Today was the day that my daughter and I went shopping for her birthday present - a digital camera. We have both been anticipating this purchase with great delight - not the me paying for it part, but the me getting to borrow it part. We got one of the higher-end Power Shots and it's awesome!! (Yes, I am now in debt and will have to sell myself to the devil to pay for it but, what the hell.) We opened it up as soon as we got in the car so we could start taking pictures right away. We putz with it a little and then I put the key in the ignition and turned it........click.....click....click.........nothin'. I had been mildly warned before leaving the house that the car had been acting a bit odd but not to worry.
After several attempts at starting the car and a visit to the Starbucks for sustenance, I gave in and called for help. You might want to read my previous post entitle "fire in the hole" for a little refresher about how these car related conversations usually go. Let's begin:
me: "Hey, I can't start the car and I think you should come out here or maybe I should just call a tow truck."
M: "Did you jiggle the stick?"
me: "yep"
M: "Well, do it again, I'm sure it will start."
me: "I've been trying on and off for over 45 minutes now and I really think we'll have to have 'er towed to the dealership."
M: "No. I'll come out there. I'm sure it will start if you jiggle the stick right."
Meanwhile, the battery on the new camera is dead because it hadn't really been charged up yet so there isn't much to do now. And it is HOT in the parking lot at Best frickin' Buy.
Three hours later and after a lot of fiddlin' with knobs and jumper cables*, the car still won't start and the tow truck is called. 'Nough said.
*Just a side note here. When the guy parked next to us came out of the Best Buy with what looked to be his 10-year-old son, M kindly asked him if he would be able to help us with a jump and he says, "no, I don't think so." No eye contact, no "sorry, I wish I could help but I've got a plane to catch," no "sprechen sie keine English." What an ass! And what a great example to set for your child. "Son, when you see people in need, don't look 'em in the eye or offer assistance, just head for the hills."
UPDATE: Turns out that we might have been able to start the car on our own and avoid the tow if M hadn't put back one of the fuses he checked in the wrong slot. But we did end up needing a new battery and some other stuff that came to over $500!! Ugh.
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3 comments:
Due to my addiction to old British cars, I am oh, SO familiar with the Parking Lot Wait for AAA. Just another reason to ALWAYS have your knitting with you. :)
Cars are money pits. All of them. They are evil.
Wow, not being willing to help out someone in the parking lot with a jump? How rude. Maybe it's because you looked liked troublemakers.
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