It Started as an Oil Change

Before we get to the story...a very IMPORTANT happy birthday shout out to my friend Phats! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PHATS!!!!!! Hope it's a great day filled with a lot of presents. And food. :)

Okay...here you go.

Oh yes, my dear people. I do have a new car tale for you. You remember this one...

...Well last week, I sent my car to the shop for an oil change. Because it was time. It had actually been time for a while, but we're not going to talk about that delay just right now, mmmkay? So I sent the car in and it got all freshened up (they even swept out the interior!) and sent back to me - along with a note. (My car is kind of like an unruly first grade boy. Returns home with a note pinned to his shirt.) The battery was....not long for this world.

I sort of sensed a blog post in the making knowing I was driving around with a battery on borrowed time, so I didn't waste any time in making an appointment to have the battery and cables replaced.  So yesterday, I sent the car back and it had its little doctor appointment and came home to me, all better this time.

But last night, after I went for a run, I walked toward the car and noticed the hood didn't appear to be latched correctly. I was immensely relieved that it hadn't flown open as I drove home, walked over to it, pushed down, and it just popped right back up. Uh oh. I tried again. Same thing. I drove it home very carefully and opened the hood all the way, dropped it closed...and nothing.

SO I called my friend Greg to see if he could look at it. Drove it over to his house and he greeted me with these words, "You have a headlight out."

WHAT!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

He began digging around under the hood, and as he did so, a car drove up and 2 men and a woman I didn't know got out. They started talking to Greg and his wife...the guys, of course, gravitating right to the adventure of a car in distress. The three of them fussed with the headlight and then one of the guys discovered I didn't actually have a new light yet. He offered to take me to the auto parts store to get a new light.

Ummm. I hate to be all preschool here, but do I know you? Should I get in the car with a stranger? Greg and Angi liked him, so I figured he was okay and off we went to the auto parts store. (FYI, purchasing a part goes a lot faster when it's not just me saying, "Um, I like have this car and it's missing you know...the thing?")

We went back to the house and the three guys stood around with a toolbox, flashlights (as it was approaching 10 pm by that point), and in a short amount of time, my car was in two or three pieces in the driveway and they were shouting for tools in operating room fashion. I said, "Um, I know I don't know anything but would you like me to get the manual?"

WRONG QUESTION. They all pivoted and said "We don't need the book." Okay. Okay. No book. Book bad.

About an hour later, the headlight was replaced and one of the men I didn't know deposited a tiny screw in my hand. I said, "Um, shouldn't that be on the car?" He shrugged and said, "Ahhh it's okay. Not important."

(Wonder if the book would have agreed?)

THEN they got around to the hood latch. It was fixed in approximately 30 seconds.

I was exhausted.

But the good news is this: I have new oil, a new battery, new cables, two new headlights AND...one extra screw. I put it in the cup holder. I think it fits nicely there.