What a Day!
What a day, and it is only 1:00 pm!
My first activity this morning was to have blood drawn at our local hospital for an A1C test. I hate having blood drawn. I always have to look the other way and always end up with a bruise afterward. I won’t know the results of the A1C test until Monday. Hopefully, the results will be in the normal range. I do not desire to control diabetes with pills again!
I noticed that my car was hard to start, when I went to the hospital this morning. A while later, when I wanted to go to the credit union to withdraw cash, I opened the garage door and was assaulted by a strong smell. I thought the smell was gas, I started the car. Again, the car started hard. I backed out into the driveway, but stopped. Something didn’t feel right. I needed to check out the smell. I drove the car back into the garage, intending to ask Bob to check the car when he came home from work. As I walked from the garage to the back door, I noticed a wet spot on the driveway. I bent down and brushed my finger along the wet spot. I held the finger to my nose. It smelled like gas, I thought. I went next door, and our neighbor came out and checked out the wet spot. He looked under the hood. Everything looked fine under the hood. He walked around the car and noticed a wet spot under the car on the passenger side toward the back. I placed my hand under the car at that spot and got dripped on. Dave said it was a gas line or brake line leak.
I posted on Facebook that I had a gas line or brake line leak. An hour later I went back outside to see if the leak had stopped. It had not stopped. I updated my Facebook status with a question for Paul, our friend and local motorcycle mechanic. “Hey, Paul, would you happen to know if a brake line has a leak if it would leak when brake is not pushed down? My car has been sitting inside garage for quite a while now. I can see the drip, drip of a leak.” Paul replied soon afterward. “Linda, stop by the shop and I’ll check the brake fluid. Be careful, if it is the brake and leaking while sitting it will empty fast. Your pedal will go almost to the floor but you will still have brakes on the system that has not leaked. Front or back.” I drove to Paul’s shop the back way, through the neighborhood (the car started hard again). Paul looked underneath my car and quickly diagnosed the problem–gas line leak. I drove the car back home and parked it in our driveway, where it can get plenty of air. I put a paper grocery bag on the driveway, underneath the leak. We have a few choices where we can take the car to be repaired. I will ask Bob his preference, when he comes home from work.
UPDATE: When Bob came home from work, we drove the car to Dave’s Auto, located a short distance from our house on Rt. 62. Dave took us right in. He replaced the fuel filter and part of the fuel line, while we waited. Great service!
The Beauty Around Us 
2 Responses to “What a Day!”
Linda: Do you really want to put a flammable paper under a leak and soak it in gasoline? Doesn’t sound like a great idea. Let it leak on the ground and evaporate.
On hindsight, not a good idea. If I ever have another gas leak, I will allow it to drip on ground and evaporate.