Broken. Horn.

Since my last few posts were rather depressing, I figured I'd throw in a funny one, just for kicks.

Many of you know that I drive a little 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier.  It's not much, but it gets me where I need to be.  I've owned it for a little over a year and it's slowly losing some of its, well, special skills.

If you read my first entry, you know that I don't have air conditioning in it.  It's also pre-automatic windows, pre-power locks and there's no cruise control.  Cross-country driving without cruise control is rough, folks.

The newest quirk, shall we say, or shortcoming for the pessimists, is that my horn doesn't work.  While living in Chicago, not having a horn just makes you out to be a suburban driver or a rural driver, rather than a tough city driver.  I couldn't honk at people to get out of the way or to let them know I was there, so I had to play the Beta-car and drop back, always playing nice.

In the middle of South Dakota, or Nebraska, since I'm often in Nebraska, not having a horn isn't an issue for interacting with other cars.  In fact, I often drive for miles and miles without seeing another car on the road, if I'm outside of town.  The lack of horn is proving to be a difficulty for deer.

Deer???  Yes.  Deer.

As I'm driving along in the middle of the country, I constantly scan across the road for deer.  At night, I'm particularly vigilant for the flash off an eye or antler, praying for those extra three seconds to stop, should a four-legged friend decide to cross the road.

Now, in the most normal of situations, and with full privileges of car accessories, I would just honk at said deer, as I was approaching them, to encourage them to get off the road.  Without having a horn, I resort to a different method.

I slow down.  I stop.  I turn down my radio.  I roll down my non-automatic window.  I stick my head out the window.

I yell, "Move!"

And, if the deer catch on, they scoot across the road and I continue on my way.  You think I'm kidding?

This has happened twice.