So, last night, I went to Carson's baseball game, I had ran a couple of errands first and then Thomas called me and asked if I was coming to the game, so I went on over to the ball field. In case you don't know, they are my nephews. Of course Carson's team won, and after the game they have their team meeting. I went to leave, walked to my car and (surprise!) my car wouldn't start. I had not left on the lights, it just wouldn't start. Kooky, huh? Well, it had happened once before around six weeks ago, so not all that strange to me.
I was called to have someone come boost me off; they said it'd be at least an hour or more. So, I proceeded to wait. I don't do well in the heat, and I'm sitting in my car thinking I'm about to die from it. Then, it dawns on me to open my door. Yes, it was a blonde evening. Then, I get the bright idea to try and figure out what the problem is myself.
I found the hood thingy that pops open the lid (or so I thought!) I walked around to the front and it's stuck on something. There I am, on the ground, trying to look into that two inch space between the hood and the other part of my car and I see that it's stuck on something. I kept trying to push the two pieces apart that were sticking together. Yes, this is natural, I found a little lever/button thing and when I pushed that, the hood lifted. In case you're wondering, I personally don't do a lot of maintenance on my car. Scratch that, I don't do any! I put the gas in, isn't that enough?! My good friends at Fisher and Neubert's do the rest.
I digress, back to the story. I get the lid up, I'm holding it with one hand (it is heavy) and I'm trying to figure out where the pole to hold it up sticks into. At this point, my hands and arms are covered in grease and oil and whatever else is inside my car. I can't get the pole to stand up straight and hold up the hood, it keeps slipping. I couldn't find the hole it fits into. At this point, I'm finished. I had decided to just wait on the cavalry (Fountain City Wrecker) to come and do the job.
At this point, the team meeting is over and I hear them coming down the path. I figured I would just get back in my car to wait. I was putting the pole back down into it's brackets and I hear my brother-in-law asking "What'd you do" So, I told him what was going on. He said he'd go home, get his truck and come back to jump me off. I told him that he didn't have to do that, I'd called a wrecker and they'd be there in a bit. He proceeded to call and cancel the wrecker. So, all of the team dad's were standing around trying to figure out the best way to get my car started. One of them had jumper cables, so he jumped my car. Scott got into the car with me to go to Advance and buy a battery if I needed one after that jump-start. Problem solved, right? Wrong!
I started to drive out of the ball field and I curve around to go to the one exit in the place. As I'm driving back down the hill, the car dies again. When the power goes, so does the power steering! So, I have to make a right turn to get out of this place. My car is dead and I can hardly turn the wheel. There is just enough room for one car to drive through this exit. On one side is a thick metal fence, cemented into the ground. On the other side, is a drop of at least 20 feet. Here I am, in my 13th car, trying to turn the wheel, Scott's telling me to turn it into the exit and I can't get it to turn. I just knew I was going down that embankment, but I guess it's about time for number 14. But, Scott proceeded to yank the wheel from the passenger seat and get me through the gate and coasting over to the side of the exit so other cars may pass.
My sister was supposed to be behind us, following us to Advance. She decided to go out the entrance instead of waiting to go through the one spot you're supposed to go through. So, needless to say, we were stuck. I tried to call my sister and my nephew but neither answered. Scott started to walk home and get his truck but then he got on his phone and called the other coach to come back and help. Then I got the brilliant idea that maybe if I sent Thomas a text, he'd answer that. So, I sent a quick brief explanation, my text was simply "Help!" To that, he responded, but with another text (that I didn't even see until about an hour later after I was safely home.)
So, I'm standing on the side of the road, my car still with no life. The keys in my hands and at this point, it's getting dark. I'm kind of pacing back and forth, just waiting and I realize that there is light coming from my car. I just saw a flash of it, so I turned back around and my car is doing some freaky things. The dome light is flashing off and on. I'm thinking, if my battery is dead, should the lights be working? But, as you've figured out at this point, I'm sure, I know nothing about cars! So, I think it's strange, but Scott's down at the end of the drive looking for our new cavalry to come. The light stopped doing this after about a minute so I didn't think anything about it again.
So, Rodney (the cavalry) comes and pulls up next to my car. Scott tells me they are going to hook the cables to the cars and for me to get in and start the thing. I turn around and it looks like the fourth of July inside the car. The thing is all lit up, it's flashing and it's the strangest thing. At this point, I think I should have opted for the 20 foot drop off, because surely I could have opened the door and rolled to safety before my car plunged to its death, right? Scott and Rodney are just standing there talking and they realize I haven't gotten in, so they tell me to start the car. I had one word for them. Seriously?!
I point out what the car's doing on the inside and they said it was just because the keys were in it and it's getting power from Rodney's truck. Then I showed them the keys in my hand. They look at each other and say "huh, that's weird." So, I'm freaked out thinking that the car is going to explode when I start it. I'm literally shaking. Scott's telling me not to worry, but they both did at least say it was strange. I start my car, it didn't blow up, and I'm letting it soak up the power of those magic cords. It sits for a few minutes and they said it was fine and we're back off to Advance. Scott gets in, we put on our seat belts and I'm still, quite visibly, freaked out. Scott offered to drive, to which I immediately agreed.
He gets in and we take off. He's doing something strange. He's gunning down on the gas pedal at the same time he puts the brake on. He told me what he was doing, but I don't remember what he said. We then realize that Advance is closed by now, it's after 9. But, never fear, Auto Zone is open until 10. So, we're off to the Zone. We pull into the parking lot, my sister's sitting there in her car, she's called my Mom and she's came along too.
As Scott pulls into the parking spot...wait for it...yes, it died again. We go inside and he tells the counter guy we need to check the battery. We had to wait a minute because the outside guy is doing something to someone else's car in the parking lot. When it comes our turn, the counter guy tells the outside guy we need our battery checked. His response? I'm paraphrasing here, but essentially he said the checker thing was dead because no one plugged it in last night. No, I'm not kidding.
The counter guy gets a longer cord or something, but somehow, it worked and the outside guy is telling me that it's so strange; a Honda battery should last at least 7 or 8 years and mine is only 3 years old. At this point, I don't care about semantics. Just tell me what I need to buy to get this thing running because, I'm still greasy and oily and I want to go home! So, we go back inside and he's telling me the merits of one battery versus another one. Again, I tell him that I don't care. Just tell me which one to buy. Now, I'm still being polite, I'm just telling him that I don't really want to know the difference, just please ring one of them up.
He does and it took him a while, but he finally figured out how to get the thing into my car and to make it work. I drove home, took a shower and went to bed. I woke up this morning, got ready and went out to start the car to go to work. Guess what? It actually started. So, I guess my car trials and tribulations are over for a bit...a girl can dream, can't she?
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