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May 10, 2006
I Thought It Was a Car Fire But It Was Just a Plastic Bag
One of my favorite songs of all time is Fiona Apple's "Paper Bag." It's a rather creepy song, and it goes like this:
I was staring at the sky
Just wishing for a star
To pray on or wish on or something like that
I was having a sweet fix of a daydream of a boy
Whose reality I knew was too hopeless to be had
But then the devil of hope began his downward slope
And I believed for a moment that my chances
Were approaching to be grabbed
But as it came down here So did a weary tear
I thought it was a bird but it was just a paper bag.
This morning I smelled something burning in or around my car. The temp light was fine, the oil was freshly changed, but something was definitely burning. I made Luke smell it and he confirmed that something was burning, but kept insisting that my car was not on fire.
I called the service station (Joe Black's Sunoco, Ridge and Butler, I highly recommend it) and explained the situation.
"Chances are you ran over a plastic bag and now it's caught in your exhaust pipe," said the dude.
I found this explanation neither plausible nor comforting. I am a bit of a car hypochondriac: I am always convinced based on the slightest little screech or rumble that my car is about to become ill and require thousands of dollars worth of repair. It doesn't help that the transmission on my old car literally (and I know how to use that word) blew up on Christmas on I-95 in North Carolina in 2000. Spurting red transmission blood everywhere and costing me $2000 (yes, I'm an idiot for rebuilding a transmission on a car with over 250,000 miles, but no matter, I learned my lesson.)
So I go through the rest of the day convinced that my car is secretly about to explode. Finally I get done with meetings and take it to the service station.
The dude crawls under the car.
"Yup, I see it. It's a plastic bag."
He offered to put it up in a bay and remove the bag, but I said that if it wasn't hurting anything, I'd live with it till it burns itself off.
Then I ate a megamuffin, so you see this story really was about CR.
Posted by april at May 10, 2006 9:42 PM
Comments
While your rendition of Paper Bag made me smile, the lyrics are a little off. It actually begins like this:
I was staring at the sky, just looking for a star
To pray on, or wish on, or something like that
I was having a sweet fix of a daydream of a boy
Whose reality I knew, was a hopeless to be had
But then the dove of hope began its downward slope
And I believed for a moment that my chances
Were approaching to be grabbed
But as it came down near, so did a weary tear
I thought it was a bird, but it was just a paper bag...
Do you still find it so creepy?
Posted by: Amy at May 23, 2006 6:43 PM