I’m usually pretty good about checking my truck’s different gauges.
After all, in a long-ago vehicle that I didn’t trust, it hardly had any gauges at all, except for the gas and temperature gauges.
The temperature gauge in my truck was working last Saturday, but it wasn’t giving me anything other than blood-pressure rising news.
I covered the 7on7 tournament at Memorial Stadium Saturday and afterwards I was headed south on Texas 60 to Matagorda for another event.
Just as I was on the south city limits, I noticed that my temperature was at the halfway point.
I’ve had my 2005 Silverado for 19 years and know all of its quirks and something was wrong.
That temperature gauge always runs at just below the halfway point – unless something was wrong.
I got a little farther down the road, watching the gauge rise slowly.
Then I shut off the air conditioning and began easing off the accelerator and turned around.
Texas 60 outside the city is no place to be poking along, and going 20 mph was unbearable to me in a truck with all of the windows down to get relief from the hot wind pouring in.
The temperature gauge is like many things in that truck – the coolant system gets fixed, which means the leak was sealed.
Then it goes on the brink several months later.
We have water and coolant in it, but now my suspicions are up.
One thing about my misadventure – I certainly have many of those – is that I’ve been impatient with a snail-paced car, especially with several vehicles approaching from the opposite direction that makes passing impossible.
Passing drivers certainly acted inconsiderate Saturday, including coming in as fast as possible behind me.
Short of blowing up the engine, I couldn’t go any faster than 20 and once I turn on FM 2668 there is no shoulder to pull over on.
I’ll try to be more understanding the next slow car I drive behind.
As I look out my front window Monday, I’ve watched the winds pick up and some rain squalls, all in anticipation for the storms to come later in a week – and far after this week’s paper goes to press.
What we try to do in those circumstances is go with the information we have at the time.
In this case, the Monday afternoon press release from the EOC about what to expect later in the week as the tropical disturbance reveals itself.
