On Friday, Keith came up with a plan. Since our natural gas bill is always so high each month, and our Hydro bill is so low, he wanted to turn down the furnace and get more electric space heaters. Makes sense.
So, he calls me at work to go get a heater after work. No big deal. I went to London Drugs. No heaters. I went to Future Shop (where he saw the heater he wanted online), only 1 heater and it was $100 more than what he wanted. I went to Superstore, which was a mistake, because I can barely find dog food in that store, let alone a space heater.
After stopping at all these places and not finding what I needed, I was getting grouchy. I called Keith and told him that I was unsuccessful. He said to go to Walmart, because he was sure they had the ones he wanted there (his specifications were that it had to have a timer, and a remote control). My back was sore and I was having a lot of braxton-hicks contractions, so I decided to leave buying the heater until Saturday.
Saturday comes, and Walmart has the heater I want. I need to get gas as well, so I stop at Canadian Tire gas bar, since it was convenient. My poor Jeep is so horribly dirty, I decide to run it through their Touchless Car Wash since I was there. (Normally, I wash it in the bays, not take it through an automatic car wash, hence why it was so dirty - I've been lazy).
As I am waiting in the line up, I can read the directions for the car wash. Mind you, I have taken all my vehicles through an automatic car wash a time or two, so I am not new to them. I just haven't used this particular one before.
The directions state, "Place car in Park and leave the engine running."
And here comes my preggo moment.
My Jeep is a standard transmission. I DON'T HAVE A PARK. If I put it in first gear, I can't leave the engine running, otherwise I will stall it. Can I leave it in neutral? Where are the directions for standard transmissions?? I cannot be the only person with a standard transmission who has used this car wash before!!
I call Keith on my cell phone. I am panicking. He doesn't know what the magical answer is, because he always washes his truck by hand. And so begins my lecture on why I shouldn't take the Jeep through the car wash in the first place. "It will leak, it will be hard on the exterior, your car will be dirty again by the time you get home."
His best advice? "Get out and ask someone what to do." Oh yeah, that's going to happen.
I get off the phone with him, since we are moving forward in the line up. Just as I am ready to sue Canadian Tire for discrimination against standard transmissions, I notice the car in front of me doesn't get "pulled through", like all the other car washes I have used. He seems to drive forward, stop, and the car wash goes around him.
So, all this panicking, and there was no reason for it at all. My turn came, I drove in, stopped the car, put it in neutral, and left my foot on the brake. All was perfect.
Bah. I feel so stupid. Oh well, it was a learning experience. At least my Jeep is clean.
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