Monday, December 12, 2011

THE TRICKLE DOWN EFECT

It was a nice day for "almost winter" so I decided to drop the top and take the Miata down the hill to the bank. With windows up, heater on and ear muffs & gloves, it was a fine drive. The sky was blue and I thought, "This is why I have a convertible!" (I ignored the wind chill). I made my way to the drive up window. Not thinking...I turned off the car whilst I made my deposit. And as luck would have it, the car went "wha, uh, no" when I attempted to start it. That's what I get for not driving it so much in the winter. Of course the drive up lane is narrow and there were some big ass SUV's behind me that were stuck until I could move. So the man in the SUV behind me got out and was surprised at how easily he could push the car (it only weighs 2400 lbs) over to the parking lot. Bank employees came out to see if they could help. I called my riding mechanic but he was in the shop and didn't have a phone out there at the time. What to do? That's when a former Soroptimist club member of mine who worked at the bank (who knew?) offered to take me up the hill to home where I collected Jack and his jumper cables.
You have to admit that's PERSONAL SERVICE!
The battery is in the trunk! Here Jack is checking the voltage each day with the John Fluke meter to see if the 3-year-old battery is having "issues." So far it hasn't "trickled down" much. Perhaps my mistake was running the headlights (which I always do no matter the weather since folks just don't see a low profile vehicle because they are so used to seeing SUV's!) Evidently my short trip was not enough to let the alternator overcome the drain of the headlights.
So more driving, less garage time is the motto from now on because modern cars have computers that use a bit of current all the time and WILL take the battery down.

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