22
Dec
2004
16:46

A few more random tidbits from L.A.

As I mentioned, we had a blast. Everyone ruled. One person I failed to mention was Will’s friend Shelby who was also totally cool. I could easily see him as a friend.
I didn’t see one single famous person while I was there. I feel gypped! Next visit I’ll have to actually do the shameless tourist act.
Our plane landed early which was nice because we wanted to make it home in time to get our packages from the office and beat rush hour. Since we had arrived twenty minutes early though, the gate was not yet free so we had to wait around for about 15 minutes until the plane could pull up to the gate. By the time we got our bags and caught the shuttle to where our truck was parked it was now about 5:00. It would most likely take 45 minutes to get home and the office closes at 5:30.
As we drove along, I found it a bit hot and turned on the A/C. After a few minutes I noticed that it really wasn’t cooling at all. We also started hearing a very weird noise and smelling something that did not seem at all right. We saw a little smoke from under the hood, too. I immediately pulled over and turned the car off. I popped the hood and thought that maybe a belt had broken or something. That would explain the noise, and possibly the smell if it was rubbing somewhere, and could also explain the A/C not working if it was the belt to the compressor or something like that. Under the hood everything looked fine. I turned the car back on to see if I could hear the noise or see anything going wonky, but all seemed alright for the moment. I wondered if maybe the A/C compressor had burned out or something.
We got back on the road, kept the A/C off and after just a few minutes we detected something amiss again. This time I noticed that the temperature gage was pegged on the “hot” side. Doh! We pulled over again and seeing a gas station just down the road, Jess set off to procure a bottle of coolant for the radiator. By the time she got back the engine had cooled sufficiently to investigate and sure enough, my radiator was bone dry. We have no idea how or why this happened, but giving it a big drink of coolant seems to have saved the day. Since then I keep checking for leaks and such but all looks good.
There can be only one explanation: The Chupaveh�culo. While my vehicle sat helpless for 6 days the Chupaveh�culo skulked the airport parking lot under cover of night, drinking the fluids from the various vehicles there. It’s really the only logical explanation.

2 Responses

  1. Simon says:

    I’d go along with that. Poor car! I hope it’s OK in the long term.

  2. Heath Allyn says:

    Just testing something…

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