(cue Jerrytime piano music please)
So it finally started to get cold here in Montana, which is something that we don’t get a whole lot of up here – it just seems to come later and later in the year. So when it finally does come, I’m very happy about it. I can handle driving in winter weather, especiallty with a stick-shift, so that wasn’t too big of a deal. Last night, I went out to the lot to get in my car and start up the thawing process, but when I went to turn the key in the door lock, it wouldn’t budge.
The lock was frozen.
So I thought “OK, no big deal – I’ll just go in and open it from the other side”.
So I got the passenger’s side door open (that wasn’t frozen), and then went over to push the driver’s side door open, so I could enter normally.
The entire door mechanism was frozen solid – not just the lock.
“Great”, I thought, “This is just what I needed”.
So while the car is warming up, I’m trying to figure out how on Earth to get over to the driver’s side without shoving the stick into gear or anything else.
Keep in mind this is a 1986 Subaru XT:
(note: this is not a pic of MINE, but it’s this style)
This is a lot smaller than your average car. This thing has two seats and can fit two small children in the back, but not much else aside from cargo. So what I did was I ended up flattening both front seats down to the back, and then slid my rather ample frame over to the driver’s side, and then sliding down into position. I wasn’t going to bother going back out to finish the scraping – I just let the defrosters do their thing, which was good in this case, as it did clear them just fine.
I got home, and the door did not break loose or anything, so I ended up reversing the procedure for getting out, and then I called it a night. The only thing I can think of is that somehow water got down around the door lock mechanism and just froze the whole thing solid. I might think about getting one of those gadgets that can heat up a lock from the inside, but until then, I’ll just have to hope it doesn’t happen again.
Thankfully, today, the lock and door were thawed out enough to open, so I didn’t have to do it again this time. I just hope and pray it’s not frozen again tonight.
Pray for me.