Last week I had my driveway sealed. In preparation, I parked my 2-seat convertible on the street. They cleaned it, tarred it, and blocked it off with yellow plastic tape that advertised their service. Their instructions said not to use the driveway for 24 hours.

The next day, I drove the convertible to work, leaving the tape in place. On the way home, I surmised that the tar had been drying for more than 24 hours, so it was OK to drive on it. Especially since I was going to drive straight over it without stopping. Furthermore, I decided I did not even need to stop in the street to remove the yellow plastic tape. My car was more than heavy enough to break it. I pictured busting through the barricade like an olympic runner finishing first.

What actually happens when you run though plastic tape is a little different than the Olympics (where I think they use paper tape). It turns out that plastic stretches a certain amount -- more than enough to allow a low-profile 2-seat car to move under it. However, if the roof is not in place, and the front windows are down, something even more surprising happens.

The tape slid over the top of the windshield, snaped down, and caught me in the face, hard. This was surprising enough to me to trigger my "jam on the brakes" reflex, taking the car from 10-0MPH in a fraction of a second. The front tires gripped the new tar quite well.

And that is where those marks came from.

and that's how memories get them selves embedded into the frame work of a home.

Thanks for sharing!

Good story - made me chuckle. Thanks for sharing Spud.

That was hysterical

Funny story.

Miata?

It must be, if it were a classic British 2 seater you wouldn't be worred about scuff marks it your driveway, it would be accustomed to a permanent black oil slick anyway.

Q: Why don't the British make computers?
A: They couldn't figure out a way to make them leak oil.

Q: Why do the British drink their beer warm?
A: MG makes refrigerators.

Actually, I believe the Brits made the first computer during WW2, and they also had the first computer "bug".

No, the Germans were first. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z3

The moth-in-the-relay anecdote was at Harvard, but Edison used the term "bug" to refer to malfunctions long before that.

My car is Japanese, and it hardly leaks. My wife's Chevy has already spotted the new surface, though. I'm just glad that beast doesn't go in the garage.

You are both wrong

Uh, electronic computer.



ENIAC

Scuse me, it was American!