It started out like a normal day. Woke up, checked email, did my morning routine, and then headed out to the post office to get my mail. (Yeah, you remember, I have to actually leave my house now to get my mail because the punks kept destroying my mailbox). So anyway, I get to the post office, grab the TV Guide out of the box (my only mail today), get back into my car, turn the key, and ………………………..

Silence.

Nothing.

Not even a click.

Aw man….

My car wouldn’t start. I sat there stunned. I thought I’d done something wrong. Seriously. I’m getting older, and things are slipping my mind, so I just figured I’d done something stupid. I checked to make sure the gear was in Park. It was. But I jiggled it a little anyway just to be sure it was all the way in Park. Turned the key. Silence.

Sat there stunned still.

Thought to myself…wait, maybe I have to have my foot on the brake when I start the car. I mean, seriously, I still thought I HAD to be doing something wrong. Despite the fact that I’ve been driving for over 30 years, I simply assumed that I’d forgotten some simple thing. So, I put my foot on the brake and turned the key. Silence…

Oh yeah, the brake thing is for shifting from Park. Ok, that’s not it, then.

Sat there some more.

Turned the key a few more times.

Tried the whole jiggle the shift and step on the brake thing again and again.

Finally, I had to come to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, something was actually wrong with the car. So, I called Jackie, told her my car wouldn’t start, and she said she’d be there in a minute. About 15 minutes later, she drives up, gets in my car, turns the key…silence.

She opens the hood of both our vehicles, attaches jumper cables, and still…silence. But wait! she jiggles one of the cables, and I hear a click! An actual sound emitted from my car! So I said “Hey! I heard a click! Maybe something is loose!” She jiggled the cable a bit more, I turned the key, and VROOOOOM! Woohoo!!!!

Later, I asked her why it took so long for her to get to me (the post office is about 2 minutes away from the house). Her answer? She thought I was doing something wrong, like maybe I didn’t have the shift in Park! So she waited a bit to see if I’d call back and say that everything was fine. Ah well, I guess I’m not the only one who thinks I’m getting old and senile.

In any case, a $2.18 part fixed the loose thingamajigger and all is well now. Well, everything except my senility.

(from Smash Mouth. "AllStar" Astro Lounge. Interscope Records, 1999.)

Posted on February 14th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Life