The car and the cookie

[carbonel]

My car is in the shop. Yesterday, when I tried to start it to go to dim sum, it went *click* a couple of times instead of going *vroom*, though it did eventually consent to start. It did the same thing leaving dim sum. I should have taken that as a warning sign and driven straight to the repair shop. However, a) it was Sunday, and b) I had arkuat with me. Oh, and c) I had the damned Yuletide story to finish. So I didn't. This morning, when I got in the car to go to the gym, I couldn't get it to start, no matter what I tried. So I called AAA, and the guy arrived after an hour or so. He tried a number of things, but failed to get it started, so he towed it the Portland BP. It's probably something starter-related. Or possibly the alternator. Something that costs money, but not too much, I predict.

I have a shopping list of other stuff that needed attention in the car: the heating system hasn't been heating sufficiently; a rear light warning light has been lighting up; it probably needs an oil change; my brake light dashboard light has come on twice over a period of several months, and though it's subsided each time when I added brake fluid, it's probably indicative of some underlying problem; and the tires need air. Mike the excellent mechanic wrote down my list, and I expect to hear from him later today with an estimate.

The timing is annoying, but then it's always annoying to have the car not be available.

And something completely different: creating the universe with cookie dough, including Ikea shelves and okapi. Via copperbadge, whose awesome icon says "The Internet isn't going to surf itself, you know."

Comments

[naomikritzer]

That's exactly how my cars have always acted when the starter died.

The alternator dying was much more flashy and I got less warning. The time I lost an alternator, the radio briefly acted demon-possessed, and then midway through my ride home the engine just died. I was able to coast to a parking spot on Minnehaha Ave and walk home. I was 9 months pregnant at the time and it was about 110 degrees out and I was returning home from the Farmer's Market with a toddler and eight ears of corn. My water broke that night.

[carbonel]

Three or four years ago, I had a summer of mysterious car problems, with the exact same symptoms, but variable and hot-weather-related. I don't remember exactly what the final solution was, but it got towed three times before Mike the awesome mechanic finally fixed it for good. This one is probably much more straightforward.

Your alternator story is much more harrowing. Reading that, I'm especially appreciated that I didn't get stranded.

[pameladean]

What a good car, to strand you at home rather than somewhere inconvenient.

P.