Unlucky – Part Two
About five months ago, I told you about my bad car karma. The lack of luck continues…
Last night, Ryan and I went on our anniversary dinner at the Melting Pot. It was really nice, long and quiet, which is what we love the most about this restaurant. We strolled out of the restaurant, full of delicious fillet mignon, cheddar cheese and chocolate. When Ryan put the keys in the ignition and turned it to start the engine—it would not start. The lights flickered and there was a quick click-click-click coming from the dash.
I will admit that I am not good when it comes to car problems like this. My tire blew out on the way to work a year ago after hitting a razor blade and it went flat in about 10 seconds, just long enough for me to pull the car over and whip out my phone to call AAA. Ryan was riding with me and before the call could connect, he was in the trunk removing the spare and jacking up the car to replace the busted tire. I stood over him, amazed that he actually knew how to change a tire. He does not even know how to check his oil!
I assumed that with the failed car battery, he would also want to jump start it himself. I have jumper cables in the trunk of my car that my Dad gave me before I left NH. I used to have to jump start the little ’91 VW Cabrio I got when I was 15 because I needed to practice driving around my parent’s property before my driving test. The battery in the car was going to get replaced when I got my license. It was my grandmother’s car that she used to pick up groceries, but one fateful day when my parents and I were visiting my grandparents, she said it in passing like it was no big deal and it caught me off guard. I looked at my Mom and she said, “Grammy’s giving you her little white convertible.” I was in shock. It was my very first car and by far, my very favorite. I did get in an accident with it; I rear-ended some guy in Concord when I was on my way to see my high school boyfriend. But that should not surprise you with the bad car karma that I have. This was just the first instance of how unlucky I am when it comes to cars. I remember my Dad taking the car to his “guy” in town who fixed it up after my accident and added a pink pin-strip to the car, which was a surprise for my birthday. I was ecstatic! It was such a cute little car and it was a convertible to boot, so I would drive around the lake in the summer with the top down, just loving life.
Anyway, back to my current car, the unlucky Nissan Maxima.
Ryan says to me, “Call AAA.”
My reply, “But I have jumper cables in the trunk.”
His reply, “Call AAA, it is a free service. You use jumper cables when you are in the middle of no where and some guy pulls over to help you out. Call AAA.”
But thinking about it now, I would disagree. I would rather call AAA when I am stuck in the middle of no where because “some guy” who stops by to help me out may want to kill me. I have to protect myself!
After we got home, I drove my car around town for about 30 minutes to charge the battery, the tow truck guy said that would do it. When I pulled into the garage and turned the car off, I tried to start the car again just to be sure it would work and I did not receive the roar of the engine, hear the music from the radio or feel the AC pumping through the air vents. I just got lights flickering and a quick click-click-click.
