Trapped!!

Okay, I feel like a total dolt, but I'm going to tell on myself anyway.

First off, my truck was really filthy. It hadn't seen a car wash in months. So since I might be driving it to Columbia tomorrow with friends, I thought I should perhaps give it a wash.

Second, it's stinkin' cold here. High today was about 17, and the wind chill was frigid. Supposed to be around -7 tonight. And I figured, nobody else would be wanting to wash a car with it this cold, so I wouldn't have to wait in line, right? And even with it this cold, since I park in a garage overnight, no problem with it freezing or anything.

So I swing by the nearest one to my house. I pays my $5, and the door rolls up to let me drive in. I pull forward until the light goes red, and let it do its thing. A double wash plus wax -- 9 passes of the carriage. Ah, I'm so clean! Wonderful.

The light goes green and I pull forward... But the front door doesn't open.

OMIGOSH!! What next? I pull WAY forward, thinking there might be some laser beam that I need to trip... Nothing!

I'm just a tiny bit paranoid of getting out of the truck, figuring it would be just my luck that it would kick back on and drench me with soapy water... But what do I do???

So I called Gary & Charlotte... Gary knows everything, and he uses that car wash, so maybe he'd know who owns it and I could call them. But no answer, they aren't home. I tried Chuck's cell phone, no answer. Then I tried my good buddy Dave, who lives 20 miles out of town. He, of course, is home. We laughed until we were silly about the predicament.

Dave was pretty sure the car wash wouldn't kick on and drench me -- he figured they only come on when you feed them money. So I get out of the truck and start poking around. Sure enough, there is a laser beam about knee high at the door in front of the truck, and when I move my hand through it, I can hear something clicking, like it's trying to engage, but, the door stays shut.

Then, finally, I went to the back door -- the door behind the truck. No laser beam there, but there is a pneumatic power switch that says "Open" and "Close"... I punch Open, there's a burst of air like when somebody uses an air wrench, and the door opens.

WHEW!!

I hopped in the truck and backed out. And the door stayed open. Good for me, in that it didn't close down on me while I was backing out. Not so good for the car wash, since it's supposed to get to -7 tonight.

So I get out of the truck, go back inside, hit the "Close" switch and run like crazy to get out...

Wish I'd had a camera with me.

:)