Dead Battery

Yesterday afternoon, I was about to depart for class. I got into my car, turned the ignition, all my lights went on, then went off, and the engine didn't start. I turned it again, nothing. Again, nothing. I noticed that the interior lights of my car weren't on. Conclusion: dead battery.

There were no clear warning signs, no warning light, but the engine had been stuttering in its starts the past few weeks, I figured because of the cold weather. I was wrong.

So this morning, I called AAA to come and put in a new battery. Problem #1: My AAA had expired. So that got renewed, and I called again. Problem #2: I was speaking to the Southern New England AAA, they don't cover Ithaca. So they connected me to Western/Central NY AAA. They said someone would be there within 45 minutes. Spot of good fortune, someone was there in 10.

I was all ready for them. Had the hood popped and ready to go. The tow truck gets there: my old nemesis Charlie's Towing (that's another story). For some reason, the driver had what was probably his daughter with him. Odd. He gets out and says "So, you need a jump?"

Problem #3. "No, I need a new battery."

"We don't do batteries."

"But they said you would."

"Yeah, that's AAA, we're not actually AAA."

"Oh."

So he jumped my car. I had no other option. I couldn't risk stopping the engine. I drove down to Midas to get a new battery, and an oil change while I was there. But time was tight, I had class at 1.

I pulled up to Midas, and left the car running. I told the guy at the counter this and he complimented me for my smart thinking. Had I turned it off, they might have had to jump it again, just to move it into their garage.

I sat in the waiting room and watched the Anna Nicole Smith trial. Fucking hilarious, but at the same time, totally repugnant. The lawyering was just flat out horrible, with interruptions and grandstanding. The feed was also live, so I got to hear the word "shit" on CNN Headline News. The problem was, there was like 4 different groups of attorneys, and all spoke at once, and all interrupted. There was one particularly annoying one who kept reminding the judge that both he and she were from New York. Yeah, ridiculous, right? The judge was also grandstanding, asking witnesses questions that should have been left to attorneys, and reminding the really annoying lawyer that he had lived in Florida for 30 years.

Finally, I got my car back. It cost me $150, and about as many killed brain cells from watching the Anna Nicole trial, but the good thing about a new battery is, I won't have to worry about replacing it for about 3 years.