighborhood car wash. I fed the machine six crisp dollar bills and drove in. The soapy arm of the car wash made one pass. I look back and realize the rear window has crept down an inch or two. Oh no!! I move the front seat back as far as it will go with the electric button and strain to get the window up. No go. I have to get out and push the window up manually.

I check where the arm of the mechanism is, and it is on the opposite side of the car. Surely there is enough time to jump out, fix the window and get back in.

Not so much. The arm of the car wash jammed right into my open door and stuck there. Panic sets in as I realize the door will not close, the car wash has come to a halt, and the washing arm of the car wash will not move. I run out of the car wash looking for help. No one is around. It occurs to me that either the door of the car has to come off or the car wash dismantled to fix this jam I am in. There is an object on the wall near my car door that is preventing me from moving forward with the door open.

Eventually I figure out that if I inch forward, inch by inch, I can close my door a tiny bit. I finally am able to close it enough to get past the mechanism on the wall of the car wash.

If this was all caught on video, I am a definite winner on America's Funniest Home videos.