Well I got the car...but if you are bored, read on for my bizarre day. Lots of weird stuff happened along the way. So sit back and relax, and listen to my tale of picking up the Echo.....
Well my day started on Thursday really. I only work 4 days a week, so I had a friend drive me to work (I work permanent nites) and then I was going to hitch a ride to the train station for the trek to TO. I finished work at 4:30am, but my train didn't leave until 6:00, so my co-worker (and gambling partner) convinced me it was a good idea to stop at the Casino along the way. And this is where the day starts to go weird. I am an expert low-limit hold em' player. My partner, Bobbie, is expert at blackjack. He does very, very well. Since I don't have enough time for poker, I give my stake to Bobbie and hope he can cash in. SO....here's the deal....He gets a 6/6 with the dealer up card of a 6. Looking good. We are playing $50 hand. So he splits. Next card is a 4 for the 1st set. Double down. Next card is a 9, for 19. Nice! Next card for the split is another 6. WOW. Let's split again. Next car is a 3. Double down again. Get a 10. 19 again. Final set of cards..get a 5. Double down. Get a 7 for a total of 18. So we have, 19, 19 and 18 with a dealer up card of 6. We are in great shape. Dealer flips the down card. A "5". Oh no...I see where this is going...Yep...dealer shows next card a 10. We are hosed. Ok..enough casino for one day..my wallet is lighter..So I go to the train station...
As I enter the train station, I immediately sense some kind of tension or unease. Hmmm...WTF is going on?? And then I see it. On one side of the train station is a group of orthodox Jews, dressed in black. On the opposing side, are a group of arabs/middle-eastern men. Holy $hit...I hope I didn't just walk into a race riot!! The tension is definitely there. Many other peole wait outside. Whatever.....they turn out to be all seated in coach and I'm in first class. So I get on the train. BUT WAIT A SECOND!! This isn't a 1st class car..this is a coach car!! So I ask about it. "Oh sir, I'm sorry...our VIP car is having problems, so we had to use this one". This is just great. I pay a premium, and still get to ride in a POS coach car.(I'm a snob, eh??
) Sigh. I have them fetch me a pillow so I can sleep...I'm tired after having worked a 12 hour shift and a bit miserable about my VIP car being the POS car. So I sleep. I wake briefly as we arrive in London, but quickly go back to sleep. I wake up again. Curiously, the train isn't moving. And we are in the middle of nowhere to book. I have visions of a race war going on in the coach cars behind me. But thankfully that's not the problem. It turns out a freight train is broken on the tracks ahead of us. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!! We are going to experience "at least a one hour delay". Great. Finally I arrive at my destination...an hour late....
I don't like BMWs. I never have. I guess I'm a BMW hater. The guy tells me over the phone, he'll be picking me up shortly. Great. "What will he be driving ?" I ask. "A silver BMW". Sigh. Oh..and it's not just a silver BMW. It's a silver M3 convertible. But no...it gets better!! It has these horrendous 20" wheels on it that look like chrome snowflakes. No joke. These are possibly the ugliest rims I have ever seen. And the M3 sounds like a TURD. It has a fart-knocker exhuast can on it, and loud annoying intake on it and sound like absolute crap. Even the driver hates it and tells me: "This is the boss's kid's car. He sure knows how to ruin nice cars, eh?" I agree. Twice.
We arrive at the lot. I am met by a very nice group of people. A nice man with a cute beagle also greets me. The pooch's name is Sparky. He's 11 months old. And CUTE!. No sooner do I walk in the showroom, when there's a panic, a calamity, something going on outside. Man..what could it be this time?
People are rushing, calling, maybe screaming. Unreal. Seems as though Sparky tried for a jailbreak and ended up playing tag with a large car on the busy street. Sparky lost. He's not quite dead yet, and has run back into the lot and is hiding under one of the many cars at the back. No one can see him. Everyone is looking. The owner is distraught. He tells me this will be his 2nd dead dog in 6 months. The other was attacked by another dog and killed. He has his wife on the phone and she is bawling. The situation is awful. I sign everything as fast as possible and get out into the Echo and onto the road ASAP!!! I'm glad to be on my way home.
I top up the fuel tank so I can get a good measure of the fuel efficiency of this ugly little car. The efficiency is one of the few redeeming qualities, apart from Toyota's peerless build reputation. I had read much about the car's handling and how it can be blown around by winds on the freeway. I take a deep breath and hit the 401......
Wow...the Echo is peppy, which quite suprises me. I guess since there is only 2000lbs to move the 108HP does it pretty swiftly. C&D magazine says 0-60 in 8.5 seconds. Not bad. The car does weave though. ALOT. Like the tires are marshmallows. Or sponges. Or something. Then I hit a part of the 401 where it has had the first several inches planed down in prep for resurfacing. Now the Echo is REALLY weaving around like a drunken monkey. I pull off the 401, since my hands are numb from squeezing the wheel. I can't remember if the steering wheel had finger grooves in it, or if I just put those in there now. No matter. I shut the car off, and open the glove boxes, check the storage areas and the trunk to see if anything was left behind. In the trunk, I'm suprised to see, is a brand new K&N filter still in the box. "Today is going to get better" I say to myself. I spoke too soon. I decide right here to put the K&N in. Since I'm checking the fuel mileage, this will only help. So I pop the hood, and try to get the hood prop rod out. Hmmm...it's stuck. I yank on it. No good. So I REALLY yank it. And in one motion, the hood prop gets free but the little plastic nub on the end that hooks into the hood also comes free. And it flies through the air in a beautiful graceful arc...and lands on the hood of a brand new Honda in the parking space beside me. The nub makes a loud plinking noise on the hood. To my horror (and I must confess I was a bit amused) the car is full of a family eating their Wendy's burgers!! I sheepishly pick the nub off of their hood and wave. I quickly get the K&N put in, and get out of there. But 1st I decide to check the tire pressure just to be sure.
Tire 1 has 14lbs of air in it, tire 2 has 10lbs, tire 3 has 12 and tire 4 has about 20. Hmmmm. No wonder this thing was all over the road. I curse (several times..one for each tire) and put the correct amount of air in the tires. 32 PSI all around. I'm good to go, and hit the freeway again.
Ahhhhh...that's better. No more weaving. The Echo is transformed!! It's holding a line like an F1 car on Q tires!! Ok..no quite. But it does go straight now, and my fingers, wrists and arms won't be cramped by the time I get home, which is cool. Near Dutton, there's a horrible truck accident. The truck is a twisted hulk of metal, burnt to a crisp. The cab is horribly deformed. I hope the dirver got out OK. After getting past all the rubber-neckers, I decide to make a quick detour to a phone to let a buddy who's going to Kitchener know the 401 is closed. I zoom towards a town called Highgate, and goes cautiously through some esses. Hmm..the Echo doesn't handle too badly for an el-cheapo cruiser on massive 14" tires. I make a note to hit the corners harder on my way back to really check the handling (or lack thereof) of the Echo. After a brief call, I'm heading back toward the curves, and I give them the business...I mean as much as I could in the little car. The car is leaning heavily, the tires are bawling..and I think I just heard something...and I'm positive I just saw something in my rear-view. I stop the car and have a look around. CRAP!! A hubcap has just gone AWOL. So here's me, in the ditch, cursing and looking for what likely is a $5 hubcap. I feel like a moron. Am I a moron? No time to ponder this as I find the hubcap, kick it into place and get back on the road....
I arrive back in Windsor without much more excitement. I top up the tank, and I'm pleasantly suprised that the Echo returned 5.8L/100KM while doing most of it at 115-120km/h and some of it and deflated tires. I promptly get Import Queen to change the plugs (her first time) and the oil, so I'm hoping for better fuel mileage. I have some Royal Purple gear lube to go in the tranny. Hopefully this will take some of the mild notchiness out of the shifting.
Oh yea...a few hours ago my little pet Ocicat died. 9 years old.
Anyways, here are your blasted pictures....hope you enjoy the "jelly bean on wheels" pics...
