
Wednesday 16 November circa 4:15 pm
I say good bye to Norman and go to the garage to jump in the car to go pick up my friend Margaret. We're going to a 6:30 pm lecture at the Phillips Collection featuring the artist, Whitfield Lovell - whose works are currently on exhibit; I shared a bit about the exhibit here.
Insert key and not nary a sound of an engine cranking on ...nothing... da nada...zilch. Totally unusual! So, I turn the key again and still nothing! What?! I turn on the headlamps - check! Press the horn - check. Look at the interior roof light - check. All working tho' they seem to be a little dim. Hmmm; time's awastin so I go back inside to the house to get the key to the Benz...and to let Norman know what has happened. Of course, he has to investigate...same results.
I get in the Benz and he reminds me that the odometer and the speedometer (plus a few other important gauges on the dashboard) aren't working. The car, an 85 with only 59K miles, had been in for a new transmission plus a few other things for a very.long.time. We think that a fuse or something blew and hadn't been replaced...I promise not to speed and wave him goodbye.
Despite the irritating start, Margaret and I arrived at The Phillips with time to spare. We thoroughly enjoyed Whitfield Lovell's lecture. And I was so thankful that car episode didn't ruin the evening...just provided a little "tension."

Thursday 17 November circa 11 am
Our auto insurance company's roadside assistance arrives and jumpstarts my car! In less than 30 seconds, the engine's running and the driver tells me to let the car run for 45 minutes... We decide to go buy a new battery instead and by noon, the battery's installed! Wahoo! The old battery was indeed old - six years in fact. I had no idea! I'd entertained the idea of just buying a new car - well, not really. We go home and decide to take the Benz to Norman's mechanic. He looks under the hood, goes inside and returns with a fuse; plops it in and voila, the speedometer, gas gauge etc are working.
We were quite delighted with how these minor irritations tuned out... It always amazes me how fast a non-functioning auty-mo-bile (as my mother referred to them) can gum up the works. We are grateful that our cars' problems were fixed quickly and easily.
Peace in the kingdom after all.
Cheers~