Papa's Got a Brand New Bag

So about a month ago, maybe a few weeks more than that, we ran over a big plastic bag on 395 near the Pentagon. Didn't think much of it, even though the bag was the size of a mattress (but it wasn't a mattress bag -- it was really thin stuff). It blew around on our grille for a while, then went under the car. End of story, or so we thought.

A few weeks later, we were driving to NYC and had to stop between DC and Bal'more because the bag apparently had never left us -- it was wrapped around the front driver's side axle. Not cool, but after twenty minutes work, I got rid of it. Again, end of story. Or so we thought.

Over 4th of July weekend, we headed up to the Keystone State to frolic at my ancestral home and then to head over to Mechanicsburg for a basketball and barbecue party. All's well until we need to run a few errands around the hometown before heading to the town of mechanics. For some reason the car keeps popping out of fifth gear. I mean, heading down the highway -- I mean rural backroads -- and the shifter is jumping into neutral right before my eyes. The car has 8500 miles on it, so it wasn't a happy sight.

We called around the area Honda dealerships and found out no service departments were open on a Saturday -- not just a holiday weekend Saturday, but any Saturday. That's OK, we call that old school -- like when the grocery stores were the only things open on Sunday. Fortunately, we can borrow my parents' car [full disclosure: minivan] and go on our way. My parents agree to take the car to the dealer on Tuesday.

Last Thursday the car is fixed. I go back to PA to get it. Find out it's not covered by the warranty because it was that damned bag again. That damned billowy floating piece of highway detritus that fell off some nasty ikea-loving intern's crappy 1994 Corolla no doubt. It apparently had lodged somewhere near the gearbox and melted on some seal (looked like the ring at the base of a condom) and ruined the seal. Goddamned bag.

The good news is that the repair was only $130. I'm sure in DC it would have been somewhere around $400. The other good news is that I'm no longer driving my parents' minivan around.