Katie Gots Things TO DO

Put this on the list of things I may not be able to do today: (see picture of me driving the Maxima)

Luckily, the awkward chewing of the gum shouldn't be a problem. Whew.

The story is this: When I tried to leave the house yesterday, I found my car battery to be dead due to an interior light left on in the car. I thought about calling USAA for roadside assistance, but then I figured I could just wait for Joe to come home, as it was my errands weren't really dire. I chilled at home, and after Joe came home and we ate dinner, we attempted to jump the car. I've jumped my car about a zillion times, but Joe hasn't. Nor has he seen me do it too often I guess. At one point out there, he was asking me if I'd ever done it before. I just stared at him and reminded him that while he was gone for a year I took care of this sort of thing by myself. Still, he pointed out all that I was doing wrong and questioned me excessively. So that sucked. Then the car wouldn't take charge. Like at all. Because the cable connection sucked. Finally after readjusting, all the lights came on, and the alarm went off. Yeah, and it was like after nine, and we'd already been out there yelling at each other. I couldn't get the alarm to shut off, but then the charge wouldn't take any other way. We tried it several times. That lead us to our next step of removing the anti-theft fuse. Extra steps suck in 30 degree sunless weather, especially when you don't know much about your fuses. Like where they all are and how to pop them out because the fuse remover is in a different location than your anti-theft fuse. Uggh. So anyway. We removed it, and then resumed the good charge. Everything worked this time (radio, lights, power windows and locks), except the car still wouldn't turn over. This happened over the summer at BGTM, but luckily for me, one of the handymen there had a tool to properly clean my battery connectors. After he worked his magic, the Max started right up. Um. But I don't have that tool. Instead, I dumped coca cola on it and scraped the crud off with a screwdriver. Still no dice. By that time, Joe became fully escalated and was tossing the f' word around like he was naming parts of the car. Lucky for our neighbor, some of this was going on when she was taking her trash to the curb. I think, especially after Dex's non-walking episodes in which I would drag him, that this car incident pretty much leaves us being the freaks of the neighborhood. Oh well I guess.

So last night ended with my car not starting, which means my car still won't start this morning. Joe works until 1 or 2 in the morning tonight (he left the house at 5:30 this morning), so he's not going to be of help, nor can I just use his car. I don't know any handymen here, or even a mechanic. I don't want to have to tow it to a mechanic anyway, when it seems likely they'll tell me it's my alternator. I want to go get one of those cleaner tools first or even a new battery before I get major work done. And that means I'm going to have to call Sarah and ask her to participate in driving Miss Katie. If nothing else, I need to drop my rent check off.

All of this makes me miss Rolla. When shit would go down with my car, my dad was always available to help - drive my car in or pick me up or whatever. He could be flexible with his work, and pretty well leave when he wanted/needed to. Not so much with Joe since they own him and have him on a shorter leash than even I do. Also, my mechanic in Rolla was pretty swell. He'd get me squared away with my car, give me a ride if I needed one, and one day even helped me figure out a tire warranty with Wal-Mart amidst me crying, etc. Dude. I miss home.