Auto Chick

My father would be proud!

I gathered myself on Friday morning, a little late after such a huge night before, to get on the road for work and as I turned the key in my little Dolly nothing happened.

Nothing at all.

To those of you who are mechanically savvy it will be clear that the battery was at fault. I am reasonably savvy in these things and so rather than panic I scammed a lift to work with Flick intending to worry about it later.

This morning, imagining that the cheapest way to establish the problem was indeed the battery was to put in a new one, (the car has been mine for 3 years and never had one… it was a fairly safe bet) I walked down the hill to the conveniently situated Autoparts store to buy a new one.

Prior to leaving the house of course, I rummaged in my tool kit to see if in fact I had the tools to undo nuts and bolts etc. I found that I own 3 tools. Two crescent wrenchs and a shifting spanner. I think I own a hammer too but I don’t know where it is. The shifter is rusted useless.

I boosted the Dolly’s bonnet (hood!) and twiddled the nuts with one of the spanners and happily it was the right size and I negotiated the old battery out of its place so that I would know how to get the new one in. In the process I dropped something… It was too dark to see what it was. So, I was then charged with going to get batteries for the torch as well as the car so I could see what I had dropped… the garage is dark, my massive Maglite needs 4 D batteries.

Here’s where I let you in on my internal dialogue on the way down the road. “Ask for car batteries and D batteries… “Wouldn’t it be funny if I said Double D batteries?” Oooh .. that would be embarassing… he might imagine I was thinking about my boobs or something” Chuckles to herself…

I found a man who knew his batteries and he found me one for the car. Knowing I would be carrying the thing back up the hill in my backpack he wrapped it twice in plastic and we put it in the bag. Remembering my need for the torch, without thinking before I spoke, I asked him for 4 Double D batteries.

Yep… double d’s – then I blushed and caught his eye. He smiled and laughed aloud, and checked mine out!! Yep… my double d’s… I could have died!!

I brought the batteries home, found the missing nut with my newly illuminated torch and installed the battery delighted to find that having done so the car was once again back in business.

That’s actually the part I think Dad would be proud of… That his daughter is smart enough to take care of her own car, that she learned plenty growing amid the machinery and dirt on the farm!

And maybe he would be proud that I am just crazy enough that when I make a blunder I can laugh it off rather than spend the rest of the day wishing I had never opened my mouth!