Yesterday my wife and I went up to Aberdeen to do some shopping. At one point, we crossed a set of railroad tracks and heard, Whomp Bang!! I thought the noise came from a train that had just passed by, but my wife was certain the noise had originated from our car. We quickly pulled into a parking lot and I realized my wife's hearing is much better than mine as the sound was definitely coming from our car.
The sound the car was making was a cross between metal scraping on metal and, I suppose, like we were dragging something. All sorts of visions popped into our heads. "Maybe we dropped our muffler," my wife said.
I pulled to a stop in the parking lot. I got out and looked under the car from both the back and the front. The muffler was still in place and I could see nothing hanging down from the undercarriage. I bounced all four wheels to see if we had broken a shock absorber, but each wheel seemed fine.
As I got back in the driver's seat, I reported my observations. We decided to drive through the parking lot to the store we were headed for. The whole way we continued to hear the scraping sound.
While I shopped, my wife checked under the hood (she is far more mechanically-minded than I am). She didn't see a thing out of place. Once I finished shopping, we decided to head to the local Les Schwab to see if they could figure out what the problem was.
We had to drive a good 3 miles as Les Schwab is on the other side of town. As we turned onto Simpson Ave., the noise seemed to grow louder. By now, we were both freaked out and fretting how we would get home to South Bend. As we drove, we were imagining all sorts of major repairs -- ones we probably couldn't afford.
And then something weird happened. Simpson Ave. makes a looping turn to the south and becomes Park St. As we went around this wide curve, the noise stopped! And it stayed stopped the rest of the way to Les Schwab.
They put the car up on the rack and inspected the undercarriage. They found nothing wrong. Everything was where it should be and there was no indication that anything was broken or loose. We drove the 40 or so miles home over the hills to South Bend and the sound did not return.
My point in sharing this story is simple. As much as we each like the idea that everything in life has a definitive answer, some things are...well...inexplicable. I'm not suggesting that in some absolute sense there is not an explanation for the mysterious sound that we heard, but it is an explanation we probably will never learn. So, in a practical sense, this situation most likely will forever remain a complete mystery.
That's okay by me. I'm simply happy we don't have to spend money we don't have on a repair bill right now. :-)
The sound the car was making was a cross between metal scraping on metal and, I suppose, like we were dragging something. All sorts of visions popped into our heads. "Maybe we dropped our muffler," my wife said.
I pulled to a stop in the parking lot. I got out and looked under the car from both the back and the front. The muffler was still in place and I could see nothing hanging down from the undercarriage. I bounced all four wheels to see if we had broken a shock absorber, but each wheel seemed fine.
As I got back in the driver's seat, I reported my observations. We decided to drive through the parking lot to the store we were headed for. The whole way we continued to hear the scraping sound.
While I shopped, my wife checked under the hood (she is far more mechanically-minded than I am). She didn't see a thing out of place. Once I finished shopping, we decided to head to the local Les Schwab to see if they could figure out what the problem was.
We had to drive a good 3 miles as Les Schwab is on the other side of town. As we turned onto Simpson Ave., the noise seemed to grow louder. By now, we were both freaked out and fretting how we would get home to South Bend. As we drove, we were imagining all sorts of major repairs -- ones we probably couldn't afford.
And then something weird happened. Simpson Ave. makes a looping turn to the south and becomes Park St. As we went around this wide curve, the noise stopped! And it stayed stopped the rest of the way to Les Schwab.
They put the car up on the rack and inspected the undercarriage. They found nothing wrong. Everything was where it should be and there was no indication that anything was broken or loose. We drove the 40 or so miles home over the hills to South Bend and the sound did not return.
My point in sharing this story is simple. As much as we each like the idea that everything in life has a definitive answer, some things are...well...inexplicable. I'm not suggesting that in some absolute sense there is not an explanation for the mysterious sound that we heard, but it is an explanation we probably will never learn. So, in a practical sense, this situation most likely will forever remain a complete mystery.
That's okay by me. I'm simply happy we don't have to spend money we don't have on a repair bill right now. :-)
I think the real point is that anxiety is pointless.
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