What a day!

Let me tell you what happened to me last night. We went shopping at the hypermarket in BBN and it was after Maghrib when we were on the way home. At the UIA Campus traffic lights, my husband realized that the temperature of the car is very high. Then, we stopped at the petrol station nearby before entering Nilai Toll. My husband tried to fix the problem, opening the air tube connected to the radiator, putting water in place etc. Nobody stopped and asked us what went wrong, may be because we parked at a parking lot for tyre pumping.

Half an hour later, a gentlemen stopped and asked what happened but then left. Later, an Indian came, he introduced himself, and wow! He is a mechanic. He said our water pump broke, and because there is no more water, the pipe below the radiator leak and he can fix it straight away that instant, if we follow him to his workshop. My husband asked him what is the price of the water pump, he said he dont know. My husband asked when should we replaced the water pump, he said should be after 2 years. Responding back to the mechanic, my husband said “I am sorry I cant come with you because once you have touched the car, I cannot claim from the insurance, because probably this damage is cause by the accident we had last month which was fully insured. The man was upset, he fled with his Kancil immediately. Later, I asked my husband. “What make you so sure that the man was trying to cheat you?”. My husband said,” Firstly, the man doesnt know where the water pump is. This is understandable because not all mechanics know about the features of a BMW, but he doesnt even know that there are two tubes connected to the radiator. That man touched the opener to add water and didnt bother about the other opener next to it for air outlet. All this man wanted is to get the car to his workshop, and open something up and then said you can not go home with this car, the part will be bought tomorrow etc….. So now I understand. My husband said the price of a new BMW water pump is RM1000+ and it can last up to 5 years, and we have 2 more years to go before we should replace this one.

Later, the owner of the petrol station came, asked us what happened, he gave us a torch light and some water to drink. We are still alone and I am depending on my husband to decide what to do, for I am occupied attending to the girls. They understand what is happening because I said: “Arifah Aidah, mari kita main dekat sini sekejap sebab kereta Abi rosak, Abi kena baiki dulu, kita tunggu ya…..”. I am grateful that the weather is good (not raining) and the sky is clear (we sang twinkle twinkle little star so many times).  At times like this, I always remember the Italian movie called Life is Beautiful. The father manage to make his son imagine that the whole World War I is a game of hide and seek. The boy is happy all of the times, hiding for hours and hours, up until the moment when he won the so-called prize: riding the tank, without realizing that the father is about to be sentenced to death on the other side of the place. This is what I am trying to do. Be happy girls. Abi and Ummi will solve this problem.

By the way, it is already 10.15 pm. Then a man approached, he offered to hold the torch light while asking what was wrong to my husband. And one thing lead to another, he was going to escort us back to Bangi, no matter how long it takes. We took a lot of water in mineral bottles complimentary of the petrol station owner, and then we started the journey. After we got to the toll and “logged in”, we stopped for 45 minutes, and then under the fly-over junction to KLIA we stopped for 30 minutes… so I was thinking, God knows when are we going to reach home!

At Km 285, I saw the emergency phone and gave an idea for the PLUS tow truck to come and send us home, or at least to the nearest toll. Instead, two Polis Bantuan PLUS came and help us. He said the amount of water in the radiator in not enough and in order to fill in the water there are certain techniques…etc, he end up teaching my husband about the cooling system of the car. Half an hour later, we arrived home nearly midnight and the temperature of the car is under contol and normal the wholetime. We still have to send the car to the workshop, though.

Interesting enough, this man who escorted us happened to be a marine engineer, my husband’s junior in PUO, also a senior of my brother Zidni in SAS, whose fiancee is a friend of Zidni’s wife!!! He stayed the night at our house and when I left for work this morning he was eating the nasi lemak I cooked for us. 

Moral of the story:

1. Being streetsmart saves money, a lot of money, we might loose at least RM500 to the mechanic at that petrol station. So, start learning about surviving skills (Kemahiran Hidup), like gardening, fixing the bulb or painting the walls etc..  

2. And the world is small, anywhere you go, you will meet somebody who is connected to you somehow. So be good to everybody especially on the road. You dont want to hit a car and then realize that the driver is your ex-teacher or your ex-girlfriend’s mother etc…

3. Dont put the pressure on the children in whatever situation you are in. Be happy and every problem has the solution. Senyum sokmo!!!