What a Wacky Day

I spent much of yesterday with friends, and I didn't even have to drive, so despite all the snow, it was a pretty relaxing day. We saw Kingsmen: The Secret Service, and it was very good, though surprisingly violent (I hadn't realized that it was based on a comic book, but most of the violence was awfully realistic, and I spent most of certain scenes with my eyes squinted half shut, waiting until it got past that kind of thing). I recommend it all the same, but I want to express the caveat.

And then today happened.

Recently I joined a professional organization, and the local chapter was having a brunch meeting today, which while I wasn't quite excited for, I was interested in. Plus, brunch! So I put on grown-up clothes and went out and ... the car wouldn't start. I mean, it was utterly dead, the remote wouldn't click and when I put the key in and turned it, zilch. Hmm.

When I got the Kia, it came with roadside assistance, so I called them. Then I went inside and got into jeans and snowboots, and texted the colleague I had been expecting to see there that, nope, I won't be there. A bit later, while waiting for the guy to arrive, I decided I should e-mail the organizer to express my regrets that I hadn't been able to make it, and looked forward to coming to another event.

The guy came, hooked up the battery charger thing, and ... nothing. 100% dead. He said that I could call and get them to arrange a tow (he wasn't in a tow truck), or did I know anyone who could put in a battery for me? Or, he mentioned almost diffidently, he had a business in the next town over, not related to the roadside assistance thing, but he could sell me a battery and install it. I hesitated, not sure what to do, and he said well, if I decided I wanted to, I could call him. I said fine, and he left.

I went back in to ponder (and rail at the universe: another damned thing gone wrong, and another winter-caused problem yet, argh). I looked at the car warranty paperwork, and wasn't sure if the battery would be covered or not. I called the dealership, but all they said was call Monday when Service is open. I tried emailing the sales guy, in case he was working (no reply).

And meanwhile, I got a very apologetic email from the organizer, letting me know that somehow as a new member I hadn't been added to the distribution list, so I hadn't gotten the notice that the brunch was in fact postponed. Ironic, eh? I had been told that it was a possibility, with the storm coming in Saturday, but when I didn't get the notice I figured well, Saturday's/Sunday's snow wasn't that bad ... ah well. If I had arrived and found no brunch, I would have been annoyed, but as it is, it meant I found out about the battery today instead of in the morning, so, whatever.

After pondering my options, I decided to call AAA and just have them replace the battery. I placed the request, and in maybe an hour the tow truck pulled up. He hooked up his machine to the car, and ... it started. Wait, what? Considerably surprised, I mentioned that the other guy's hadn't, and he said maybe that guy's starter-thing was dying itself. Who knows? He said I might still need a new battery, but I should go drive 20-25 minutes to charge it up, come home, turn it off and try it at once to see if it would start again. Then, try it in the morning  and see what happens then.

So I went on a drive to nowhere and back (with a swing through the drive-through at Starbucks; hey, it was a balmy above-freezing and kind of sunny afternoon, enjoy it before it freezes solid again tomorrow), and came home. Engine off. Engine ... on! So hopefully it will start again in the morning; if it does, I'll still go in to Kia sometime and have them test it, and if it doesn't, I'll get a jump-start or a tow and go in then.

But, god, I didn't need One More Thing, you know?

The rest of the day did get better. My laundry is almost done, I ran the dishwasher, trimmed my nails (way overdue) and the cats', and craziest of all, the Bruins, well, they, um, won. They beat Chicago, Chicago! 6-2. Nuts. I mean, they'd lost their last six games, including to some low-down teams like Edmonton, and lost star player David Krejci to some unnamed injury, and then they beat Chicago quite handily, and don't implode even for one period. Six different goal scorers! Nuts, but much more entertaining to watch than they have been lately.

And now this strange weekend is winding down. It's been kind of stressful at points; I won't be sorry to get to bed.