Helpless Female

I normally don't mind being a "single mom" when hubby is on a business trip this time of year. There's no threat of a snow storm that I have to worry about driving in. And now Carter is old enough to get himself ready and off to school so that does not put me behind schedule one bit. Should be stress-free and worry-free, right?

Sure.

But it wasn't today and this is just Day One...

On the way to work, I notice the little temperature gauge inching its way up from C to H. It does not get all the way to H but I don't want it near it. If you recall my traumatic experiences with this this past spring, you know I am paranoid about this. So I keep an eye on it and am already stressed by the time I arrive safely at work.

Even my blood pressure was up. I did my weekly weigh-in and pressure check and it was up to 112 over 77 or something outrageous. Well, outrageous compared to my normal 97 over 60 or so. Just put me in the hospital!

So it was not smart to pile on the stress during the work day. By the time I left, I was not looking forward to a 50-minute drive with one eyeball peeled on the temperature gauge and the other on the road. To my relief, the little needle stayed right in the middle where it was supposed to.

But then I got to Plover. Well the temp thing was not an issue. What happened was that when I was accelerating after the last stoplight on the way out of town, when I was cruising at about 40 mph, the car all of sudden vibrated and shuddered a bit -- sort of like the feeling if the car went over those rumble strips at the side of the road. Only I didn't.

That shook me out of my zone that's for sure. Then it happened again, ever so briefly, and I was getting frantic. But it went away when I was accelerating to the highway and didn't happen again until I was in Kellner, less than 5 minutes from home.

Needless to say, by the time I get in the house I am a nervous wreck and had to vent to poor Carter since hubby was in different time zone. Poor kid.

I called the next-door neighbor and had to play the helpless female about the heat gauge. I knew I didn't have any antifreeze around. He said I could add water for now. So the Gear Head in me handled that part.

For the vibration, I did some searching around the Internet. Seems it has happened to other Honda owners, too, but I couldn't find a clear answer. This is not the week we need this to happen. Not when the other vehicle is parked at the airport an hour away! I have too much to do at work tomorrow so I have to go in. I'm just going to have to see how it goes on my commute. If I get scared, I'll have to bring a ton of work home with me and try to get into the garage Thursday.

If you recall just last week we thought it was on its "last legs" but then when we got it fixed, the suspicious noise went away and it felt safe again. We did have a car sort of picked out in Wausau if we needed to go get a new one. Since we thought everything was fine, we didn't.

We may need to make a road-trip when hubby returns. Oh I hate being Miss Helpless!