Timing, as they say, is everything

Well, we're supposed to be on the road south right now. Instead, I sit here ablogging waiting for Mr. W. to get back home.

I had four quickie errands to run this morning:

• Get the oil changed in the van
• Fill up the gas tank
• Run through the drive-thru car wash
• Buy a bag of ice

The oil is changed, and that's all I accomplished.

The van started right up, and I drove to the quick-lube joint with no problems. The guys told me it would be a few minutes before they got to my vehicle. Ten minutes later, one of the mechanics came in and asked if my car had been making clicking noises when I tried to start it. Uh-oh. I half laughed and told him no. He looked serious and told me that when they tried to start it, all they got was clicking. Uh-oh! I laughed a little nervously at that and commented that was highly unusual. When the mechanic looked at me rather strangely, I told him that usually the funny noise happens only when the driver is driving and goes away for everybody else.

The guys there suspected that since I was driving an '04 model vehicle that the battery might be kaput. They were correct as a jumpstart got the engine up and running. I thanked them profusely and said I was glad the battery died there and not in the middle of the wilderness.

There's a rest area we stop in halfway between San Antonio and Corpus Christi. It's gorgeous, it's quiet, it's the only thing for miles and miles and miles, and our cell phones do not work there. I can just see us stuck on the side of the road like some bad family travel comedy. I'm crossing my fingers that the new battery Mr. W. is picking up right now solves all our vehicular problems.

M.W.