shazrasha: (Default)
shazrasha ([personal profile] shazrasha) wrote2005-11-17 08:24 am
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In The Nick of Time and Car Gymnastics

Those that know me know I hate to be late and being late for work is the worst. Especially when they mark it down to the second every month. Not that I've had to worry so far.

Today was another Jack Frost day. Only this one was colder than the last. The grass was a lovely white and crispy and my demon chariot was iced from head to toe.

My first problem occurred when I realised I couldn't put the key in the lock. A brief think and I returned with a jug of warm water. Heating the key I got it in the lock but couldn't turn it. Fortunately my central locking works from both sides! So luckily for me the passenger side lock worked. I then get the scraper and start to scrape windows. I'm just about done when I realise my driver door won't open anyway. It's frozen shut :P

No amount of warm water or pulling helped so I resorted to my final trick. Climb over from the other side. Which resulted in me squashing my breakfast (I decided it was faster to eat at work) and the fruit in my shoulderbag as I made my way past the gear stick.

Now the worst thing about it being this cold is that water tipped on the car will freeze. So not far down the road having accidentally set off the washers I had to climb out the way I came in to remove frozen screen wash. I set the heating on full and the blowers on the windscreen on full and hurtled to work.

The heat from inside the car finally did what everything else could not. It unfroze the driver door. Once at work I did not have to clamber and so I could hurry through the building to my seat and log in.


Result: 30 seconds to spare and one overheated chilly me.

Now I just need to hope it hasn't frozen on me again by lunchtime...

Teas so far: None and no coffee either I was in too much of a hurry.

[identity profile] lucian-albrecht.livejournal.com 2005-11-17 09:45 am (UTC)(link)
You're better off not de-icing the car with warm water. It freezes when it cools down, and you end up worse off. One of those battery-powered lock heater thingies, a can of de-icer and a scraper widget always did me. If you get the sort of spray de-icer with the tube attachement, you can then spray that into the lock too.

[identity profile] shazrasha.livejournal.com 2005-11-17 10:00 am (UTC)(link)
Well I only took to water (which I quickly wiped off) because I was running late much prefer the scraper myself and K does have de-icer with lock attachment. :)

[identity profile] midnightoak.livejournal.com 2005-11-17 11:02 am (UTC)(link)
Wasn't it just easier when you could plug your car in to keep it heated overnight?

far mroe reliable too than the newspaper on window technique some people use.

(Anonymous) 2005-11-17 02:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Hej.
Hur kallt har ni det?
Här i Umeå var det -7 grader i morse. Blev lite varmare under dagen tack vare en strålande sol. Ingen snö ännu dock..
Hälningar /John.

[identity profile] midnightoak.livejournal.com 2005-11-17 03:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Bra fråga, vi har ingen termometer men i Leeds i morse var det kallt nog att det fanns frost på gräset men det är jätte soligt så har nog värmt upp mycket sedan dess.

runt 5-10 skulle jag gissa.

[identity profile] shazrasha.livejournal.com 2005-11-18 09:51 am (UTC)(link)
Uhm skulle nog säga ungefär -5 på natten det var kallare i går kväll. Jag fick bara up en dörr av fyra (bak dörr) innan jag tina up bilen.