August 13, 2004
It rained on the way home today. Not a lot, mind you. Just enough that I needed my wipers on and to turn on my headlights. Pretty mundane, really.
Skip ahead to this evening. I needed some bread for my lunch sandwiches tomorrow (today, by the time you can see this). I went out to my car, and the remote unlock wasn't working. Annoying, but it happens from time to time. Then I tried to start my car.
Nothing. Starter motor wouldn't even crank.
Y'see, the idiot alarm for my headlights either doesn't work or doesn't exist. So, given that I rarely drive at night, I'm not used to making sure my lights are on. When I'm parked somewhere that I can see their glare I'm fine. But there isn't anything for the light to bounce off of in my parking lot.
I'll take "What Did Jason Fuck Up" for $100, Alex.
A friend of mine drove over and attempted to jump my car. I hooked up my cables to the right places (I can tell a "+" from a "-", thankyouverymuch) and in the right order, but I couldn't get a good connection and after several minutes of trying I couldn't get enough charge to trigger the alarm, let alone start the car. I'm guessing my cables are corroded; the clips looked pretty bad.
I figured, what the hell; I'll call AAA. I get their 800 number and give a call. They only service their existing customers. So I'd have to sign up for AAA then pay $25 for same-day service. In other words, almost $80 for a fucking jump-start.
Said friend is currently checking whether or not AAA gives a damn what car you call in, so long as you're a member. I'm guessing no, since they'll cover you if you're in a rental. OK, she put in the online request and they should be here in an hour. I think I should at least pay half of her membership for this year, possibly all of it. After all, I don't think she's needed to use it yet.
Oh, and lest you think something about my car is broken, it turns out they didn't even install warning buzzers until 1996. There's a nice fix linked in the thread, so I think I'll be correcting Honda's little oversight there. Now to wait for the jump.
Hey, the AAA guy got here early, and got it jumped no problem. Maybe my jumper cables really are bad. I should probably buy myself a new battery anyway, as corroded as the negative terminal is. Well, I drove around for a half-hour or so to make sure the alternator had done its thing, then pulled into the Pep Boys lot and shut the car off (hey, if I did need a new battery I wasn't going to fart around with carrying it to some random Giant Eagle). It started back up just fine.
Then I went and got my bread, a mere two hours after I decided I wanted it. And that thing goddamn well better start in the morning.
