When I headed out to pick up our new washing machine today, I noticed that my car was taking a tiny bit longer than usual to stop. I’ve been vaguely aware of this for a couple of weeks, but I put it down to the road being wet. Today it was bone dry, though. In addition, there are now the beginnings of an odd vibration coming through the brake pedal.
I tend to be a jot paranoid about my brakes conking out – not that I’ve ever experienced that, except on a bicycle with training wheels when I was a kid. I reckon that experience must have been what put the fear in me. So, it’s off to the mechanics post haste for those reassuringly professional brake repair services. Near Moorabbin, where I live, there are a couple of workshops that are easy enough for me to get to.
It’s definitely not an emergency, but when I notice something funny going on with my ride, I’m usually pretty quick to get it looked at. I assume that’s why nothing has ever gone drastically wrong with any car I’ve ever owned. So now I’m doing a mental rundown of the car, making a checklist of other stuff I could have assessed while I’m at it.
Actually, I’ll tell you what wouldn’t go astray – a car air conditioning service. Moorabbin traffic can get pretty nasty at peak hour, and I’ve been feeling it more since my air con decided to take a holiday last month. The brakes are my first priority, of course, and I didn’t even think about temperature control today. I was too busy mentally planning out how I’d respond if my car failed to brake at a red light.
I didn’t get very far on said mental planning, in case you’re wondering. I basically concluded that I’d freak out, and then hopefully wake up from a bad dream. I told you I’m paranoid, but on the plus side, I’ve usually got very nicely maintained brakes.