|
A very nice policeman directing traffic told me the right way, which would have been the wrong way any other day. The rest of the drive was fine fine fine. JonT’s directions were perfect. I had some time to kill so I was scoping out the area for a possible Z3 drive meeting point. It didn’t take long to dislike this car wash. Either the people are just unfriendly or there were just too many trying to use the place. I got out to see how many quarters I’d need and how the game is played to make the best use of my time in the washing stall. I was just about to read the instructions on the change machine when I met the troll. If you ever wondered what happened to the guy who played the troll in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, he is working at a self-serve car wash near exit 36 off Route 78, and no it wasn’t makeup that made him that ugly.
I said I was just reading the instructions. I understood there was no "bucket washing" allowed when people are waiting. That makes sense. I asked if there was somewhere I could get some water so I could suds up my car before I entered the stall. He told me to use the "soap" function on their hoses. I said I have my own soap. Big mistake. I listened to him rant and rave about how good his car wash soap is and how it is chemically engineered to be the best soap yadayadayada... as if he could possibly be more informed or opinionated than what I have been reading on the Message Board. I stopped myself from saying, "You really think I’d wash my car with your frikin soap- are you outta your..." but just barely. I tried to switch subjects. "So, is your water recycled?" He answered "What do you care if the water is recycled?"
OK... step away slowly. I considered chatting this fellow up and telling him I could bring him a lot of business etc, but ya know, I have finally learned that when someone is that unhelpful.... better to just get away.
So there I sat in my car on a sunny day with a full tank of gas, waitin on a friend and knowing it was too late to make it to any place with a friendly hose.
Sigh.
HEY! Snap out of it! You are sitting in your perfectly wonderful car on a spectacular May day with a full tank of frikin gas! Let Emmy take you for a ride! And so we went.
I let JonT know we were on the move.
I don’t know why I headed away from home, west, instead of east. I guess I was just following Emmy. "Vrooom vroom" she said.
We weren’t going particularly fast, in fact pretty much the speed limit everywhere all day.
JonT called when he finished up autocross- ran into another Z3 friend while he was there. (Hey Dan, I hear those driving schools really show on your times! Good job!)
As his cell phone battery was dying, we decided to drive on roads we didn’t know, him driving northeast and me driving northwest, and meet up at an intersection, sit there and call eachother on TalkAbouts.
This is the kind of thing only Z3ers do.
Normal.
Turns out that both our roads were very groovy.
Very groovy. 
Well paved, lined with blossoming trees, few cars, many twists.
All kinds of convertibles and motorcycles out on the road. I think I have a pic of the viper behind me for a while.
Life is good.
I had to pee.
I debated stopping. You know how hard it is. We only stop when we need gas, right? You pee when you get gas, right? But I would be enjoying this ride so much more if I could just pee.
I decided, I will stop for gas, it’s near half, if I see a Sunoco (my fave, I have no empirical data to support the conclusion that it’s any better or worse than any other gas, I just like it) or wait.
YAY, a Sunoco!
Thus relieved, it occurs to me that perhaps there is a self-serve car wash place in this lovely area, close to where JonT and I have decided to meet.
© 1997 -
2008
Jump Internet Inc. All rights reserved.
