So last night

So, last night I get home and have a few messages on my machine, as per usual. One guy wants me to drive him to work that night, since he just crashed his truck (remember?). I call him back, say I'll drive his dumb ass to work, and invite him to dinner. Of course, I have to go pick him up and on my way out of my alley I hit a whole bunch of snow. I thought I was gonna be alright, since I straightend my car out and was heading the right way. Unfortunately the car started sliding to the left. I did everything I could do, but I slid right into the curb. I tried getting out, but alas, I could not.

I got out of the car and started kicking the snow out from underneath it. I figured if I could hit the pavement underneath one of my wheels, I'd be good to go, but the snow was really packed down tight, and I couldn't do it.

Luckily a guy and 2 girls I didn't know walked by and volunteered to help me out. We finally got my car pushed out and I took off. On my way over to my friend's, I realized my power steering wasn't working anymore. Hmmm....

So, we go out to eat. I figured some snow got lodged somewhere that was impairing my steering ability, and that it would fall out after driving a few miles. It didn't.

We get back to my place and pop the hood. Power steering fluid, full. Power steering pump? Hooked up to the belts and running fine. I figured the problem wasn't in the engine, it was in the snow that had gotten stuck somewhere. We cleared all the snow out of my wheel wells, then I took it to the car wash and sprayed hot water all over the engine compartment and underneath as well as I could. It didn't help.

Tonight I'm going home and putting the car in my parent's garage, jacking it up, and climbing underneath it to see what's wrong. Stupid car. Stupid winter.

I don't know if you've ever tried driving a car without power steering, but it's tough.