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My Poopy Day
Jan. 6th, 2025 01:04 pm Today did not start out great.
First of all, today is Shawn's first official day back at work. She doesn't yet have to be into work, but she is working at home. Shawn has always been very serious about at-home work. During the lockdown, serious office hours were kept. I was expected to wake up, as well. There is no sleeping in on days when she's supposed to be "in" at 7 am, even when "in" is two steps from the bedroom to her home office. But, I didn't fully get the message that we were back to "everyone gets up because Shawn is back to work." Suffice to say, we had a little back-and-forth about the new schedule in a slightly less than fully cordial manner.
Worse, when we go downstairs to get breakfast started, I realize we ran out of eggs.
Now I feel really bad about everything, since I was the biggest Ms. Cranky Pants in our less-than-cordial discussion earlier. Thus, hoping to make up for how crappy Shawn's first day back at work has started, I offer to drive to a nearby grocery store and get eggs. As previously discussed, it is late enough that the store is open. Shawn is, at this point, in the sort of mood where she says things like, "Well, fine, but my day has started without eggs and I live in the present not the future." (<--hilarious now, but no so much then, if you know how it goes?)
For myself, I decide to live in a better future and so I go out to start the car.
BUT. The car does not start.
It's cold-ish? But not "car doesn't start" cold outside.
My car has been having a funky battery problem since the day it was gifted to us from friends. This is not the fault of our dear friends who did us an ENORMOUS favor giving us this car. This is something weird about Toyota Camrys. I have been able to solve this problem by remembering to start it at least every day and installing a battery cap on one of the battery nodes that can be removed to completely cut power to the battery. The problem seems to involve something that continues to draw on the battery after the car is turned off, compounded by the fact that somewhere in the system there's a loose wire to the battery so that the battery does not fully charge like it is supposed while the car is running (if all this makes sense.) But, even if it doesn't, the point is, this is a known problem that has been steadily getting worse.
So, of course, today the engine was just NOT cranking, no matter how many times I jiggled this wire or did the other magical rituals that usually do the trick to get it going.
Already irritated at life, I come back inside and declare that I'm going to call Triple-A. Now, why I thought that would actually solve anything, I'm not sure. I think it's because I grew up in an era where (like five years ago), when you called AAA, you got a human being on the phone who asked you if you were safe and then took your information and dispatched someone while you waited on the line. Turns out, THEY DON'T DO THAT ANY MORE. Everything is automated now. If you tell the automaton that you're calling from a cell phone, it basically hangs up on you and sends you a text with a website. I mean, I went to the website? I put in my request, but there was ZERO indication that anyone would be coming in any kind of reasonable timeline and Shawn had to get to this PT appointment one way or another.
At any rate, having no sense of hope with AAA, I go back to the car. Miraculously I jiggle the right wire and it starts.
I try to cancel with AAA, but, apparently, it doesn't go through until long after they are actually sending a tow truck. I have to apologize to the lady who calls me to say they're on their way and explain that I got the car started. I want to rant at her that I fully hate their new system and am uncertain why I should pay for a membership that gives me zero actual service, but that's not her fault so I don't.
But, now, of course, I am afraid to turn the car off.
So, I do a bunch of errands, including going to the grocery story (where I very incautiously leave the car unlocked and running in the parking lot.) Only when I get home and explain the situation to Shawn am I reminded that she has her own set of keys. So, I am able to lock the running car until we head out to PT. The whole time she's at PT, I sit in the running car. At this point, I have easily personally destroyed six layers of the Earth's atmosphere with my car's exhaust fumes, but we are able to get home.
At home, I fully disconnect the battery hoping that whatever charge I was able to build up in that couple of hours of it running will be enough to get it to the car shop tomorrow. Luckily, our car mechanic is very close and I was able to book an appointment for first thing in the morning.
Oy vey.
Hopefully your week started out better.
First of all, today is Shawn's first official day back at work. She doesn't yet have to be into work, but she is working at home. Shawn has always been very serious about at-home work. During the lockdown, serious office hours were kept. I was expected to wake up, as well. There is no sleeping in on days when she's supposed to be "in" at 7 am, even when "in" is two steps from the bedroom to her home office. But, I didn't fully get the message that we were back to "everyone gets up because Shawn is back to work." Suffice to say, we had a little back-and-forth about the new schedule in a slightly less than fully cordial manner.
Worse, when we go downstairs to get breakfast started, I realize we ran out of eggs.
Now I feel really bad about everything, since I was the biggest Ms. Cranky Pants in our less-than-cordial discussion earlier. Thus, hoping to make up for how crappy Shawn's first day back at work has started, I offer to drive to a nearby grocery store and get eggs. As previously discussed, it is late enough that the store is open. Shawn is, at this point, in the sort of mood where she says things like, "Well, fine, but my day has started without eggs and I live in the present not the future." (<--hilarious now, but no so much then, if you know how it goes?)
For myself, I decide to live in a better future and so I go out to start the car.
BUT. The car does not start.
It's cold-ish? But not "car doesn't start" cold outside.
My car has been having a funky battery problem since the day it was gifted to us from friends. This is not the fault of our dear friends who did us an ENORMOUS favor giving us this car. This is something weird about Toyota Camrys. I have been able to solve this problem by remembering to start it at least every day and installing a battery cap on one of the battery nodes that can be removed to completely cut power to the battery. The problem seems to involve something that continues to draw on the battery after the car is turned off, compounded by the fact that somewhere in the system there's a loose wire to the battery so that the battery does not fully charge like it is supposed while the car is running (if all this makes sense.) But, even if it doesn't, the point is, this is a known problem that has been steadily getting worse.
So, of course, today the engine was just NOT cranking, no matter how many times I jiggled this wire or did the other magical rituals that usually do the trick to get it going.
Already irritated at life, I come back inside and declare that I'm going to call Triple-A. Now, why I thought that would actually solve anything, I'm not sure. I think it's because I grew up in an era where (like five years ago), when you called AAA, you got a human being on the phone who asked you if you were safe and then took your information and dispatched someone while you waited on the line. Turns out, THEY DON'T DO THAT ANY MORE. Everything is automated now. If you tell the automaton that you're calling from a cell phone, it basically hangs up on you and sends you a text with a website. I mean, I went to the website? I put in my request, but there was ZERO indication that anyone would be coming in any kind of reasonable timeline and Shawn had to get to this PT appointment one way or another.
At any rate, having no sense of hope with AAA, I go back to the car. Miraculously I jiggle the right wire and it starts.
I try to cancel with AAA, but, apparently, it doesn't go through until long after they are actually sending a tow truck. I have to apologize to the lady who calls me to say they're on their way and explain that I got the car started. I want to rant at her that I fully hate their new system and am uncertain why I should pay for a membership that gives me zero actual service, but that's not her fault so I don't.
But, now, of course, I am afraid to turn the car off.
So, I do a bunch of errands, including going to the grocery story (where I very incautiously leave the car unlocked and running in the parking lot.) Only when I get home and explain the situation to Shawn am I reminded that she has her own set of keys. So, I am able to lock the running car until we head out to PT. The whole time she's at PT, I sit in the running car. At this point, I have easily personally destroyed six layers of the Earth's atmosphere with my car's exhaust fumes, but we are able to get home.
At home, I fully disconnect the battery hoping that whatever charge I was able to build up in that couple of hours of it running will be enough to get it to the car shop tomorrow. Luckily, our car mechanic is very close and I was able to book an appointment for first thing in the morning.
Oy vey.
Hopefully your week started out better.
