Oh, the RL Interference!

[lady_karelia]

So, it's not enough that I'm being drawn back into this particular reality which I left so happily when Dorkboy was home most of the time, oh no. I happily went about my chores tonight after dropping the kidlets off to self-defence; grocery shopping, popping into the music store to pick up some sheet music (yeah, it's that. why do you ask?), then finally parked the car at Starbucks, bought a very.strong.coffee and sat down to write. Outside. It was glorious. Warm, but not hot, and, well, simply glorious. Managed about 1k words by hand, finishing the chapter. I felt rather accomplished. So, ten minutes before self-def. class was over, the chapter completed, I opened the car, got inside, put the key in the ignition, turned. *click* Lights went out. I tried again. No click, but lights still off.

It was dark by then; youngest had taken out the torch a while ago and never put it back, and my lighter wasn't being very efficient to find the %^&* number for the roadside assistance. So I phoned DB and whined. Poor guy. He's been working 10-hour days away from home, and then he had to put up with his whingey wife. He found me the number, which I phoned, only to be told that the policy number (the roadside assistance is linked to the car insurance) wasn't correct, but at least they transferred me to some other department where I successfully got the correct number. They then transferred me back to the roadside assistance, who, after taking down all the details (and confirming them) informed me that the assistance expired four weeks ago. *deep sigh*

Meantime, kidlets turned up with two of our friends, Ri and Ry. While DB sorted out the "expiry" (which wasn't), the guys tried to jump-start the car. No deal. Just rapid clicks whenever they tried to turn the key. Eventually, roadside assistance was being very helpful, offering all sorts of stuff (how to get home from the garage to which the car was to be taken by giving me variety of cab numbers, suggesting to ask whoever would tow the car there to give us a ride etc). Later, the tow truck arrived, had some magical device to make the battery work. Srsly, it was magic. Half an hour of charging it from Ri's car didn't do fuck all, the guy put his magical device on the battery, and the car started! I nearly worshiped him.

Then, worship-worthy guy told me it would work out cheaper for me if I simply went to the 24-hour-open Auto Zone and have the battery replaced there rather than having the car towed to the garage who would charge who knows what. I almost worshiped him.

Then he gave me directions how to get to the nearest Auto Zone, and I kinda lost it. I mean, I don't know Memphis well, really. But Ri and Ry jumped in and said they'd follow me and make sure I'd get there. Now, I nearly worshiped Ri and Ry.

So, we got a new battery. It looks like that was the problem. Not that it gave me any warning whatsoever, and I'm not pleased, honestly. I guess I'll find out soon enough. And about four hours after our usual time, we finally got home. Mr Tatoo-head who drove the tow truck deserves a medal. Ri and Ry deserve medals, too.

I have a few betas to do. Will get to it sometime tomorrow. No way was I going to concentrate on anything tonight. Surfing iTunes was fun, though. ;)

Comments

[ltgarrix.livejournal.com]

NSS, odd that your laptop would burn the outlet out. You have tried plugging some other device into the power outlet, right? The car may have surged that device instead of the other way around. But if it is indeed the car there is a short. And sadly cars today are made so that you have to take the whole darned thing apart to fix anything. And you will likely need a soldering iron to replace the wires.

I know that in my Sebring I had a short in the installed garage door opener (which I never got to work with my garage door darn it) so whenever I moved my sun visor it would short out some of the dashboard lights or something equally inconvenient. I finally had to have the dealer replace the wires (I wasn't going to take the whole car apart to find it and I know they have a device that will tell them how far down the wire the short is). But the car was nearly 7 years old at the point.

[notsosaintly.livejournal.com]

Heh. Well, let me tell you a little story. My laptop is in repair right now (after 3 years, not bad) because the DVD drive quit functioning properly. (Story in itself.) So while I was on the phone with HP, I said, "I have two other problems. One that might be important, and one that's not so important." So I told him that the power supply (you know, that box that the power cord has?) always got so incredibly burning hot whenever the computer was on, but I didn't know if that was normal. He said, "Uh, no. That should not be happening." So that's being replaced too (as well as hopefully my keyboard or at least certain letters where they've decided to pull a vanishing act).

So what I'm thinking is that the power supply from my laptop caused damage to the wires to the power outlets. I have two up front. And I had bought a inverter that allowed me to use the power from my battery as an electrical outlet. Well, they kept melting. And, believe me, I had bought the one sufficient for the size of my laptop (radio shack dude looked at my computer and power supply and I had a 150W one). So I went through 2 inverters and now have a Radio Shack gift card as replacement.

The power outlets are completely shot. I can't charge my cell phone, my palm, my kids' Nintendo, nothing. I was going to disconnect the wires from the outlet and look to see where it was blown, fix it all up (with that black electrical tape), plug it back in. Shoulda worked if I had been able to actually disconnect it. No luck.

Oh, well. Car is not going to be with me much longer. I hate the minivan anyway. I have had it for 2-1/2 years and keep swiping things on the right side 'cause the car's so wide. I'm going to get my husband's Camry and that'll be that.

[ltgarrix.livejournal.com]

Yikes! Glad they are fixing that on your computer. Though it's still odd that it wouldn't just blow the fuse and damage the wiring/device. I mean that's the point of the fuse. Ah well.

I've never been a minivan person. Of course, it has been hard for me getting used to the Charger because it is much larger than any car I have ever driven (both length and width). Thankfully I've not hit anything with it, though it can be frustrating watching me park or unpark the car. LOL

[notsosaintly.livejournal.com]

I mean that's the point of the fuse. Uh, yeah. You'd think so, wouldn't you? Fuses I get. They're sort of like jumpers on a computer board. But cars aren't reasonable like computers are.

I always said: "I'll never get a minivan!" The Pathfinder (SUV -- 1999 model which looks like an SUV, not a sneaker) I loved. I was higher up, it felt like a car. Then the husband took over and dragged me to the car lot. Said it would be easier on me (yeah, well, it does have an automatic side door--an automatic trunk would have been easier on me).

Moral of the story? Never say never. And then backpedal as soon as you can.

Though ... I did used to say I'd never have children. Look how that turned out. And you don't get to backpedal there.