"The Warehouse never gets filled": Row, row, row your car, slowly down the street...

... Keep it higher than sea level and your bat'tree ye shall keep.

Okay, so I mangled the song. But I have every right to. I could have needed to buy a new car this weekend.

My 9 year old Hyundai Accent would have been a little wet for wear if I went through more than one overly flooded road on Friday.

We had one of those monsoon storms in the afternoon and I should have known better when I looked into the parking lot at work and my tires look deflated.

Yes, the corner lot I have an assigned spot in, was getting to be underwater. And my hub caps wanted to reach out and touch dirt.

By the time I got to get in my car, the deluge had stopped enough for the lake to go down a couple inches. Little did I know that the first street I'd turn on to, to go home, would be a full lake.

The route I go home has me turn right at a smallish intersection and the road is 2 single lanes: one car in each direction. The street is surrounded by a lot of grass, some random parking lots and odd places to be able to turn around on short notice. So the whole stretch isn't the best as it dips in places and not every section is evenly noticeable for standing water.

I got halfway down the road and saw a puddle. There was a car coming towards me and making waves. I slowed down to let the person through as the rippling was getting intense while the spray was bigger. I inched forward because this point had really saturated grass areas and I didn't want to risk turning around. Moving slowly down the road, other cars came at me since they decided to stay in their lane. The spray off my car went onto their cars, theirs onto mine. It was like all the 4 wheeled tin cans had a beach day. All the while, the battery light on my car kept flickering on. The electricals were getting wet and my battery wasn't hearing any of it.

As I progressed, the water seemed to be getting higher. My light flickered on a few more times and a couple minutes later I was at the end of that street, waiting at that intersection light to turn green.

Well, I'd probably still be waiting as not only that light, but the next available (major) intersection light was down. It was chaotic because no one was following any type of rules to let others go.

Rain was starting to come down again and people were honking at each other. I heard yelling around me from a few cars. The entire scene was mass confusion and come to find out (later that night), that whole area was under water. There was a flash flooding warning for those streets and sure enough, people were wading through it.

By the time I was able to get my car past that chaos, the rest of my ride was a hell of a lot drier than the beginning of it. All roads were passable and the stop lights were running. I got home in total panic and very anxious, seeing how I didn't know if my car would be able to run Saturday and Sunday. I did have a water line around the outside of the car. Proof of what type of dirt I drudged up and through, but so far, luckily, I can maintain the vehicle as mine. With the heat and humidity Saturday, Sunday and today, I'm hoping everything continues to dry out and I can find another route home come tomorrow. I think if I can just get turned around on that first street out of the parking lot, I could be fine, but it's a matter of not knowing if the main streets are under water. I guess I'll find out over the next couple weeks, as no one at this new job informed me the place is in a flood zone.

Yes, I've got a new job. I've left my old one of moving furniture and setting up AV, to now being a house plant. I sit indoors, on the computer, drinking water all day. I file paperwork in a mailroom setting. It's not really doing mail jobs every moment. It's more document scanning and document import to various files. Not what I expected and I don't know exactly how to define my role. I'm still too new there to make sense of it all.

So anyway, all the water around my car got me worried that I'd need to look for a new car. I don't want to, by any means, especially since the Accent isn't even 10 yet (it will be in January). My mom suggested getting a higher-off-the-ground vehicle if push comes to shove. That way I wouldn't have to worry so much. My problem is, the new cars, no matter what they are, have the big navigation screen in the center of the dash board. Some are the size of iPads. I can't have that, because of my hearing and sight problem. It's too much of a distraction. Trust me, when I went car shopping in the beginning of 2014, the cars were just starting to come out with the enormous screens. I test drove a Ford where the navigation was so big, all I wanted to do was push it down and get it out of the way. I've got to really figure out what my exact needs are and what car can give me that before I jump into anything. Or, I just stop driving all together... which isn't the best idea since the city buses seem far and few between around here. It's not like Brockton where there seemed like a bus passing you every 15 minutes. In Fort Myers, you're lucky if a bus passes by you every 45 minutes.

I just feel like I was always seeing a bus back north. Here, it's not so frequent. Every time I am out driving, I hardly see one. Back home I probably could pass half a dozen as I'm out and about in a single time frame.

Because it's not so walkable around here, you need to have wheels. Especially when it's 104 degrees due to humidity. It's not easy to do grocery shopping on foot given the closet supermarket would be a 23 minute trek in sneakers (one way) versus 4 minutes in a horseless carriage. Then it's a matter of buying what you can only carry and walk your frozen stuff back home.

I know it sounds lazy to take the car, but if a bus isn't available... yes, you have to walk. Costs over an hour of your time (factoring in the actual shopping) and you're ready for a nap before your ice cream has a chance to get unsouped.

Rambling around now, sorry.

Getting back to the points.

I have bumper stickers on my car. If I have to get rid of my car, I have to get rid of the stickers. Which means I need to get back on Amazon and find the ones I bought.

Unfortunately, there is one that is not available for purchase anymore. I'm saddened to see that because I liked it.

Although, "See all buying options" and having it clickable means it could still be purchased? I'm going to have to find out, especially since I am saving some things in my cart for Prime Day on the 12th.

I've also searched for a few more stickers. The heat and humidity haven't been nice to them, so they're cracking, peeling and colors are fading.

Autism Heart decal here

Oval Autism Decal here

Autism Ribbon Decal here

The Autism ones are in support of family and friends who chose to live on their own spectrum. Luckily, a friend had bought me the ribbon and it was a two piece package. The heart decal and the oval decal need to be repurchased, but I think I'll hold off on the oval. I saw this one and thought it was so much cooler. So in the cart it goes.

Other stickers on my car include another Mass based "Home" decal.

508 Roots Decal here

The Roots came as a two pack. Money saved there.

Red Sox circle Decal here

Pat the Patriot ("Retro Minuteman") Decal here

Red Sox B Decal here

Patriots Logo Decal here

The colors on the teams are super obviously failing and the Retro Minuteman decal didn't come with the opportunity to take the plastic square off around the Patriot. Thanks, NE Patriots store - that one was my second purchase of the same sticker. And the second time it's peeled like this. Not really recommended in the Florida heat because it looks junky for the price (both on Amazon and the Pats store).

It is sad how quickly everything fades or cracks down here. Most of the stickers were purchased between 2019 and 2020, so longevity is not within their favor. Even the seatbelt PUSH button in the car is turning pale red. Paler than the red on the Patriots logo and the Red Sox logo. The buttons are almost white now. In nine years, my car has gone from sparkly to "yeah, things are looking more weathered... whomp whomp. 🙍😦". But I won't give up unless I have to. I don't want to get rid of my car so quick, but I will replace the pretties on it, if needed.

Just remember:

(Similar Attitudes Decal here)

I had bought that Attitudes sticker eons ago at a holistic / spiritual shop in Easton. There's a whole stack of ones I purchased and actually had them taped to my wall in my room at one point. When I shifted things around, repainted some times, then moved, everything got boxed away. I needed a good size something to cover some damage to that piece of my car (paint scraped off... you can kind of se a touch up above it), I figured I'd tack a band aid over it. Sadly, Amazon doesn't have the specific Azuregreen sticker, but they've got others here with various search results under here and here [last 2 might be the same stuff]. Still works though.

To end up showing how quick the water comes, the following photos were taken yesterday, while the sunny trees were taken today. After that, I will end my ramblings for this post.