14/09/07
Speed 3: No Cruise Control -
Categories: My car broke - the thermometer light started flashing, and sure enough the dial told me that the water temperature in the radiator was now 100 degrees celsius. Ooh. It then went up to 120 degrees celsius. Now I know that technically that's no longer water, but I'd have thought this would be a good thing for a radiator, as a radiator that's doing its job gets very hot. But apparently this water is to cool down the engine, so my dad told me that I needed to stop driving the car pronto or the engine would overheat causing £3000's worth of damage. This happened a few days beforehand too, again when stuck in traffic - on the open road it's fine and stays cool, because the air cools it.
So I needed to get from a readthrough in North Acton to a replacement car waiting for me in Balham, at 6pm in the evening, making sure I kept the car moving wherever possible. Easier said than done. I genuinely felt like Keanu Reeves in his pre-Matrix, post-Bill & Ted days, racing through London, not necessarily worrying too much about going the right direction (though that did ultimately help), but worrying instead about finding traffic-free roads. It was very exciting, although with the slightly fretful element that my car could actually die if the traffic got too bad.
Made it anyway, and now drive a white van till Monday as a replacement. People seem to give me much more room. Pop quiz, hotshot...
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