Tales from Under the 'Hood. Or...what happens when a Prius runs out of gas

Well, last night was interesting.

I will say that the most interesting comment of the night was when my husband told me that I run out of gas more than anyone he's ever met.  And I will state for the record, that it's not my fault.

Cuz, you know.  I'm a girl.  And I truly believe that my tank was siphoned while I was at work.

Now, with that out of the way, here's what happened last night.  And why you should be aware of your surroundings at all times, and NEVER rely on the Dallas County Sherriff's Courtesy Patrol Truck to help you out.  Because apparently they won't.

On the way home from work last night, I was talking to my husband about a friend with a Prius.  Apparently, when it came time to trade it in, he found out the hard way that the Prius is subject to some kind of "battery remediation" charge, which is more than the car is worth.  I haven't delved into this any further than random conversations about it, but it's noteworthy that I was discussing this - when suddenly the dash in my Prius went haywire.

(to add to the weirdness, brother and I were discussing possible alien invasion and elderly abuction that morning...but that will be a different post).

Back to the topic - the dash went haywire.  And it felt like I was losing power, which it turns out was what had happened.  I made it up onto I-45, and exited Martin Luther King Blvd., hoping to find a gas station.  But as I crossed the service road to turn right, the car lost all power.  And I do mean - ALL power.  No lights, no nothing.

And so I suddenly found myself in the position of - That Random Person on the Freeway Whose Car Had Died and was Making No Effort to Move Out Of the Way.  I don't like that person - they're annoying.  I have had many a conversation about how they're just too lazy to try and move, and how miserable they are making traffic.

Karma hurts, let me tell you.

Now to be fair (and try and shuffle more blame onto someone else) - where the car died was not exactly the best place for me to be...by myself, in high heels and a business suit...alone.  I could see the gas station - it wasn't a block away, on my side of the street even.  But I couldn't get to it.  I couldn't tell if the car was in park or neutral, and there was too much traffic to make a serious effort for pushing it.  And there wasn't anyone to ask, because I didn't have any cash on me, nor did I feel safe doing so.

And then appeared what I thought was my Knight in Shining Armour - the Dallas County Sherriff's Courtesy Patrol truck.  Let me tell you - the black and white of that truck never looked so wonderful.  But as I sat there, trying to smile at him, and wave others by, while my hazard lights were blinking merrily away...he drove off.  He sat there at the light for a few minutes, chatting with a homeless person on the side of the street, and he did make eye contact with me - and then off he drove, into the sunset.  Without a single word or offer of assistance.

Well, okaaay then.  I'm on my own.  Just for grins, I tried to turn the car back on - and it worked.  So I was able to limp over to the gas station.  When I got out, I was immediately confronted by someone wanting to pump the gas for me.  (Again, not the best place in the world to be as a woman, alone, in high heels).  And I will confess - one of my random thoughts at this moment was that the plastic kamas - IN THE TRUNK - weren't going to be helpful if I needed them.  But one of my heels might have been...and I was working out how quickly I could get one off if I needed to, let me tell you.

I had to go inside to prepay for the gas, and was once again confronted by someone inside, asking how I was doing.  And THIS is where I think that whatever training I've had up to this point helped - I looked him right in the eye and told him I was fine, and asked how HE was doing - and he grinned, said fine, and walked off.  And after that, I was left alone.  Until I went back outside and had to deal with Mr. I Want to Pump Your Gas for Any Change You Have.

The moral of the story has several important points to remember...

• Be aware of your surroundings and be confident.  Outside or inside was no time for me to turn into "ohmygosh I'm in the hood and I'm going to get mugged please don't look at me/talk to me" girl.  I think if I had taken that position, it's possible that I would've been harrassed more than I was, which was very minimal, to be truthful.

• Always have something around you that can be used for self-defense.  It might have been my purse, or it might have been a heel.  Even if you're a ninja, don't rely on the plastic weapons that you've stored in the trunk.  Mr. Bad Guy is not going to wait patiently while you get them, and then let you whack on him for a bit while you shout "Get Back, Leave Me Alone, I'm a Karate Kid!"  That might actually bring about more issues that you ever dreamed of.

• Even a Prius can run out of gas, and at 60 mpg, it will suck the life out of that hybrid in about ...a tenth of a mile.  Thank heaven for bridges that have downward sloping exist ramps.  

• When you find yourself out of gas, in the 'hood, 30 miles from your husband, at 7pm...don't mistake his tone - he's not really mad at you, he's worried.  And if you continue to ask him "Well, what do I doooo honey?" - it's not going to get much better over the phone.  Especially if you get a little panicked about it - because he can't do anything right then.  Men don't like to feel helpless.  Especially when you put them in that position because you didn't check the gas level before you left the office.  So - always check your gas level when you first get into the car.  It may keep you from having to rely on the Dallas County Sherriff's Courtesy Patrol - which you shouldn't.

Random things going on in Llamaville

Not much has been going on in Llamaville. Not much worth reporting anyway.


In September, LK1 and 2 participated in Run the Jailbreak, a "mud run" consisting of 14 obstacles and 3.8 miles. Obstacles included mud, water, tires, mud, hay bales, mud...did I mention mud?

We ran with "Perkins the Terminator" and "Mojo the Beast" and had a blast At the start of the race, it doesn't look that bad...But by the end, Mojo was the cleanest of us all.

 
Marching season has officially started for the Beast - and I've never seen him do so well in school and stay so organized...I think he's found his groove.  (Interesting segue - someone told him  yesterday that he reminded them of the Llama from The Emperor's New Groove.  Bwahaahaa!

For Poolah, if she's reading - by the end of marching season, we will have the band perform the Llama song.  It's so completely morphed now that it's epic.  :D

Blackbelt Attitude

Clark - you're awesome!  Keep on keeping on, buddy - you make my heart happy.  :)

Countdown - 15 days

The llamas have injured a hoof. The good news is that this is happened before. Randomly, a hoof will "roll," resulting in sudden sharp pain, maybe some swelling and brusiing, and then viola! Back to normal. This time, however, there was not really a Voila! moment.

After a week of limping around and proudly showing off the swelling and brusing, I decided to take the advice of several friends and visit the doctor. Who diagnosed a torn ligament. His words were "Oh yeah, it's torn. Flapping away in the wind." He did seem surprised that I was walking around as good as I was - hardly any limp, and could go up and down on toes with no problems. Side to side, however, was an issue, as after a week, I still couldn't rotate it completely. And the bruising is epic (his words, not mine, but I like them). Based on that, and the condition of the OTHER ankle, he seems to think I've done this before, and this was "just" a reinjury. So two weeks of wearing a brace and doing whatever I want, non-impact, and then 4-6 weeks of rehab. So no backflips, 720 aerials, butterflys, or kicking the bag for a while. (Rats. I almost had the 720 down. The backflip was right behind it!)

Which will be interesting, as at the two week mark, I'll be competing at Worlds. :D This is why doctors love me - I'm a guaranteed source of income, lol. Walking annuity, even.

However, I did come away from this experience with at least one lesson. If you have insurance - don't delay getting to the doctor. It might not have made a difference in recovery time this time around, but it could've. IF I had gotten into the proper brace just a week earlier, the swelling might have gone down sooner. Maybe. But if you're paying for it - use it. That's what it's there fore.

The best news out of the injury - the balance on my right leg has improved by leaps and bounds! Of course, that was already my good side...but that's okay, I'll take any gain, lol.

JUNE 1ST - THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS!

Worlds Week begins is approximately 22 days!

On the schedule this year - Protech training on Tuesday and Wednesday, and Top 10 Competition on Thursday. I can't wait!

More to follow.

What happens in Vegas...

What an amazing adventure LK1 and LK2 had over the weekend! It started out great - they met up with their friend Thumper and arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare.

Famous last words, let me tell ya.

It was announced that the incoming plane that would take the LKs to San Francisco was late arriving from Chicago - by about 30 minutes - and it was anticipated that the connection would be missed to get to Vegas. There were 11 people on the plane (13 really, the LKs were in disguise and had been checked as luggage), and all were sitting in the back. We were told that they would try and hold the plane for us and let us off early - but alas that did not happen. The plane took off 10 minutes before we arrived.

So - what to do now? One of the problems that was immediately realized was - the LKs were testing for 3rd degree on Friday morning - with a mandatory testers meeting at 8am - and they were stuck in San Francisco overnight. United booked them on the 8:30 flight, but after much whining, agreed to put them on standby for the 5:50am flight. But we were told that it was completely booked.

After spending at least 3 hours in baggage trying to get luggage off-loaded so it could go on the standby flight, Thumper and the LKs spent the night in the lobby - wide awake. Did you know you can stay in an airport for over 6 hours and not get questioned about why you're there? And if you bring in at least 15 taped boxes and leave them in the ticket line, you can walk away from them and nothing is said - probably because there was no hint of a security guard anywhere, who would you report the unattended boxes to? Simply amazing.

Finally - at 3:30, Thumper and LK1 and LK2 changed into their uniforms and managed to get tickets - and actually made the 5:50 flight. They landed in Vegas at 7:30, ran to baggage to get the luggage, and made it to the Convention Center with 10 minutes to spare before the meeting.

Testing went well - other than taking 3 attempts to break the boards.

Competition went as could be expected. Friday night they had dinner with some fabulous friends, and finally, after being awake for more than 36 hours, they managed to get some rest at the hotel. All told, by the time they got home Saturday night, they'd had 7 hours of sleep out of 67 on the road. Greatness.

The LKs came very close to competing in Creative Weapons on Saturday - but the corner judge said that they'd been modified and weren't protech. Turns out, the center judge later said had he seen them, he would've allowed them, just for fun (simply because the LKs joined the ring at the last minute and didn't have anything planned as far as, you know, a form or anything).



Stay tuned - the LKs are going to learn a new weapon as soon as they find out if they passed to 3rd. Watch out long-range bo, here they come!

The Llama kamas are going to....LAS VEGAS!!!

It's been awhile since there's been an update on this blog, so here goes.

Tonight, LK1 and LK2 are traveling to Las Vegas to attend the ATA Spring Nationals. While there, they will be testing for 3rd degree, competing in traditional weapons (Oh Sung Do), Creative forms (with Ozzy, thank you very much), and traditional forms and sparring. While there, they will be meeting up with lots of friends during competition and testing, and for dinner - let's get this party started!

Currently, they are waiting for the day to go by faster, because it seems to be crawling by. The bags are packed (except for their jeans and a t-shirt), the airline info is printed, lunch has been eaten...what else, what else?

See you in Vegas baby!