What the Blog

This is in addition to the recent blog I wrote about New Years, Outback Bowl, & Adventures Coming home. We were supposed to go back to Lake City, FL to pick up Kalz Mazda 3 on tuesday, but she got a phone call on monday with the news that the fly wheel was cracked and that it will take an extra day to fix it, in addition to an extra 250 dollars. Kalz promptly called her mom & her mom said get me a final total and I will deposit it into your account. The total ended up at $1532.75. Over the weekend I also realized that my beloved Ford was having issues with the transmission, it has started slipping, so not only is kalz car in the shop my is quickly on her way into a shop as well :(. I find this an ironic turn of events that she is having clutch issues and I am having transmission issues (but then I think on the fact that my truck does have 120k + miles and is a ford and 10 years old, I find it to be expected). I let Kalz know about the truck and get ahold of a mutual friend and ask to borrow her car. She of course says yes and since she has been sick, tells us that she doesn't need her car this week anyways.

Lets fast forward to Tuesday night, We go to pick up our friends car and she informs us that it is kind of messy since she has been sick and has not felt up to cleaning it up, we assure her its no biggie, she also lets us know that we cannot lock the car, something is wrong with the alarm system and if we lock it, the alarm will go crazy and we will not be able to shut it off. So Kalz drives the chevy home and I take my truck home. Since it was dark as sin out, we could not see inside the car what we were in for come morning.

Wednesday morning, we wake up bright & early (7:45, the alarm was set for 6:30) and declare that we need coffee, we quickly get dressed, take care of the cats, she walks the dog, we gather our stuff up and head downstairs to the chevy. At which point I flat out refuse to get in the car - this is where the titile of my blog comes in - What the Hell Is THAT Smell?? I look at Kalz and tell her I cannot ride in a car with that much stuff in it and everything needs to go in the truck, she says it doesnt matter about the back seat and I say yes it does, everything needs to go in the trunk. We pop the trunk and laugh as we realize it is a good thing it is just a day trip and we don't have luggage and start putting everything in the trunk. We put fem products, razors, reciepts, straws, trash, & other misalaneous objects into the trunk, including the passanger floor mat. Unfortunalty there is still a bad smell in the car, it is a mix between rotten milk and dirty socks, and from something that spilled on the floorboard in the front seat. There is also a general stickyness to the interior of the car. We decide to hit Walgreens and purchase clorox wipes, windex wipes, a can of oust, hand sanitizer, and a car air freshener. We clean every surface on the inside of the car down with a shocked look on our faces - we have not even had coffee yet - I spray a ton of oust on the floorboards of the car and finally we feel the car is clean enough to drive in without the feel of getting an infectious disease from sitting in it. Now I just want to say at this part of my blog, my friend knows that I am writing it and is fully aware of the contents it contains, she laughed her ass off as I told her the description of it so no feelings were hurt with the writing of this, also I have come to the conclusion that she probably will not suffer so bad with her asthma now that the interior of her car is clean.

Driving over to starbucks in Bluffton we realize that the check engine light is on, we figure its a sensor, say a small prayer, and keep on going. We get to Starbucks and order 2 cups of coffee and our told that it is $11.45, WTF! We have been spoiled cause Kalz is the cafe manager at Barnes and Noble and are used to getting 1/2 off for our coffee. She tries to get a discount but they were having none of it. Kalz pays for the coffee and we head out towards the interstate and while driving though the parking lot we hear a strange rattling noise everytime we go over a speed bump, we give each other a look, laugh nervously, and keep on going. At this point I say again what the hell is that smell?? grab the can of oust and spray the interior of the car for the 3rd or 4th time, (this continues throughout the tirp). We finally get on the interstate and start dodging cops, semis, minivans, & other vehicles and head south on I-95 towards FL (SPRAY).

About 1/2 way through GA, we both have to use the bathroom and get off the next exit we come to - there is nothing off the exit - no gas stations, no houses, no stores, nothing except a lonely road with a ton of trees, we worry at this point that we may have to pee in the woods if we can't find something soon, we jump back on 95 and thank god we see a rest stop sign 2 miles ahead. We cross over into FL with no issues and head west towards Lake City, Kalz asks me what exit we are supposed to take, and I say its 427 of I75, we get off the exit and nothing looks familiar to us, and I say maybe its exit 429, so we start heading back north to where 429 would be if it actually existed. She calls Mazda and asks which exit they are off of and they say 427, we are like what?? We were just there, we make an illegal U-Turn on the Interstate and go south again back to exit 427, and turn right instead of left and find Mazda with no problems. Kalz promptly jumps out hugs her car and asks where her license plate is, I say manybe that is not your car, and she informs me that she knows what car is hers, about the same time the mechanic comes over and tells her that she should hug her own car, which is over there, lol. I get in the drivers seat of the chevy and Kalz gets behind the wheel of her Mazda and we head out (SPRAY). We make awesome time from Lake City to Brunswick GA when trouble strikes again.

For any of you that are familar with driving in GA, there is always construction going on in the Brunswick area, I am not sure why but it is always there. So we are driving a good 65mph through the construction zone, me leading since I have my radar detector with me when the guy in front of me swerves quickly because there is a construction barrell in the fast lane, I do the same to avoide hitting it and I look back to make sure Kalz doesn't hit it, I see her in the right lane and figure she changed lanes for the same reason, but quickly realize that she is not catching up with me, thanks to the great invention of cell phones I call her to find out what is going on. She says, I hit something, theres something wrong with my car, I have to pull over, so I quickly pull over and she pulls up behind me, we get out of the cars and start to inspect her Mazda. We realize the front driverside tire is going flat and that there is a nice dent on the front bumper and well as damage under her car from the barrell. We decide to go to the next exit and find a place to replace the tire on her car, so we jump back on 95 and drive with our hazards on about a mile to the next exit, where a nice lady at the gas station directs us to the nearest tire repair shop a few miles down the road. Kalz calls her insurance company, pays her insurance bill and they get the tire replaced and tell her that the damage to the car from the barrell will be covered. We had to wait over an hour for the tire to get fixed, but finally we are back on the road again. 45 minutes later we are getting off exit 8 on 95 in South Carolina and we finally make it home, with both cars. We drop the chevy off with her owner as I hand over the keys, I again think to myself - What The Hell Is That Smell - We leave and grab a bite to eat, our cats and dog are happy to see us, I promptly crash out and sleep for 10 hours straight. Hope you all enjoyed this as much as the last one. There will be some new pics added to the FL folder in my albums. Ciao.