Sunday, John replaced the side mirror on his car (it was cracked, and he needs to get the car inspected), and then he replaced the door-lock relay in my car. Remember that? How I’ve had manual locks for FOREVER because they kept cycling on and off and draining the battery so John unplugged the relay? Well, he ordered a new one and installed it Sunday, and now our fingers are crossed that it was actually the relay that was bad and not the switch in the door. We’ll know if my battery dies. So yesterday morning, in the cold, I half-expected us to have to take John’s car to boxing since surely my battery would be dead. But no – it started right up. Hooray! And then it started up again when we left boxing, and again when I left for work. Hooray and hooray again!
Then I got to work and heard from John. His day didn’t go so well.
HIS car wouldn’t start. I was already gone, so I couldn’t jump it for him. He tried to pop-start it, but he couldn’t get enough momentum to back out of the driveway and into the street. (Our driveway has a little bit of an incline towards the street, but not much.) Then he tried to push it back up the driveway and let it roll back again, but that didn’t work. After about half an hour, the neighbor we almost NEVER talk to (the one who mows his lawn (when he mows it) in khakis and a button-down shirt) came out to go to work, so John got him to jump it (which I’m sure took a lot of explaining on John’s side).
Side note: I just typed “hump” instead of “jump”, and I had to pause for giggles. And more giggles, because that really would take a lot of explaining on John’s side.
Okay, I’m back. So, his day didn’t start off well. THEN he found out that his window wouldn’t work when he tried to order lunch in the drive-thru. It just wouldn’t roll down (he assumes he did something when he replaced the mirror on Sunday). It’s always embarrassing when you have to open your door to place your order. In the cold. At lunch time on a weekday when there’s a line of cars behind you.
Poor John. At least his car has started without assistance every time since then. Of course, then today arrived, with its two to three inches of snow. We shoveled the driveway, and I started to head off to work, but I changed my mind when I heard they hadn’t even plowed our parking lot yet (at the office, at ten after eight), and then I fishtailed a bit when I took a turn at the bottom of the street, so I came home just as John was backing out of the driveway. I gave him my car and stayed home. It STILL took him 25 minutes to go 3 miles, but at least he was in a car with 4-wheel drive instead of rear-wheel drive.
Cars and winter – these do not a good combination make.