Mom and I decided last year that this year's Halloween road trip would be to Salem, Mass. This means driving cross-country with one of the scariest drivers on the face of the planet. But that's a story for a different day. This story is about our adventure just trying to get on the road.
There is a rig on the back of Mom's van for Dad's motorized scooter. Mom keeps a can of WD-40 in the van because the rig sticks and makes it difficult to get it and out of the back hatch.
As we were turning on to Main St, there was an odd smell hissing coming from the front seat. Mom says, "What's that hissing sound? It smells like WD-40! Is that my radiator?! The thingy is in the middle.". What Mom meant by "the thingy" is her temperature gauge.
It really did smell like WD-40, and in my rational brain I thought, "If it were the radiator, it wouldn't smell like WD-49. There would be steam and the temperature gauge would be going wonky." So I say to Mom, "Could it be the can of WD-40 you were looking for earlier?"
Mom immediately rejects that idea, adamant that the hissing wasn't coming from under her seat. It was coming from from the dash! I was skeptical, but she was insistent that she should take it by the place that had changed her oil the previous day.
The very nice technician looked under the van and under the hood and proclaimed everything to be safe. Mom drives away still trying to figure out what could have made the hissing sound and produced the WD-40 smell. At this point, I'm more certain than ever that it was the missing can of WD-40.
As we were leaving the mechanic's shop, I realized I didn't have my wallet. While I went in the house to get my wallet, mom was looking for her can of WD-40. Which she found. Under her seat. Empty of WD-40. We're still laughing about it. my
