During the big snow last week, we discovered that my wife’s car wouldn’t start. She doesn’t drive very often, so it wasn’t the end of the world, but she would have liked to have driven that particular day, so it was a little annoying. Then we moved, and didn’t really have a chance to take care of it. So, yesterday, I went to take care of it. I borrowed jumper cables from a coworker, figuring I’d try that because it was free. If that didn’t work, I’d see if the guys at the repair shop across the street would come look at it, or else I’d get it towed.
I got there, and there were cars on either side of hers. I would have had to park in her trunk to get close enough to jump it, so I went across the street to the repair place. They were unhelpful and wouldn’t go off-site, so I called AAA. They were very quick, and sent someone in about 25 minutes. 23 1/2 minutes after I called, the car next to my wife’s pulled out. When the tow truck driver arrived, he pulled out a little thing that was probably a battery in a case with cables attached, and he jumped the car. It started just fine.
It’s nice that it’s the battery and not the starter or something worse, but it’s annoying that I could have done all that myself if only my wife had backed in to the spot, or the lot had been less crowded.
Oh, well. Didn’t cost me any money, at least. And now I’ll go get a battery today and put it in, and then we’ll figure out where we’re going to keep her car, or if we’re going to sell it, or whatever.