Thursday, July 19, 2007
A morning in the life:
1. Wake up feeling like crud from a terrible nights sleep.
2. Decide to go to the grocery to get bacon for "breakfast" (I'm a Ph.D. student - morning happens around 11am).
3. Go out to the nearly 40 year old truck, turn the key, click. Battery is dead. Can't take my 21 year old car because it is at the shop having the A/C worked on. The 21 year old car also has the jumper cables.
4. Realize the brake lights must have been on all night. Need to fix the brake light switch.
5. Pop the tops off the battery and fill the cells with water knowing this rarely ever does any good.
6. Turn key only to confirm that adding water to the cells rarely does any good.
7. Remember there is a Batteries+ store about a half a mile from the house.
8. Start walking.
9. Walk into the Batteries+ store to find a fine young African American individual with grills threatening the life of the store manager over a battery.
10. Realize there are things about the ATL I will never get used to or particularly like.
11. Give the details of the truck to the Asian kid working the counter who has never heard of a 1968 Dodge D100 Sweptline pickup truck.
12. Help the Asian kid behind the counter pick out a "close enough" vehicle and go find the battery.
13. Pay about $20 more for a battery than I think I should, but since the store is a half a mile from the house, who am I to argue?
14. Walk a half a mile home with a battery that seems to get progressively heavier (stupid variable gravity).
15. Install battery.
16. Start truck.
17. Load old battery into back of truck and drive to Batteries+.
18. Feel happy to see that the fine African American gentleman with grills has not yet followed up on his threats, everyone is alive, and I give the Asian kid my old battery.
19. About an hour after my intended start, drive to the grocery, buy food, drive home.
20. On the way home have some dudes in a Ford pickup honk and give me the thumbs up. I like people that like old cars and trucks. And it makes about the last hours worth of tribulation drift away.
21. Come home, start cooking, remember to go check the brake lights on the truck (they were still on), and decide to write a post.
22. Eat breakfast.
2. Decide to go to the grocery to get bacon for "breakfast" (I'm a Ph.D. student - morning happens around 11am).
3. Go out to the nearly 40 year old truck, turn the key, click. Battery is dead. Can't take my 21 year old car because it is at the shop having the A/C worked on. The 21 year old car also has the jumper cables.
4. Realize the brake lights must have been on all night. Need to fix the brake light switch.
5. Pop the tops off the battery and fill the cells with water knowing this rarely ever does any good.
6. Turn key only to confirm that adding water to the cells rarely does any good.
7. Remember there is a Batteries+ store about a half a mile from the house.
8. Start walking.
9. Walk into the Batteries+ store to find a fine young African American individual with grills threatening the life of the store manager over a battery.
10. Realize there are things about the ATL I will never get used to or particularly like.
11. Give the details of the truck to the Asian kid working the counter who has never heard of a 1968 Dodge D100 Sweptline pickup truck.
12. Help the Asian kid behind the counter pick out a "close enough" vehicle and go find the battery.
13. Pay about $20 more for a battery than I think I should, but since the store is a half a mile from the house, who am I to argue?
14. Walk a half a mile home with a battery that seems to get progressively heavier (stupid variable gravity).
15. Install battery.
16. Start truck.
17. Load old battery into back of truck and drive to Batteries+.
18. Feel happy to see that the fine African American gentleman with grills has not yet followed up on his threats, everyone is alive, and I give the Asian kid my old battery.
19. About an hour after my intended start, drive to the grocery, buy food, drive home.
20. On the way home have some dudes in a Ford pickup honk and give me the thumbs up. I like people that like old cars and trucks. And it makes about the last hours worth of tribulation drift away.
21. Come home, start cooking, remember to go check the brake lights on the truck (they were still on), and decide to write a post.
22. Eat breakfast.
# posted by chilort @ 12:37 PM 
