Sunday, January 16, 2011

All Things Considered

What A Day
Maybe next year, 49er fans. Maybe next year. 1/16/11

One would figure that all the automotive stores would be closed tomorrow for MLK Day, so I checked the Internet for car batteries.

You see, the Buick ends up with a dead battery when it rains, and the battery doesn’t seem to fully charge even when it’s not raining. Therefore, I figured that a new battery would be in order.

I called Stuart Taylor and asked his advice on batteries and where to buy one, and if he wasn’t doing anything this afternoon, would he like to come over and go with me to Sears to get a battery.

Stu To The Rescue
Stu adopts the classic pose of a man looking under the hood. 1/16/11

When he got here, Stu jump started the Buick, then declined my offer of gas money and rode off into the west on Alder street. Thank you Stu.

Late Sun Shines On Rose
This rose along the Treehouse driveway, gets another picture today.

Now that the Buick was running, I drove over to Sears where a guy, (sales associate, customer service representative, order facilitator?), appeared at my drivers side window to ask how he might help me.

I explained that I was there for the $49.98 (with exchange) battery that I saw advertised on the Internet. He wrote the mileage and, after looking under the hood, the type of battery. I left the Buick running and followed Steve inside where we discovered, (big surprise), that the battery I saw on the Internet was not available at the store. He did however, (of course), have a $89.98 battery, (the lowest priced one for the Buick), and that with installation and tax it would be $113.63.

Having anticipated this turn of events, (I have been around the block a few times), I said okay lets do it. I stated that I would not be leaving the car there and picking it up later, but that I expected it to be done while I waited, or I could come back later.

Ten minutes later I pulled into the work bay and shut off the engine. A mechanic with a southern accent, ( in California that could be someone from Bakersfield, or Fresno ), checked the existing battery with a meter of some sort, asked me to start it up. I started the car, turned on the radio and high beams and he motioned for me to turn it off.

“This battery is fine. It must be something electrical. You don’t need a new battery, you can go. Have a nice day.”

Terrific Sunset
One of a dozen sunset pictures I took this evening. 1/16/11

Today’s Relatively Appropriate Song;



Lovely

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