This morning, I made a return visit to the RTV to redo the test I failed last week. I woke up even earlier than last time (the “normal” evil traffic has returned to Lindora, and I didn’t want to be late), drank a strong coffee, and prepared to get through this with flying colours.
I mean, we fixed the brakes. It should be perfect, right? Right?
Lest we forget, though, that Murphy lives with me.
The first part of the RTV — proving that I own the car in question, and getting my paperwork done — was a snap. Quick, easy, done, next.
I’m convinced the RTV testers were either half-staffed today, or half were on break, ‘cuz the line moved agonizingly slow. What should have taken 20 minutes took nearly 45 minutes. There was no pre-inspection (looking at the windows, under the hood, checking lights) and I even got to skip the exhaust test. I think because I had my previous test, the guy just moved me along.
Oh, and Alex, I think I fixed the side mirror. It seems pretty much locked in now.
I did do the shock test again, and that was fine — pretty much identical to last week. And then came the now-dreaded brake test.
Front brakes? No problem. Emergency brake? Golden. Rear brakes? (I held my breath.) Going … going … going … put foot through the floor … nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch.
For once, I’m glad no-one understands English at RTV, ‘cuz I swore a blue streak that would make most mechanics run for the hills. I was about to be failed AGAIN because of bum brakes. Which makes no sense, given that we supposedly had them fixed.
I drove forward for the undercarriage test with a guy who kept screaming at me to do things I didn’t understand. Apparently, he couldn’t hear my “no comprendo” and “no hablo español” being yelled back at him. Thankfully, I was rescued by a kind woman who told me to move forward.
I was told to wander over to Linea 1, where I’d receive the results. I expected to get another RTV printout with “GRAVE” marked next to my frenos (brakes), and told to come back.
But instead, I got my new RTV sticker.
Which puzzled me intensely. Did I actually pass? It didn’t seem like it. Maybe on the rears something actually worked as expected? Or did they pity my poor situation and just give it to me?
Either way, I’m having someone check the rear brakes, ‘cuz I’m not sure they work. The car stops, no question, and hills aren’t a problem … but I don’t wanna find out the hard way that something is actually wrong.
But at least we can drive without fear of getting pulled over for an out-of-date RTV.
