EXPLODING CARS!

I was almost in an exploding car today. Before heading to Nice from Grasse, Vincent “topped off” the car’s oil. I say “topped off” in quotations because he put waay too much oil in. And by way too much I mean he was on an incline and guessed he put between 5 and 10 liters in... so the pressure went crazy and the engine started to pour out obscene amounts smoke while we were driving on the highway.

It was more smoke than I've ever seen, and then the engine started revving really REALLY high on its own. He put it in neutral and it just kept revving and screaming in the most insane manner. He even turned the ignition off and removed the key and it kept going and going despite.

So finally we pulled over and jumped out, I had to pull the baby out (hero moment) but after I'd already taken my stuff to the bottom of the ditch (not so heroic). I got down there and realized they weren't coming and was like "oh, they can't get out on their side of the car... hmm..." so we had to hurry. There was a sense of panic but we got down and felt a lot better being at a distance from the car.

Three fire trucks and some police later the car got towed and we got a ride from another friend.

Crazy day.

Let the craziness begin!

So a couple of crazy things have happened recently. We'll start with less crazy and move up. First, my friend Lenny is packing up and leaving town tomorrow, this is sad.

We had a going away party for her which was fun, and it sucks because she's definitely one of my favorites and is of course leaving a month into life here. That's how the cookie crumbles though.

Speaking of crumbling... well first. Second crazy thing was having two gorgeous girls skate up and hand me a flier today. Turns out they were strippers, thus the gorgeous. These things don't happen in Cheney. When someone told me I lived in the Red Light district I wasn't so sure, although the transvestites were a good clue. But speaking of crumbling:

SOMEONE LIT A CAR ON FIRE IN FRONT OF MY APARTMENT LAST NIGHT!!!


Yes, this is not a joke. Someone lit a car on fire outside my window last night (where the picture is from). Unfortunately Noah didn't wake me up sooner so I could get better pictures. But thankfully the guys who put it out got to it before the gas tank went up. I


f this is not crazy, I know not what is. Apparently it happens a lot though, like last year when the Muslim youth rioted I guess a lot of them burned cars. Scooters get it more often though I guess. Just thought you guys would like to know.


What's funny is that I don't feel unsafe at all, I feel fairly amused. It was probably the funniest thing I've seen here yet. Ah France, how I love thee.