Stranded at Spotlight

I went to Spotlight yesterday... (as you do, since there is nowhere else to buy haberdashery these days... Hell, half the country doesn't even know what haberdashery is!)
I was on a mission to buy some cord and a spring-toggle (you know, the things that are usually found on the drawstring on the bag a sleeping bag comes in, to hold it closed) to modify Cheyenne's new school hat. Whatever for, you ask. Well, let me explain.

Remember back when we went to primary school? If we even wore a uniform (definitely optional, at the school I went to), our parents would, if they could be bothered, label our clothes, hats, etc by writing on a tag and sewing or ironing it onto the item...and that would have been enough! These days, it is apparently necessary to make the item easily identifiable from the outside as well as having a name label inside, in case someone else wanders off wearing your child's item. When every child has a navy blue, broad-brimmed school hat, I guess I can see the benefit, so I've opted to change the colour of the chin-strap cord on the hat.

Anyway, back to Spotlight. I love Spotlight. You can, and I often do, spend hours there, just browsing. Yesterday, browsing was much easier due to the fact that Cheyenne is having a sleepover at Steve's Mum and Dad's. That's right, no "Mummy I need to go to the toilet", "I'm hungry", "I don't want to walk, can we get a trolley?", "When are we going home?" Bliss.

The bliss lasted until I'd finished both my browsing and required shopping, and got in the car to head home. I turned the key...and, nothing! Not even a click. No, I hadn't left any lights on, and it had been fine when I left home that morning. Turn off the air con and try again. Still nothing. The charge light and other normal warning lights were still showing up on the dash, but maybe they were a little faint...probably a flat-ish battery. OK, phone Steve. He is working on the other side of town and can't really leave, and suggests I try checking my fuses. Good idea, except that I don't have any pliers in my car and can't pull the fuses out with the useless little plastic "tool" supplied in the fuse box. Fine, I'll call the RACQ. It is what I pay them some phenomenal amount each year for, after all. May as well get my money's worth! Someone will be there in around 45 minutes. They tell me to keep an eye out for him. Gee, what else would I be doing? Not like there's anything else to do in the car park! So I wait.

He arrives, puts his volt meter on my battery, then asks me to turn the key. Like a coroner, he pronounces it dead at the scene. Apparently it is fully charged, but collapses "under load" (ie, when you turn the key). Now for the bad news - since it isn't a simple collapsed cell, but a "break", it can't be jump started! What? OK, so I'm not an auto electrician and I don't know what a "break" is, but I secretly suspect that it's RACQ-speak for "Sucker, you'll have to buy one of the really expensive ones we have in the back of the service truck." Steve already told me not to buy one from them because we can get a better deal through one of his mates (that doesn't sound like Steve, does it? LOL)

Mr RACQ asks me was I planning on keeping my car. Gee, er...let me think...um... Der! I replied, hesitantly, "Ye..s", wondering all the while if he really thinks it looks that bad. (You know, I could have sworn a new battery would be cheaper than a whole new car...) I decided not to tell him I've only owned it for 3 months!
I politely told him I wouldn't be buying one of his batteries, so he told me they could put my car on a tow truck but I only get 10kms free (and it would be an hour wait for the tow truck). Won't get it home, but would get it to my Mum's. Phoned Steve. He says not to bother, he'll get his Dad to bring me a spare battery out of his brother's car. OK. Mr RACQ dubiously asks if I'm sure, then leaves. Steve rings back. His Dad doesn't want to risk spilling battery acid all over his brand new Ford Territory and isn't sure if the battery is the right size anyway, and can I call the tow truck?
No I bloody can't! I don't have the number, and the battery on my phone is almost flat too!

By now, it is raining and I am well and truly over it all. I've spent all my money, dammit, and I want to go home and put my feet up. I phone my brother. He doesn't start work until later and can pick me up. I can wait at my Mum's for Steve to finish work. When Steve finally picks me up at 5.30pm he wonders if, although the car cannot be jump-started, can it be clutch-started? We decide to try. The carpark has cleared out a bit by now, and since I'm parked on a slight slope, that will make it easier to push and keep the car rolling. Started like a dream after rolling less than 4 metres.
Remind me again why I'm paying for RACQ membership???

Got home no worries, although, once turned off it would need to be clutch-started to get it going again. Not a problem, since I should have a new battery by this afternoon anyway.

Let this be a lesson to you - regular checking of the water levels in the cells of your battery is a must. Apparently, running each cell bone dry is a bad thing, and is undoubtedly what caused the "break".

On the bright side, at least Mr uppity RACQ didn't check this, so could not stare at me with the scorn, reserved by men, for "women drivers" that don't maintain their vehicles.