The chain of events started around 11:00pm when I was driving the girl home. The girl loves to bring up topics and totally dominates the conversation. If it's her topic, all she want to hear from me is "yes", "I understand", "you are totally right", "oh my god, we think the same way". What she failed to realize is if you bring up a topic with a man, da man is gonna have something to say, da man "always" have something to say about everything. Though I understand the "wants" of the girl, it's hard for me to just swallow my opinion which I am entitled to and just say the things she want me to say. I just don't see the fun in that, no one wants to talk to a robot. I just hope that she knows what she is asking for, she'd be sorry if that's all I'll do from here on out. If it means that I can't express myself and my opinion I might as well not be a part of the conversation. I rather her just leave me out of it, and leave that to her friends since her friends would understand what she is talking about even before her sentense reaches the period.
As that wasn't bad enough, I drove home angry, not a good thing for a guy angry behind the wheel. I didn't think anything would happen but sure enough, something small lead to something even smaller and soon caused something way bigger. As I was driving home, not near reckless, just pushing the RPMs higher to hear the rush of the engine match the anger inside, I started hearing this grinding noise from the driver side wheel. Started out soft and unnoticable, then turned into loud metal to metal grinding. Naturally, pulled over and check out what's under the car. Nothing. And the worst thing is, I don't even have a flashlight in my car. :-( I turned off the car and let it sit for a while, thinking that maybe after a while, the problem will just simply, pwoooof, disappear. As ignorant as that sounds, that's actually what I was hoping will happen. Oh well, we all know the answer to that one. Started the car again and guess what? The grinding was louder than ever. No shit right? :-) The minute hand already traveled around the clock, it's 12:00am and into the night, going through my cell phone addressbook, I was shooting for people that don't have to work tomorrow, but people don't have work generally have lives, and are out and about. I ended up calling a friend named Mike that lives 2 blocks away. Boy was I glad he was there, he came within minutes and so naturally I tried to replicate the problem to see if he can hear where the cause is. This is where it gets ugly, I was on a downhill, I released the hand brake, let the car roll down slowly to replicate the problem, but instead of putting my foot on the brake I put it on my clutch. (I know how stupid this might sound, I am right there with you. But unless it happened to you, don't judge) The car was rolling down faster and faster, the parked car was approaching closer and closer, your brain shuts down and all you know how to do is just repeat what you were doing last before your brain had shut down, in this case, pumping the clutch repeatedly and asking why the "break" isn't stopping the car. What seemed to my friend outside the car, a few seconds, seemed to me an hour long inside the rolling car. I kept my eyes open, don't know what I am looking at as my brain ain't doing jack shit, KABAMMM!!!! ... A few seconds later, the brain came out of hibernation, the first image in my head was my car making out with the parked car.
I slowly backed up to check the demages, didn't look like the parked car showed any damages until my friend pointed out that the car's bumper is dislocated. Now, on to my own car, again it was dark, hard to tell all the details but at least no major damage, just the fog light glass shattered. My friend help the parked car pop back the bumper in place and it looked as good as new, another example of a good old American car. I ended up leaving a note anyway in case he has any problems.
Back to my original problem, the grinding. Drove my car (while still grinding) to my friend's garage and jacked it up to see what the hell is going on. Took out the wheel and there we found a little piece of rock (1/4 of an inch in size) between the two metal plates. It's funny how something so small can cause a grinding noise enough to give the whole block of sleepy head chills to the bones. Was pissed off to find out it was just a rock, but at the same time, relieved. If it weren't for my friend there, I would have waited days for the car dealer to give me an appointment, that translates to days without being able to drive. And not to mention the monster bill I'll get for them to "investigate" the cause. I owe him one.
Like I said, something small (the argument) lead to something even smaller (the rock) and soon caused something way bigger.
My night ended around 2AM, and I was up and running again at 6:30AM to go to work. I need my sleep, don't bother me ... . z Z Z