The Carwash

It hit 40 degrees today, for the first time since December. Apparently, 1985 was the last time that Chicago saw a January without hitting 40 degrees. And it was partly sunny, so we all went to get our cars washed.

By "we all" I mean everyone in the six county area in possession of a vehicle on four wheels.

Last winter, on a similar day, the wait was 45 minutes to get into an automatic car wash. Does that sound ridiculous to you? Well take a look:

This is not "dirty". This is "eroding". It is worth the wait.

Today, I went to one in Northbrook that has a human operator set up the cars before sending us through. You know - the ones where you drive your car on to the little tracks and put in into neutral. The machine pulls you through the wash.

It makes the dog insane.

Anyway. It is a universal truth that the back end of the car never gets as clean as the front end in an automatic car wash. But if you tip the guy, he takes the power spray to the salt before the car is pulled in. Obviously, my car really needed it. This place also had an undercarriage wash, which I think is equally important to be rid of the salt.

Check the "after" pic:

The salt is still not gone! But I think it is clean enough to get my license plate sticker to stick.

Edit: WGN says it didn't actually hit 40 degrees.