[Delphinus]

Man, you know you have lowered your expectations when you are happy about your day when a toilet unclogs.

A few months ago I discovered my Xterra battery was no good when I went to the automated car wash by my place and listening to the radio for the 5 minutes it did its thing was enough to run it dry. When the exit door opened and the big fans to dry your car turned on, I turned my key and ..... nothing.

I had two small kids strapped into car seats in the back. What could I do? I have a standard at least, so popped it into neutral, hopped out and started pushing. I got it as far as halfway out the door with the big fans blowing the hell out of everything and emptying the truck of any loose piece of paper. If you ever wanted to know what it's like to stand in the blow area of those fans: it's windy. Very windy. Unpleasantly windy.

Anyhow I got it as far as halfway out the door, but then couldn't go any further due to a combination of the truck being bloody heavy, the exit ramp was slightly uphill, and the ice buildup on the ground meant that all the pushing in the world just saw my feet go slip slip slip slip. There was a lineup of 9 people waiting to use the car wash, not a one of them hopped out to help out a guy in need. Which is ironic for them because, as far as the automated car wash thing was concerned, I hadn't left the wash bay and thus it wasn't letting anyone in at this point. I had to put the beast in park, run inside to the gas station and ask the cashier if he could help me. At this point my stress levels are at supernova, I'm hyperventilating from having pushed 3000lbs uphill to the point I couldn't push any further,s o my request for help came out as a sort of "WHEEZE help GASP me WHEEEEZE my WHEEEEZE GASP battery is PANT PANT PANT dead and I'm WHEEEEZE stuck in the ... WHEEZE .. the ... WHHEEEEZE .. car wash thing over there GASP WHEEEZE". Happily the guy did just drop everything, shut down the cash register and came out to help push. Once I got over the lip and could roll the truck downhill I jumped started it like a breeze.