5.14.2008

Car Trouble

Sorry about the negative post yesterday. I just always enjoy seeing people at our workout events and I actually wrote that post after a pretty long Wednesday. There was no intent to be mean so if I came across that way then I am sorry. So many people do so much to make this club what it is and I dont want to take anything away from that.

This will be a day I would like to soon forget. The morning started out well with the early morning wake up call and swim. My last few days have been pretty long and I was hoping to get an evening to relax. This weekend I am traveling for a yearly rafting trip down the Lochsa and I have been going pretty crazy trying to get everything ready. After work heading out to Cabela’s to pick up my new boat cover and then meet up with a friend to borrow some rafting gear. After traveling to the top of the south hill he couldn’t find it which was not a huge deal just a long drive and a good hour of my evening I could have spent relaxing.

Finally making it home around 7:30 I put the new cover on my boat, this did bring a smile to my glorious day. It looks pretty sweet if you ask me:) I packed up what gear I had to head over to my buddies for them to haul down. I load everything in the trunk and jump in to start my car. There is nothing, I am pretty sure I heard a cricket laughing when I turned the key. S&$T I must have left my lights on, nope. Maybe a door open, nope not that either. Why will my car not start?

After asking my neighbor if he could give me a quick jump the car fired right up. Sweet! At this point you would think my story could only get better right, WRONG. After pulling down the alley and reaching the street, I lose all power. This is the first time this has ever happen since I bought the car 4 years ago. I have had very little problems and I can’t figure out why tonight must be the night. My thoughtful neighbor saw me sitting down there and came to see what happened. Once again we jumped the car and again it started right up. Maybe I have a dead battery or could it be the alternator (I sure hope not). Deciding it would not be a good idea to drive anywhere I head back to my place.

Now that I look at the picture, maybe there could have been a bit of preventative care. But who wants to do that:)

After looking at the battery terminal I knew I needed to get a new one. With all the corrosion that had built up, maybe I wasn’t getting a good connection and cleaning that should help. Since I have no ride and it is 10 at night there is only one place where you can go to get auto parts. Yep, Walley’s world. I grab my old mountain bike the original silver bullet(WAY FREAKIN' HEAVY) out of the shed, pump up the tires I am ready to go. Nothing like pulling up to Wal-Mart at 10 o’clock on your mountain bike, but if this fixes my problem the all was worth it. Wal-Mart at 10 is a complete story by itself.
I finally got the new terminal and headed back to install it. After about another 30 minutes I have the new terminal on and I am ready for my car to fire up. No such luck. Since there really isn’t anything you can do at 11 regarding car work, I call it a night and try to figure out how I am going to get to work tomorrow. Maybe I will ride my bike. At some point I am going to have to get this POS in to check and see if my battery or alternator is toast. There will definitely be a post about how to not change out your alternator if I need to get a new one. I hope you had a better Wednesday that me:)

4 comments:

Matt said...

You need some pegs on that bike!

Sorry to hear about your car, it never happens at a good time..

Sheena (DUR) said...

Is there a good time for that to happen? I don't think I've ever said,"Great timing!". I know what you're going through tho. My first car was a Neon and, honestly, once it started going...it was gone. Hope you don't have the same luck. Glad your day started out well with a wake-up call...heard that girl can be overly chipper in the morning...wink! And have fun this weekend! My friends and I are doing our annual "River Rukus" trip over Memorial weekend. Great times!

Tiffany said...

The story with my Neon is the same as Sheena's. One day it was acting weird and a week later it was done for!

I love that you rode your bike to Walmart at 10:00. Just picturing that cracks me up. Hope you get things figured out today. :)

Trish said...

I'm with Tiff. I can't believe you rode your mountain bike to Walmart! HILARIOUS! I try to avoid that place at all costs...especially after dark. I hope you can fix that alternator! Good luck!