Lessons I've Learned the Hard Way - winterproofing the car

I'm happy to admit that I procrastinate. Well, I won't admit it right now of course, maybe later...BOOM BOOM!

It's true though, I have a terrible habit of knowing I have to do something but putting it off until the very last minute. Take my car for example. now, I knew that snow was coming, and when it did come, I was lucky enough to be off work on holiday so I didn't need to be driving anywhere.

the thing was, I knew I'd have to go back to work this week, and I knew that the snow was only going to get worse, but did I take action to keep my car running? NO!!!!

Instead, I left it to get buried deeper and deeper under the snow and ice for ten days, so that on the morning I had to go back to work, it looked like this...

I swear, there's a car under there somewhere!

That last picture is a close up of frost, isn't it cool? Apart from the fact that it's on the INSIDE of my windscreen! Why oh why did I wait until the day I went back to work to deal with this? It took well over an hour to get my car cleared, and involved me having to stand on a stepstool and use a sweeping brush to get almost 2ft of snow off the roof. Not good. My fingers were screamingly painful from the cold, and after clearing the snow from the car, I then had to shovel the mountians of snow away from the wheels! My wiper blades had become so wrecked by the ice, I had to change them completely. Well, the nice man at Halford had to change them completely, cos when it comes to cars I'm ashamed to say I'm a pathetic little girl who doesn't have a clue!.

So, lesson one of winter car maintenance, even if you don't intend to drive in the snow, make an effort to scrape the car and run the engine for a few minutes anyway. That way, you won't end up completely buried.

Lesson two happened when I parked at the chinese takeaway to pick up dinner, and then got stuck in the icy car park. Every time I tried to move, the wheels spun wildly and all I did was slide ever closer to the car behind me. Did I have provisions with me for such an event? Sand or salt maybe? A shovel in the boot? NO!!!

Very, very luckily for me, a lovely couple came to my rescue and put some flattened cardboard boxes under my tyres, then pushed while I drove. It worked, and I was extremely grateful for their kindness and the fact that they were clearly more sensible and prepared than me.

So, lesson two is if you're out driving in the snow, make sure you have items to help you, should you get stuck in ice. A quantity of sand, maybe some de-icing salt, cardboard to give your tyres a dry surface, and a shovel would all be brilliant to keep handy. Also, your phone (fully charged), a spare blanket and a drink and snack in the glove compartment. The kindness of strangers is brilliant, but you can't always rely on everyone else to be prepared for you.

My dad was brilliant with cars. He just knew the basics, but he was the first person I phoned whenever something went wrong. He was a real stickler for maintanence of cars, and made a big deal about checking tyre pressure, oil levels, etc before long journeys. I trusted him totally to keep my car running smoothly and now that he is gone, I realise that it's down to me now. Sink or swim. As much as I have zero interest in cars, I have to learn how to look after mine, so that I'll be able to get myself out of the next car related difficulty with a smug sense of pride.

My dad did such a lot for me, he was a real old fashioned "man's man", so he insisted on helping me with most manly jobs around the house and car. Well, like I say it's sink or swim, so there will be a lot of learning going on!