Non-Starter

Fall, at last, is in the air. While the kids were getting ready for school this morning, I stepped outside as is my wont on some days to find a brief moment of peace before the tumultuous torrent of tedium that is modern life unleashes itself upon my psyche.

Unfortunately the moment passed, as the boys loaded into the car and I reached to turn the ignition. Grind-click-click-click-click-click, and then nothing. Repeat twice. Sigh. I had grandiose plans of getting the car into the shop this week for a 100,000-mile refresh, now that I've hit 115,000 miles. Yet in my imagination, I had hoped to personally take the car to the dealer, rather than having to pay to have it towed there. I'm simply not proficient enough to deal with modern cars. I'm pretty sure that my problem is the solenoid and not the battery, but I suppose the starter cannot be ruled out. Nevertheless, I loaded the boys into the van, and left the car in the garage. Before the day is out, I'll figure out my next steps.

The disruption of routine is rarely welcome, and to be sure, I'm feeling rather discombobulated this morning. Yet all of this bizarrely serves to remind me that I probably need to go in soon for my personal 100,000 mile check-up, before I get laid out and am forced to have all sorts of unpleasantness thrust upon my being. Of course, this is quite too much information, and I am most certain that you would prefer I had kept that thought to myself.

All I know is, that if I don't get some deeply restful rest soon, all the coffee in the world will not get me started in the mornings.

But on a lighter note, this morning was beautiful.

Postscript (5:13pm): Not long after I posted the above, something immediately started nagging at the back of my mind. When this happens, it usually means I've jumped to the wrong conclusion somewhere. So I started replaying the sequence of events from this morning. It struck me that the dashboard clock might have been wrong, but I wasn't sure. So instead of rushing ahead to figure out transportation issues for the week, I decided to slow down and take a second look at the car before doing anything else.

I was convinced that I had replaced the battery just a couple of years ago, which is why I was quick to dismiss the battery as a possible cause. Too quick, that is. Lo and behold, it turns out that the battery was over 5 years old. So I took it out, ran down to the auto parts store, and verified that the battery indeed had gone bad. I bought a new one, came home and put it in, and the car is good to go. Well, it still needs the 115,000 mile maintenance, but at least it's not dead in the garage. $75 after a $25 prorated discount. I can stomach that. But I'll tell you what: I remember in the 90's being able to buy a battery for my old Ford Fairmont for $40, tops. $100 for a brand new battery? Sheesh. Must be some environmental disposal tax, eh? Oh well. Car goes vroom again.