Near Death Experience

Today I ran into a little problem when I was on my way to work.

I was driving on the highway, 45 miles an hour, and someone pulled out in front of me and stopped in my lane. There was a car in the lane next to me, so all i could do was slam on the brakes and mash frantically on the steering wheel. The horn’s a little high, so I never did manage to honk at her.

And then my brakes quit working. Don’t worry, though, the other car passed so I swerved around the asshole.

I pulled over and sat for a minute before calling my husband. He said to turn the car off and let it sit for a few minutes and maybe the master cylinder would reset itself. So i turned it off and called the store.

I’d forgotten that the manager had some interviews set up today so he needed me there ASAP. I told him what was going on and that if this didn’t work my husband would pick me up and bring me to work.

It didn’t work. When I started the car I still had no pedal. Straight to the floor. So I texted Ian, and he said he’d come check it out. When he got there, he had me pull up a bit, but there wasn’t any fluid on the ground. I popped the hood, and he poured some brake fluid in while I pumped the pedal. He poured far too much fluid, and it didn’t help. He drove the car home, and I followed.

When I pulled in the driveway next to him I could see a puddle already by the driver’s side front tire. He switched cars and I drove to work. I almost had to pull over to throw up. I was still a little shaken.

My manager called to see how much longer I would be, and it was then that I remembered his interviews. Oh, well.

I would be perfectly fine not having that experience ever again, thank you. Brakes are pretty handy. But I did learn that you can pop a brake line by trying not to T-bone someone. Good to know.