This morning when I went out to start the car for the morning car pool to school I found out my battery was completely dead. Other than a hard start yesterday afternoon when it was cold, there was no warning. Not a good surprise on any morning let alone a frosty cold morning.
I called the school and then made alternate transportation arrangements for my son & his friends. I called my niece to put her on standby to transport me later. I sent the future X a text, and then Googled reasons the car wouldn’t start. I decided the battery sounded like the best place to start. If the car had top mount battery terminals it would have been so much easier to tell if they were corroded or loose. The side mount terminals posed a lot more speculation and effort on my part.
By the time I had the hood up & was fiddling with the battery the FX called. He agreed it was probably the battery and said I needed to make sure the connections were clean and tight. Said if it wouldn’t start afterwards I should take the battery out & go get a new one. Of course he was surprised when I said I intended to do this myself even though he never suggested anyone who could help me. He thought I could just wait until Saturday. The kids could just walk to & from school & I guess my mom could just feed and take care of herself in the afternoons (can’t Alzheimer’s) until he was back in town to fix it. He was at least nice enough to tell me channel locks could loosen the terminal connections after I asked him the wrench size I needed.
So I mess with the car for probably close to an hour in the cold. I was cold and very frustrated, not to mention pis*ed that he no longer feels the need to do any preventative maintenance on my car. As I am preparing to just disconnect the battery to get a new one, the FX calls me to find out how it’s going. Told him what I was doing. Then he finally tells me that we have a car charger / starter in the garage that I just need to hook up to the battery, plug in & turn to 12V start. I did it and the car started right up. That would have been so nice to know an hour earlier. Dumbsh*t! So I unplugged the car starter and let the car run & the battery charge for about 15 minutes. Then I took it to Advance Auto & had a new battery installed. All is well with the car now. I was able to take care of it and the FX never had to get his hands dirty.
Why does this matter, why is this crazy woman rambling on about this???? Because I did it all by myself. Something I have had to get use to doing. Perhaps it doesn’t sound like a big deal if you are a big strong man. I’m just a middle aged “girl”. I am not a big muscular girl but I can read and I have determination.
I use to be a princess, I didn’t have to work on my own car or do other manly things. But my prince turned into a lying, cheating toad who no longer believes he should have to do anything for me or around the house (unless it will cost him money if someone else does it). Now I am the man of my house and of my mother’s house. Last winter I ran over something & had to change my own tire so I could put the spare on & take it to Tires Plus to get it fixed. It sucks to have to do this crap by myself, but it is better than waiting until it’s convenient for him & having to suck up to an as*hole to get him to do it for me.
So kids the moral of this story is that you can do anything you put your mind to doing. Even if you’re just a girl.
I called the school and then made alternate transportation arrangements for my son & his friends. I called my niece to put her on standby to transport me later. I sent the future X a text, and then Googled reasons the car wouldn’t start. I decided the battery sounded like the best place to start. If the car had top mount battery terminals it would have been so much easier to tell if they were corroded or loose. The side mount terminals posed a lot more speculation and effort on my part.
By the time I had the hood up & was fiddling with the battery the FX called. He agreed it was probably the battery and said I needed to make sure the connections were clean and tight. Said if it wouldn’t start afterwards I should take the battery out & go get a new one. Of course he was surprised when I said I intended to do this myself even though he never suggested anyone who could help me. He thought I could just wait until Saturday. The kids could just walk to & from school & I guess my mom could just feed and take care of herself in the afternoons (can’t Alzheimer’s) until he was back in town to fix it. He was at least nice enough to tell me channel locks could loosen the terminal connections after I asked him the wrench size I needed.
So I mess with the car for probably close to an hour in the cold. I was cold and very frustrated, not to mention pis*ed that he no longer feels the need to do any preventative maintenance on my car. As I am preparing to just disconnect the battery to get a new one, the FX calls me to find out how it’s going. Told him what I was doing. Then he finally tells me that we have a car charger / starter in the garage that I just need to hook up to the battery, plug in & turn to 12V start. I did it and the car started right up. That would have been so nice to know an hour earlier. Dumbsh*t! So I unplugged the car starter and let the car run & the battery charge for about 15 minutes. Then I took it to Advance Auto & had a new battery installed. All is well with the car now. I was able to take care of it and the FX never had to get his hands dirty.
Why does this matter, why is this crazy woman rambling on about this???? Because I did it all by myself. Something I have had to get use to doing. Perhaps it doesn’t sound like a big deal if you are a big strong man. I’m just a middle aged “girl”. I am not a big muscular girl but I can read and I have determination.
I use to be a princess, I didn’t have to work on my own car or do other manly things. But my prince turned into a lying, cheating toad who no longer believes he should have to do anything for me or around the house (unless it will cost him money if someone else does it). Now I am the man of my house and of my mother’s house. Last winter I ran over something & had to change my own tire so I could put the spare on & take it to Tires Plus to get it fixed. It sucks to have to do this crap by myself, but it is better than waiting until it’s convenient for him & having to suck up to an as*hole to get him to do it for me.
So kids the moral of this story is that you can do anything you put your mind to doing. Even if you’re just a girl.
Congrats and job well done! 
