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sniffnoyIf you can figure out before the end of this what's really going on, you are way more perceptive than me. But not more so than many other people, as so far 3 have already gotten it immediately.
So, my parents are out, and I drive to CVS to buy myself some new shoelaces. I stop the car, take the key out of the ignition... except I don't, because it won't come out. The car is turned off, but it won't turn into the fully off position where you can take the key out. I try brute force a few times, no good. I think to try starting the car again.
It won't start. I see the battery light - the battery has gone dead, I figure, and the key not coming out is somehow a secondary effect of that.
What do I do?
I go buy myself some shoelaces. :P
OK, now what?
I can't walk home, as, even with the car refusing to start, I don't want to leave the key in the ignition. So I have to get some help. So I figure I'll go find a pay phone. Is there a pay phone around here? I'll ask the CVS guy where to find one. Would he know? Hey, how about I just ask him if I can use their phone? So I do, and he says yes.
First, I call home, just sort of reflexively, I suppose, as, as I said, my parents aren't home. Elana answers, of course; naturally enough, she can't do a thing. Except possibly give me my dad's cell phone number (I can never remember it), but, I remember, my dad left his cell phone home. (When I later retold this to Elana, she pointed out, "Weren't you supposed to take the cell phone?".) So, I call my mom's cell. No answer; I leave a message.
Now what? Call a friend. Call Mickey is my first thought, then I think, Nick lives closer. (Not that the difference is at all significant, but that was my thought process anyway.) So, I call Nick. His mom answers. "Hello, this is Harry, may I speak to Nick?" He's not home. "Well, I don't actually need to speak to Nick..." I explain my situation and ask if she might come give me a jumpstart. Do I have cables, she asks? I put it on hold and I run out to the car and check. Yes, I have cables. I pick up the phone again to tell her, and... dial tone. Then I realize I have to hit the "Line 1" button. Yes, I have cables, I tell her. Alright, she'll be right over.
In a few minutes she arrives, with Amanda, incidentally, and points out I could have called AAA. :P Anyway, the problem is, neither she nor I actually knows how to jumpstart a car. So, she hails down a random passerby, and asks if he might show us. Meanwhile, I can't find the shoelaces I just bought! Anyway, he demonstrates, and, as it is recharging, I happen to mention that the key won't come out of the ignition. He takes a look inside the car, and it turns out...
...I had forgotten to take the car out of park. :P :P :P
So we all laughed, and thankfully Nick's mom and Random Passerby didn't particularly mind having their time wasted, and Amanda found my shoelaces, and they all left, and I went back in the CVS to leave another message on mom's phone to tell her to disregard my previous message.
-Sniffnoy
So, my parents are out, and I drive to CVS to buy myself some new shoelaces. I stop the car, take the key out of the ignition... except I don't, because it won't come out. The car is turned off, but it won't turn into the fully off position where you can take the key out. I try brute force a few times, no good. I think to try starting the car again.
It won't start. I see the battery light - the battery has gone dead, I figure, and the key not coming out is somehow a secondary effect of that.
What do I do?
I go buy myself some shoelaces. :P
OK, now what?
I can't walk home, as, even with the car refusing to start, I don't want to leave the key in the ignition. So I have to get some help. So I figure I'll go find a pay phone. Is there a pay phone around here? I'll ask the CVS guy where to find one. Would he know? Hey, how about I just ask him if I can use their phone? So I do, and he says yes.
First, I call home, just sort of reflexively, I suppose, as, as I said, my parents aren't home. Elana answers, of course; naturally enough, she can't do a thing. Except possibly give me my dad's cell phone number (I can never remember it), but, I remember, my dad left his cell phone home. (When I later retold this to Elana, she pointed out, "Weren't you supposed to take the cell phone?".) So, I call my mom's cell. No answer; I leave a message.
Now what? Call a friend. Call Mickey is my first thought, then I think, Nick lives closer. (Not that the difference is at all significant, but that was my thought process anyway.) So, I call Nick. His mom answers. "Hello, this is Harry, may I speak to Nick?" He's not home. "Well, I don't actually need to speak to Nick..." I explain my situation and ask if she might come give me a jumpstart. Do I have cables, she asks? I put it on hold and I run out to the car and check. Yes, I have cables. I pick up the phone again to tell her, and... dial tone. Then I realize I have to hit the "Line 1" button. Yes, I have cables, I tell her. Alright, she'll be right over.
In a few minutes she arrives, with Amanda, incidentally, and points out I could have called AAA. :P Anyway, the problem is, neither she nor I actually knows how to jumpstart a car. So, she hails down a random passerby, and asks if he might show us. Meanwhile, I can't find the shoelaces I just bought! Anyway, he demonstrates, and, as it is recharging, I happen to mention that the key won't come out of the ignition. He takes a look inside the car, and it turns out...
...I had forgotten to take the car out of park. :P :P :P
So we all laughed, and thankfully Nick's mom and Random Passerby didn't particularly mind having their time wasted, and Amanda found my shoelaces, and they all left, and I went back in the CVS to leave another message on mom's phone to tell her to disregard my previous message.
-Sniffnoy
no subject
Date: 2005-04-17 11:32 am (UTC)I felt slightly better when the AAA guy said this wasn't the first time he'd come out to help someone who'd done this.
When I explained it to my parents, I suggested that the problem had something to do with my driving Mom's car, which I don't ordinarily do. This was, however, a Potemkin village of an excuse, since I later checked and found that my car behaves in the exact same way.
For what it's worth, don't attempt to jump start a car if you don't know how. Very bad things can happen, and not just to the car(s).
Obviously, of course, the long-term solution is for you to start wearing velcro shoes.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-17 06:25 pm (UTC)me me me me
Date: 2005-04-17 07:40 pm (UTC)<-- Hyper. Hungry. Apple.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-17 08:01 pm (UTC)Re: me me me me
Date: 2005-04-17 08:51 pm (UTC)Re: me me me me
Date: 2005-04-17 11:14 pm (UTC)James and the giant peach.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-18 12:32 am (UTC)I didn't figure it out, meh.
o_O
Date: 2005-04-18 01:58 am (UTC)Yes... strange timing... :-P