Monday, December 11, 2006
broken down
we were foiled by circumstances beyond our control.
after being lazy friday night, and all day saturday, we finally got our shit together and got ready to go out to pick up all the items necessary for the next coming weeks. we planned it so that we would hit stores close to their closing time, because, to be quite honest, i have no idea why (did i mention that we were lazy?).
cavin's got the keys and the keen sense of direction, and i've got the list and my visa check card ready. but, as soon as we start walking to the car, something isn't right.
"unlock the door so i can get it!"
"uh, the remote keychain thing doesn't work"
"great. i guess we have to get a new battery for that thing then?"
we were right in needing a new battery, except it wasn't the keychain we needed a battery for. it was for the car.
most times we are in our underground parking garage at least 3 cars go driving by, zooming out of the garage doors, which are located right next to our parking spot. so on a saturday around 6pm i wasn't worried about not seeing anybody drive by to help a fellow driver out.
"how long should we wait here for?"
"let's wait 15 minutes and if no one shows up, we'll take care of it tomorrow during the day."
so we waited. a minute later, "tony" (his shirt said so) rolls up to activate the automatic garage door opener.
"excuse me. do you think you could help us out? our car battery died and we were wondering if you could give us a jump. we've got the jumper cables."
tony then looks at the clock in his car, and in that split second, he decides that he doesn't have enough time to help us. "sorry. i'm on my way out. i don't think i can help you." YET, he then proceeds to ask us a series of questions about how the battery possibly could have died. in the time he asked us these questions, he could have pulled his car up to the empty parking space next to us, hooked up his car to our car, and given us the jump.
as he drove out of the parking garage, i was a bit bitter. why couldn't he help us out? it would have only taken a minute! how could he have been that rushed to go someplace, yet have all the time in the world to ask us how we could have let the battery die? argh.
so we waited again. this time, three guys (probably late 20's, early 30's) come out of the door to the west building, which is situated next to our car.
"are you going out?" (cavin says this)
"uh...yeah?"
"can you give us a hand? our battery died and we need a jump. we've got the cables"
"uh...well, er, i guess?"
i think cavin threw them off by first asking "are you going out?" but still. it was fairly obvious that we were in dire need of help, as evidenced by the hood of the car open, the trunk open, and the dejected look on both of our faces.
the three dudes walked down to the one guy's truck, and two of the dudes walk back to our car (i guess to make sure we were legit? who knows. i mean, we do look like hoodlams) to wait for his friend to drive up and park next to us.
the youngest of the dudes does not look like he knows much. "so your battery died, hunh?" he says this in such a way that it's obvious he thinks this "jump starting the car" business will be a herculean task that will require him and his cronies to expend crazy amounts of energy, energy that he would have liked to have spent elsewhere (say, a sleezy stripclub).
finally his friend with the truck (yeah, and not a truck, more like a jeep. please.) pulls into the empty parking space. i should also add that he freaking pulls into the space as close as possible to our car, so that we are no longer able to walk between the two cars, let alone me open the driver side door of our car. it's obvious they have no idea what the hell to do. "should i turn off the car?" "uh, where do i connect this to?" this part i may be exaggerating a bit, but i couldn't hear anything because (duh) the electric windows wouldn't open, and i couldn't open the door. but i can see the "truck" driver look completely perplexed as cavin correctly connected our battery to his battery.
i'm turning the ignition, and nothing is working. every now and then, a flash of light emerges from the dashboard, but the car just doesn't start. cavin fixes the negative cable (it wasn't grounded properly?) and finally it starts.
"thank you so much for your help. we really appreciate it"
"oh, uh, yeah, no problem!"
and the three dudes drive off into the sunset (or rather, out of the garage).
so now cavin and i are sitting in the car, letting the battery charge up a bit. it's only on for about 2 minutes, when cavin tries to turn on the lights. big mistake. we haven't charged the battery long enough so the power it takes to turn on the lights ends up destroying all time and effort it took with the three amigos. the car will not start again. argh!
"ok. well, what should we do now?"
as we're debating this, we hear someone from the outside trying to get into the garage.
"excuse me! our car battery died. do you think you could help us out and give us a jump? it won't take long, and we've already got the cables!"
before i could even finish, he's already nodding his head like, "of course, no problem. only a fool wouldn't help someone in need out!" this is the exact guy we need! someone who knows more about cars than drive and reverse, and who is also willing to help us out. (of course, he didn't say that second part, but he definitely was more than willing to help us out.) and the fact that he was driving some fancy car put me more at ease (i don't know why though).
i'm in the car, cavin and the fancy car dude are hooking things up, and i get the car started. yay!
"thank you so much! we really, really appreciate it!" (i probably could have given that guy a hug and kiss.) "yeah, no problem. good luck!" and he rolls down to the lower level of the garage, prolly to retire to his honey who is waiting in their apartment with a scrumptious home-cooked meal of cornbread, collard greens, and fried chicken. (or not.)
"ok. so before we turn on the lights, let's just sit here and let the battery charge up a bit."
so we waited about 10 minutes. in this time, cavin is able to turn the lights on and off, and things seem like they are working properly.
"we had better turn off the car and restart it, just in case. i don't want to park the car and then come back from picking up stuff, only to find out that the battery didn't charge enough and now we're stuck out somewhere."
"good idea"
we wait a few more minutes, and we test it out. cavin turns off the car, and what happens when he goes to start the car? what do you think? the car doesn't have enough juice to start. ugh. so we head upstairs, completely demoralized and decide to take care of it on sunday.
today is now monday, and if you've read this far into the post, you are probably wondering what happened? here's the abbreviated version:
cavin goes to autozone via metro, buys new battery, lugs it all the way back home. he gets his hands dirty and changes the new battery in our parking space, while i held the flashlight so he could see. car starts, and we continue our saturday plan, except on sunday, adding more stops in between. we are gone for about 7 hours, completely tired and busted, but now have about 1/2 to 2/3 of the items we need in the next few weeks.
needless to say, it was so chaotic i had to take off of work today.
after being lazy friday night, and all day saturday, we finally got our shit together and got ready to go out to pick up all the items necessary for the next coming weeks. we planned it so that we would hit stores close to their closing time, because, to be quite honest, i have no idea why (did i mention that we were lazy?).
cavin's got the keys and the keen sense of direction, and i've got the list and my visa check card ready. but, as soon as we start walking to the car, something isn't right.
"unlock the door so i can get it!"
"uh, the remote keychain thing doesn't work"
"great. i guess we have to get a new battery for that thing then?"
we were right in needing a new battery, except it wasn't the keychain we needed a battery for. it was for the car.
most times we are in our underground parking garage at least 3 cars go driving by, zooming out of the garage doors, which are located right next to our parking spot. so on a saturday around 6pm i wasn't worried about not seeing anybody drive by to help a fellow driver out.
"how long should we wait here for?"
"let's wait 15 minutes and if no one shows up, we'll take care of it tomorrow during the day."
so we waited. a minute later, "tony" (his shirt said so) rolls up to activate the automatic garage door opener.
"excuse me. do you think you could help us out? our car battery died and we were wondering if you could give us a jump. we've got the jumper cables."
tony then looks at the clock in his car, and in that split second, he decides that he doesn't have enough time to help us. "sorry. i'm on my way out. i don't think i can help you." YET, he then proceeds to ask us a series of questions about how the battery possibly could have died. in the time he asked us these questions, he could have pulled his car up to the empty parking space next to us, hooked up his car to our car, and given us the jump.
as he drove out of the parking garage, i was a bit bitter. why couldn't he help us out? it would have only taken a minute! how could he have been that rushed to go someplace, yet have all the time in the world to ask us how we could have let the battery die? argh.
so we waited again. this time, three guys (probably late 20's, early 30's) come out of the door to the west building, which is situated next to our car.
"are you going out?" (cavin says this)
"uh...yeah?"
"can you give us a hand? our battery died and we need a jump. we've got the cables"
"uh...well, er, i guess?"
i think cavin threw them off by first asking "are you going out?" but still. it was fairly obvious that we were in dire need of help, as evidenced by the hood of the car open, the trunk open, and the dejected look on both of our faces.
the three dudes walked down to the one guy's truck, and two of the dudes walk back to our car (i guess to make sure we were legit? who knows. i mean, we do look like hoodlams) to wait for his friend to drive up and park next to us.
the youngest of the dudes does not look like he knows much. "so your battery died, hunh?" he says this in such a way that it's obvious he thinks this "jump starting the car" business will be a herculean task that will require him and his cronies to expend crazy amounts of energy, energy that he would have liked to have spent elsewhere (say, a sleezy stripclub).
finally his friend with the truck (yeah, and not a truck, more like a jeep. please.) pulls into the empty parking space. i should also add that he freaking pulls into the space as close as possible to our car, so that we are no longer able to walk between the two cars, let alone me open the driver side door of our car. it's obvious they have no idea what the hell to do. "should i turn off the car?" "uh, where do i connect this to?" this part i may be exaggerating a bit, but i couldn't hear anything because (duh) the electric windows wouldn't open, and i couldn't open the door. but i can see the "truck" driver look completely perplexed as cavin correctly connected our battery to his battery.
i'm turning the ignition, and nothing is working. every now and then, a flash of light emerges from the dashboard, but the car just doesn't start. cavin fixes the negative cable (it wasn't grounded properly?) and finally it starts.
"thank you so much for your help. we really appreciate it"
"oh, uh, yeah, no problem!"
and the three dudes drive off into the sunset (or rather, out of the garage).
so now cavin and i are sitting in the car, letting the battery charge up a bit. it's only on for about 2 minutes, when cavin tries to turn on the lights. big mistake. we haven't charged the battery long enough so the power it takes to turn on the lights ends up destroying all time and effort it took with the three amigos. the car will not start again. argh!
"ok. well, what should we do now?"
as we're debating this, we hear someone from the outside trying to get into the garage.
"excuse me! our car battery died. do you think you could help us out and give us a jump? it won't take long, and we've already got the cables!"
before i could even finish, he's already nodding his head like, "of course, no problem. only a fool wouldn't help someone in need out!" this is the exact guy we need! someone who knows more about cars than drive and reverse, and who is also willing to help us out. (of course, he didn't say that second part, but he definitely was more than willing to help us out.) and the fact that he was driving some fancy car put me more at ease (i don't know why though).
i'm in the car, cavin and the fancy car dude are hooking things up, and i get the car started. yay!
"thank you so much! we really, really appreciate it!" (i probably could have given that guy a hug and kiss.) "yeah, no problem. good luck!" and he rolls down to the lower level of the garage, prolly to retire to his honey who is waiting in their apartment with a scrumptious home-cooked meal of cornbread, collard greens, and fried chicken. (or not.)
"ok. so before we turn on the lights, let's just sit here and let the battery charge up a bit."
so we waited about 10 minutes. in this time, cavin is able to turn the lights on and off, and things seem like they are working properly.
"we had better turn off the car and restart it, just in case. i don't want to park the car and then come back from picking up stuff, only to find out that the battery didn't charge enough and now we're stuck out somewhere."
"good idea"
we wait a few more minutes, and we test it out. cavin turns off the car, and what happens when he goes to start the car? what do you think? the car doesn't have enough juice to start. ugh. so we head upstairs, completely demoralized and decide to take care of it on sunday.
today is now monday, and if you've read this far into the post, you are probably wondering what happened? here's the abbreviated version:
cavin goes to autozone via metro, buys new battery, lugs it all the way back home. he gets his hands dirty and changes the new battery in our parking space, while i held the flashlight so he could see. car starts, and we continue our saturday plan, except on sunday, adding more stops in between. we are gone for about 7 hours, completely tired and busted, but now have about 1/2 to 2/3 of the items we need in the next few weeks.
needless to say, it was so chaotic i had to take off of work today.
1 Comments:
Anonymous said...
The reason for going later on Saturday was to try to avoid the crowds (especially at Costco and H-mart since they get chaotic on weekends).