July had been an expensive month after the hot water system leaked rusty water all over the laundry and promptly stopped working. Replacement please and fast because it’s winter here and nobody wanted to have cold showers for very long.
So August began and the first Monday I drove to work only to find dashboard lights coming on on the approach to the parking lot. The car lurched up the final approach to the entrance ramp and stuttered to the ticket dispenser. The barricade rose and there was me having to take my ticket and push my car through before the arm came down again.
It just died. Two very kind guys helped me to push the car to the side which was tricky because the engine was dead, the steering wheel was locked and I was shaking like a leaf.
So I call to work to say I’m close, but not close enough, and I won’t be in for a bit. I call my roadside assistance club and they send someone straight out who tells me that my alternator has given up and won’t be working any more. For $362 they can get some one to change it for me and I just said: “Yes.”
I should have had the presence of mind to slow down and think. I could have had it towed to my regular mechanic to have it seen to, compare prices, see if that was really the trouble, but at that moment of stress I just said okay to the new part and the speedy service. Besides, I had to get to work and I needed the car after work to get my three kids from school.
But apparently oil had been leaking for months, which had gone through the alternator and gummed it up so much that it just couldn’t work properly. Far be it from me to understand how the car works beyond keeping petrol in it and turning the key when I want to go anywhere.
Maybe I should pay more attention…
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