Twice this month the battery in my car needed a jump. I knew my battery was getting old, but my sweet "Shaquifa" (Yes, that's my car's name), had never pulled two tantrums like that before. Plus, I'm pretty regular with car maintenance and upkeep, especially since my Dad is pretty much a mechanic--mostly for fun, but he gets the job done.
Anyhow, this last Sunday, I had just gotten gas, when..."Wallah!"my car wouldn't start...oddly enough the alarm in my car still worked and my power windows could still hang. Hmm.
So I called AAA. The guy was a sweet greasy mechanic. But he was not trying to smile or even make eye contact with me. Bad day, I guess. He then runs a few tests on my battery. He tells me the same thing that another mechanic told me a few weeks prior: "You need to replace this battery right away--acid is leaking, the cables are awful, etc. If I give you a jump, once you turn your car off, it won't start again, unless you replace it with a new battery."
Just as he's explaining this to me, I nod and smile, and decide to put the key in the ignition and turn it, just for fun.
All of a sudden, my car starts! Um. What. Okay. That was weird.
The guy doesn't seem happy or surprised. His lady may have dumped him that day, he was emotionally dry, he gave me nothing to work with.
Then my AAA mechanic tells me, "You can buy a new battery today, because when you turn your car off, it won't start again."
I politely smiled at him, declined the new battery offer and said, "I know you are telling me all the things that you are
supposed to, but my car
will start again...and again...and again. And that's just counting today."
Now he has a response. He kind of grins.
I tell him, "Thank you, for coming out." and we part ways.
I made many stops that Sunday afternoon and evening, after my battery apparently had died, and each time, my car started beautifully.
If I would have turned home in fear, I would have missed something very crucial and life-changing that Sunday night.
(I'll share with you in a future blog, what that special moment was.)
Oh, but don't you want to know the end of the car battery drama? So, I call AAA, today, because I'm finally prepared to buy a new battery, I knew the time would come soon, since my battery is well-aged--and I figured, I might as well just do it now.
I have my dad with me as a new AAA mechanic inspects my battery--
"You're battery is fine--You don't need a new one." (
There was no acid leaking, by the way)
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So about an hour later, my Dad is cleaning the cables to my battery...and he discovers a huge grey pleathery cloth stuck underneath my battery.
