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Hellish car and train adventure that fried my mind

view of train tracks, buildings and footbridge over the tracks at the other end of the platform

Hellish car and train adventure that fried my mind

Some adventures are a headache in the making. . . I am pretty sure that whatever Sook was talking about with November being a difficult month, , , has started influencing my world.

What a day.

I caught the train out to a town in Gippsland (Traralgon), because my car was there and has been there ever since the day before I went into the inpatient unit in September. . . when WAS that?

8 weeks ago now. . . Hell I am exhausted.

The train got in at about 1 PM and I went to a cafe in town for lunch. It was delicious. . . An avocado and greens on toast with a poached egg and whipped fetta. . . so yummy, and so many veggies. I was pleased.

Then I caught a taxi out to the mechanic, picked up the car, talked to my dad about watching the temperature gauge and the oil light and set off for Melbourne. . . Approximately 122 km away.

It didn’t take long for the temperature gauge to get to 3/4 or 7/8 hot. After a while I stopped and called my Dad. We decided I would go to Moe and get the car towed to Melbourne, because it was probably a faulty radiator (which was not replaced, even though my engine was).

I got to the Moe turn off and the temperature wasn’t too bad, so I pressed on. Then stopped a while down the road to let the engine cool down, , , then kept going, stopped again, , , and finally stopped at a general store/cafe in Darnum, , , to call Roadside Assistance.

They would not give me the option of upgrading my membership to tow the car home, , , so I had to push on, and Dad was encouraging me to do it. I got to the Drouin turnoff and it was all the way to the top of hot, , , so I ignored him and turned off. . .

The radiator was empty, so it must have lost water somehow, , , and, after filling up my drink bottle from a nearby stream to fill the radiator again, I drove it to a mechanic there.

Another massive expense, for a car that is decrepit and dirty. . . But I can’t afford a new one, , , and I don’t want more debt.

The mechanic’s wife kindly drove me to the station, and luckily a train was to depart to Melbourne in five minutes (lucky, because they only come every 40 minutes).

Now I am in a Mexican taco joint, , , because to be honest, my brain was feeling not dissimilar to the radiator in the car.  .. after that grind, , , I needed to step into somewhere nice and imbibe my soul with a beer and tacos.

It hasn’t been a very nice day. . . and I get the sense that November might be a difficult month.

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