The juice that runs cars is expensive

I had to head out to a play rehearsal this afternoon since I was pulling weekend reporter duty this weekend.

I never made it.

When it was time to leave for work, I went outside (gorgeous day by the way, if I hadn't been going into work I would have considered a run outdoors) and threw my stuff in the backseat of my car. I got in. Shut the door and put the key into the ignition.

Click. Click. Click. And all the lights lit up.

No rumbling of the engine. Just a clicking noise.

I tried again.

Click. Click. Click. Hmmm. Seemed like all life had been drained from my car. It was dead. As in, so dead it's final resting place was not going to be junkyard, but instead my garage.

I got out. Opened the hood and looked at it's guts, even though I wasn't sure what I was looking at. Closed the hood and did what any 20-something girl who knows nothing about cars other than it needs an oil change every 3,000 miles and tires rotated every 6,000.

I called my Dad.

Who wasn't home. So I called Mom. She said maybe Dad was out for a bike ride, so I should keep trying him every 10 minutes or so. And that although she didn't know much about cars either, it sounded like it could be my battery.

Great.

At that point, my car's still dead and I'm supposed to be at work. So I called a co-worker who was also working today, she came and gave me a ride into the office. I kept calling Dad, kept getting their answering machine. I ditched the play rehearsal and made plans to catch it on Monday and told the editor who was working today that nothing could blow up because I had no car. He was carless as well since his wife gave him a ride to work. Some news staff we were today - no one had transportation.

After an hour I finally got a hold of Dad. After he got done raking his yard he said he'd go and pick up a battery for me and come down to the City on the Water to give my car life again.

Him and Mom drove down, went to my apartment and put the new battery in and then dropped my car - which now was on its second life - off at the office for me.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised the battery was dead. My car is going on 7 years old and the oil change people did warn me I'd probably need a new battery at some point in the near future during an oil change last fall. What I wasn't expecting was the price tag. Apparently my 2002 Ford Focus is picky when it comes to batteries. It only likes one variety. The $107 variety.

At least it's alive again.