Car Trouble

I'm having car trouble again. On Sunday morning I realized that my left and center brake lights had been on all night. They stayed on all day as well, whether my car was on or not. They stayed on all night. And on Monday, the car would not start because (no surprise here) the battery was drained.

This was only the culmination of some irritating electrical problems in my 2002 Hyundai Accent. Also problematic, at this hot and sticky time of year, was the fact that the dashboard fan would not blow. It would start blowing, sometimes, when I drove over a pothole. In fact, I had formed a habit of aiming at certain particularly jarring potholes on my route to work, so I could enjoy a refreshing air-cooled environment for at least half the ride.

The air conditioning was not at fault. I knew this because, when the fan did start blowing, the air was immediately cold. But after years and years of having a fan always blowing on me while driving, whether I had AC or not, driving without a fan made me feel like I was being smothered. In St. Louis's hottest, muggiest weather of the year, and in city traffic that often seems more stop than go, it was hard to get to work without sweating through my clean clothes.

So, now that things have come to such a pass that I can't drive my car at all, I've finally made up my mind to go back to Marty's and have some electrical work done on it. Of course that means a few more days of riding the buses -- an even bigger challenge now than last winter, since many bus routes have been shut down since then. To catch the nearest bus from Marty's, after dropping off my car, I would have had to walk over 2 miles. God bless the folks at the garage, who gave me a lift to the bus station! And bless also the folks at the Autotire Care Center at Hampton & Scanlan, who gave me a free jump-start after I exhausted myself in four (4!!!!) unsuccessful attempts to push-start my car.