Mouse 2
Almost two months have passed since I saw a mouse in my car. Since I was driving every other day, never kept food in the car and never saw her again, I thought she was gone.
Two days ago I drove 800 km and yesterday another 400 km and towards the end I noticed a weird sound like that of a broken bearing. When I stopped to check, I realized that it was the bearing of the water pump. I thought it would still last for the remaining 300 km today but when the battery warning lit up I knew the alternator was off power.
Soon later the cooling water warning and then the stop warning lit up and when I stopped, steam was already pressing out of the edges of the bonnet.
I left the motor running, got out of the car and opened the engine bay. Thick clouds of steam were coming towards me and I could immediately see that the water pump wasn't running anymore and that one of the belts had ripped.
Behind the thick clouds of steam on top of the replacement wheel I suddenly noticed the mouse sitting and staring at me, looking as if it wanted to ask me what the fuck was going on and why we had stopped. If I hadn't filmed it I'd wonder if I hallucinated it. When I pointed my camera towards it, it ran away. I was amazed by the fact that after two months, the moment it showed up again was the moment our shared vehicle had a serious problem. It felt as if we briefly met to discuss this crisis. I felt strangely reassured that everything was going to be fine.
Knowing that continuing for another 100 km was stupid and fixing this right here was close to impossible I called the ADAC.
The woman on the hotline told me that I'd probably have to wait about five hours. I decided to wait.
A bit later I got a call that they were 15 minutes away from picking me up. I ended up paying 100€ on top to drive me past Darmstadt to the workshop that was willing to help me and in the end, after a one hour long conversation with the driver, I also gave him the 50€ my grandfather had given to me today.
My dad came right in time to pick me up and now I'm at my parents place and ready to sleep.
Tomorrow I'll see how bad the damage is but as far as I can see it's just a broken water pump and a broken belt. But it was the mouse who made my day.
Update:
I looked at the car with the mechanic this morning and he confirmed my judgement. The wasserpumpe needs to be replaced, and he suggested to not only change the torn belts but all at once. Then of course refill the cooling system and check if it's leaking anywhere.
When I told him that the car had run 20.000 km since spring he looked at me in disbelief.
“You know, I really don't meet a lot of men like you. What is it that makes you want this?”
I didn't have a good answer to this but I think we understood each other. I just loved the mutually honest interaction. I see that he understands what he's doing and that's all I need to know.