Speeding Bump

Seems like it's a self-fulfilling prophesy. Upon looking back at the posts in this blog that included bumps I noticed that the last couple of bumps happened at the 'corners' of a month or at its middle, that is near the 30th or 15th of the month! Today I had a new bump, and hey, today is the 29th of the month!

Okay, this time the bump was really my mistake. I'm even ashamed to disclose completely what happened. But let's just say I was driving in the middle lane and wanted to turn right. I signaled right to move to the right lane first before the right turn came. There was a car in the right lane from behind which did not want me to move to the right lane and kept honking. So I let that car move ahead of me then moved to the right lane behind it. I speeded ahead to catch up with it, and yes that was my mistake, I admit it with a bit of shame. The right turn approached and I did not know if that care in front of me was turning right or going straight, I guess he signaled right but I can't remember now. Anyway, when I got right next to the right turn I discovered he was not turning right and he was going straight. Now here was my real mistake: I speeded ahead turning right yet something I was not expected happened, the car in front of me which did not turn right and was moving straight ahead stopped! That car stopped I guess due to traffic in front of it. I was honking all my way behind that car even before the right turn. I honked, moved forward and turned right bumping the car from its right side rear and my car from its front left side! It was my first time (and hopefully last) to bump my car from the front left side. Now I have my car bumped and scratched from the four corners (funny, but true).

Lesson: Never speed behind a car no matter how much it honked or annoyed you. This is childish behavior. I repeat, this is childish behavior and could cause your car to be scratched or worse yet might result in a serous accident. Don't go crazy when driving. Safety first.

Night Bump while Turning

Yesternight I bumped the car, lightly thank God, while relatively slowly turning right. I bumped into a parked car. It was a considerably soundy bump. It's been a long time (two months exactly) since I last bumped my car.

I'm writing this now so it can be a lesson learnt for me. I was moving off in a side street and about to turn right. I car was coming from the opposite direction. The two mistakes I did were:

1. Turning my lights off!
2. Focusing too much attention on the opposite car approaching while giving less attention to the parked car on my right side.

I thus heard a soundy bumping sound upon my turning to the right. I was unable to notice the car parked at the corner of the road due to my putting the lights off (courtesy to the opposite car approaching) and focusing too much on that approaching car.

Lesson: When turning to the right side always pay attention to any cars parked at the corner of the street. Always keep the lights on at night even if a car is approaching from the opposite direction.

i10 Takes a Bath

In Dire Need of Cleaning

Ever since I bought my i10 I have not cleaned it from inside. After making a few trips: one to Ain Sokhna another to Kalyoub for my first 1000 km maintenance and a third to El Khatatba to visit a farm there after these three trips the car was in bad need of cleaning from inside.

Shining at Last

Today I finally went to Caltex for a car wash from inside and outside. After around one hour of deep cleaning the light blue i10 was shiny from outside and pleasingly clean from inside. I paid only 20 Egyptian pounds and tipped the guy who did all the work with an extra 3 Egyptian pounds. Was a pleasant experience all in all except for the long wait before and during the cleaning process. Perhaps next time I'll do an engine cleaning as well. I've also asked if they had waxing but it turned out that they did not. Perhaps I'll by my own wax and do it myself back home. We'll see how things turn out regarding this.

Charity Errand Again

Phone Ringing

My phone rang around noon today, I thought it was someone congratulating me for Eid yet it turned out to be a phone call from Resala. It was the employee responsible for the charity errand at the Nasr City branch of Resala once again. She first thanked me for my efforts the day before then asked me if I was free today. I replied confirming I was free. She asked me if I could participate in the charity errand today as well. I told her that I would love to. I asked her when they needed me, she said "now". I told her I'll be there within an hour, which I did (perhaps I was just a few minutes late).

Two Rounds

Today was similar to yesterday. Again two Resala representatives (employees) accompanied me in the car and we visited around 4 places in Nasr City where donors donated meat and calf skin. We went back to Resala with the donations, emptied the car trunk then two other employees came with me for a second round after a few minutes. We finished our round, brought the meat and stuff back to Resala and off I went back home.

Tilt Wheel

Having entertained the idea of tilting my steering wheel, since the option is present in the i10, for quite a while, today I did take the 'brave' step of actually tilting it. I tilted it down a bit and locked it at the middle. I then adjusted my chair and later the mirrors to go with the change in steering wheel height. Contrary to my expectations, the change in steering wheel height did make a real difference in driving comfort. I am glad I finally made that change today!

i10 Doing Charity

Resala Charity Errand

Yesterday was Eid and my i10 made its first charity errand at Resala. After the Friday prayers I headed to the Nasr City branch of Resala to check up what was going on there. Just by chance I found the employee responsible for the charity errand at Resala, or actually she found me, right upon parking in front of the Resala building. Having registered my name with her earlier after getting my driving license, she asked me if I was free to do some charity errands. I welcomed the opportunity.

First Round

I drove the i10 around Nasr City. Two employees from Resala accompanied me. They had a number of addresses with them of people who wanted to donate meat, during the first day of Eid, to Resala. After collecting the meat and cow skin from a number of donors we went back to Resala to unpack the car. The 'trunk' of the i10 was too small to carry a lot of things, so we skipped passing by a donor who was donating a large part of calf.

Second Round

After arriving at Resala and unloading the i10 trunk, I found the employee responsible for the charity errands once again standing in front of the Resala building. She came to me once again and asked if I could go for a second round with two other employees. I welcomed the opportunity once again. We took our round and came back to Resala. By that time I was too tired to go for a third round and I wanted to go back home to have lunch and rest despited some desired inside me for going for a third charity errand round.

Back Home

I went back home satisfied having at last practically joined the charity errand activity at Resala with my new i10, an intention which I had earlier and had planned for before buying the car. I have been through some slumpy roads yesterday that were muddy and had water in them after the early morning relatively heavy rain of yesterday. There were also numerous uneven and high speed bumps on the way which the i10 did not quite enjoy. Yet despite of all that and the fact that my driving yesterday was not optimal, I did in fact feel satisfied doing this. I hope I'll be able to continue participating in the charity errand in the days and months to come. I believe that's the best real insurance for the safety of my car and its passengers.

Keeping Charity a Secret!

Some may shun talking about charity things they are doing in the fear of believing that it could turn into some sort of bragging and to assure themselves that they are doing it only for the sake of doing good and not for getting acceptance or admiration from others. I do believe that one should do some good deeds and keep them to himself or herself without telling others about them. Yet at the same time one should tell others about charity work he or she is doing for it might inspired them to do the same. We cannot leave those taking drugs brag about their harmful and irresponsible abuse of drugs while we keep our good deeds a secret! Showing and spreading the word about charity work is a good thing.

Without Changing Lanes

Was going back home from Resala a few hours ago when I had to make a U-turn in Abbas El Akkad street. I was in the left most lane moving forward in preparation for the U-turn I was about to make a short distance ahead to my left side. I suddenly heard a sharp scratching sound from my right side. I stopped at once just to find a car approaching me from the right side and scratching against the body of my dear i10. I car coming from my right side was attempting to overtake me from my right side in order to move to the left most lane in preparation for turning left.

We both stood still for a few moments not wanting to move. The car on my right side was slightly ahead of me. Both of us did not know what to do. We both wanted to prevent any possible further damage to our cars. He then moved slowly away from my car, I can't remember backwards or forwards, probably he moved forward and away from my car towards the right side. He then took to the left lane like he intended from the start. I was in deep worry what the scratch would look like on the right side of my car.

View Larger Map

Although upon analysis of the situation we find that it was his mistake not mine since he is the once who was attempting to change lanes and he got too close to my car while I had nothing but the pavement on my left side and could not move any more to the left, yet I did want to look at it as being my mistake. I guess I could have avoided such a hazard had I looked to my right side before going forward. Yes it is not my problem to look to my right when I am just moving forward and not changing lanes, yet as a defensive driving technique I should have done so. I guess the guy expected me to stop moving forward upon his approaching me and cutting the way ahead of me. Yes his mistake, but once should train for avoiding the mistakes of others. We do not live in a perfect world after all.

Lesson: Even if you are just moving forward and not changing lanes, make sure to keep an eye on cars coming from the lane adjacent to yours just in case any of them wanted to suddenly overtake you and expected you to stop sharply upon their attempt to cut you off.

Three-Point Turn

Yesterday while I was driving nearby my house at some close by street searching for a shop I learned sold plastic containers I figured out I had made the wrong turn and had to reverse my direction in the street so I attempted a 3-point turn.

I turned left at first trying to change direction in one go without reversing (like in a U-turn). back while turning but the street turned out to be too narrow and the parked cars on the other side of the street were in the way so I stopped after turning left then reversed back to straighten out the car a bit in the new direction. As I attempted to go forward once more I noticed a had approached from the opposite direction. Not wanting to keep that other car waiting and having my car not yet fully straightened up I quickly attempted to go forward (since the other car facing me had stopped and was waiting for me to pass). I attempted this action in a haste while I focused all my attention on the car opposite me and to my left side. I noticed that the look in that car's face was a look of unrest while I headed forward making way for that car to pass. While I thought that that look of unrest and slight annoyance in that driver's face was due to being in a hurry and me taking so long to give way to the car I was not aware of the real meaning of that look until I move forward with confidence just to find another car swiftly moving from behind me and overtaking me from the right side while I focused my attention undivided on the car at my left side! It was then and only then that I realized the real meaning of the look in the first driver's face: she was feeling uneasy of my rapid movement forward without taking the slightest notice of the car approaching from behind me and swiftly overtaking me from the right.

Lesson: When making a 3-point turn, make sure you look at both sides and to your back for any approaching cars before making the final push forward after having reversed.