Hi guys
Today was a hectic day. I know hearing about other people's hectic days cheers people up so I figure I will skip the news for a day and just talk about my personal news.
So, since this Sunday i noticed that my car's battery light was lit. You know, that red warning light that says "you should really do something about this before it is too late." Well, since I had a busy Sunday I pushed going to the garage back on my list by a day. On Mondays I have to drive about an hour to work. Normally I am all good with an hour long drive, but there is something a long drive with one of those warning lights lit that make it seem so much longer than an hour.
Any way, I get to school, do my thing and go home. My car is starting to act a little strange at this point. The windows are taking longer to go up and down and it is not starting as smoothly. I drive my car to a place where I can get dinner and get my car worked on in the same area (not the same store though heh). So I have them change my oil and have a look at my battery. The oil change was the good part. All they said about my battery was the Japanese equivalent of "I don'no" I wanted to smack the guy at this point. It is his job to know for the love of (some) God! I payed for the oil change and got out of there.
I knew one more place a little bit closer to my house. But, because the first guy made it sound like the battery was low I went to a gas station first. This is a station I always go to. They know me well here. I drove in and asked for some gas and a little (electric) charge. They refused me the charge. I couldn't believe it. They know me there and I know all of the people that work there. They said that they were busy, but there was no other car in the place. Technically gas stations in Japan are suppose to be full service and are suppose to do something like that for free or a low cost. Maybe they just didn't feel like being nice that day.
Any way, after that debacle was over with I headed towards the other garage. I told them I needed a charging and they said they needed to keep the car over night. That wouldn't do because I have work in the morning, so they said they will look at that battery instead. I agreed thinking I would just get another "I don'no," but this place was better. They checked the whole electric system. It turns out that my alternator went bad. The alternator a a device that uses the spin of the engine to produce electricity and recharge the battery while the car is running. A bad alternator means that the car is running of the battery alone. This leads to a battery that quickly dies.
So the second garage says they will look for alternators and call me the next day. From what they said at the garage it sounded like I had at least a week left just on my battery so I decided to drive my car to work today. I drove to work with not only the battery red warning light flashing at me but the ones for the ABS. ABS are very important to staying alive if you need to stop suddenly. ABS uses power and the system could not run off just the battery alone. After I finished work I drove home with yet more red lights flashing at me. I was so relieved when the garage called me not a half an hour after I got home. They said they found parts and I should drive my car over so they can put them in the next day. I said that I needed a car for the next day, but they insured me they had a spare car I could use. I agreed and went to get into my car.
This is where things went down hill. I got into my car and turned the key. Nothing happened... I tried again. Nothing happened... With a sigh I did the only thing I could do. I called the garage and had them come and do something about it. The guy from the garage came with a couple of batteries. He hooked up a used battery to mine and started up the car. In order to get that car to the garage he had to keep the batteries hooked up so he had wires trailing from under my hood, though the passenger side window and to the used batteries on the floor of my passenger side.
Well we got to the garage and all would seem set. The garage guy gave me the extra car and I was on my way. Halfway over the bridge back to my house I get a phone call. The guy left some wires in the in the car and wanted me to bring them back to the garage. With a sigh I said I would get back there. So I arrive back at the garage and handed over the wires.
I was so happy I could get back home and eat some dinner. When I got back home I walked up to my door and got ready to pull out my key to get into my house. That is when I released my house keys were attached to my car keys, back at that garage. The expletive I let out of my mouth at that moment could have set and alarm off on the car that garage gave me if it actually had an alarm. I had to race back to the garage and get my key so I could finally finish my day. It feels good to be back home again.
The good thing I got out of the deal is that car they are letting me use. It is so tiny. After almost 2 years of driving a car that can literally called a whale it feels good to drive a tiny car. Sure the car has no real power under the hood, but it will get me where I need to go for the next few days. I will be fun to put again in a tiny car for a little while.
Any way, I am sure I will find news for you tomorrow.
See you than.
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