Cars Have Brains

My car has been slow to turn over lately. I attributted it to the cold weather. I also have a back door that doesn't like to close properly and it makes the car think that the door is open, which makes the interior lights come on. Now, this can happen when the door is tightly shut and the wind blows hard. All of a sudden, the car thinks that the door is open and, poof, the lights come on and stay on. (See my previous post entitled "Good Morning" for the last time that happened to me.)

So for whatever reason, the battery is a bit run down. But it's a Sears Die Hard battery, so I was sure, after talking to my Dad, that all it needed was a good charge and I would be good to go. Nope. Not so lucky. I went to Auto Zone today and when they took the battery out of the car and connected it to the charging machine, the battery went completely dead and wouldn't hold a charge. Guess I had it checked out just in time.

I had to buy a new battery. $82.73. As a result, I had to cancel my hair appointment. Mom doesn't know it yet, but she'll be playing hairdresser this weekend. Good thing I called over to the salon, because when I called, I found out that my stylist has been out sick and was not there today. I would've been hot if I had gone there only to find that she wasn't there.

After the Auto Zone lady (yes, lady! I was impressed), installed the new battery, and I started the car, she listened to the engine and kind of cocked her head to the side the way Matilda does when she hears something that's not quite right. She said, "Sounds like you've got a valve hitting against something in there. You might wanna get that looked at before you hit the road". Great.

Here's the rant: What is it about the cars I've owned that they always decide to have something big happen surrounding my trip home?! I think my cars have brains! When I was driving the wagon, it not only knew when it was time to go home, it also knew when I had a really important class that I had to get to and would choose those times to let me down. It knew that the air conditioner should break down right before the summer hit and that the heat should fail near the winter. Last year, with this Nissan, I had a really bad tire on the car that I had no idea about. So bad that it could've exploded on my way down 29 South. This year it's the battery. Oh, and my speakers have decided that they are on their absolute last leg as well. The back passenger speaker has started sounding like bullets are being shot in the car. So I may be making the five hour drive in silence. I think this car is trying to make me lose it, but I am stronger than my car. I will make the trip home and back without incident, AND I will listen to music the entire way.

Pray for me. :)