crap.
cars.
can't live with them.
can't live without them.
Patrick left for work this morning, went out the back door to the car, as usual.
but he came right back in the house to report that his key would not turn in the ignition of the van.
so I gave him my key, and waited.
but mine didn't work, either.
I threw some clothes on (over my pajamas), and went out to inspect the scene.
for some reason, the steering wheel had not locked when he took the key out last night, so now we could put the key in, but couldn't turn it.
and no amount of wiggling or jiggling did any good.
so he took the other car, I went back inside, put "call Triple A" at the top of my To Do list, and went back to bed.
but the frustration of having a car, that was just fine a few hours ago, incapacitated this way really ticked me off, and not even Thumper's lovely purring could lull me back to sleep.
so I got up, and turned on CNN.
(might as well get good and frustrated, and all before I've even had coffee!)
waited until about 8 am, then called AAA, and the overly sweet woman there put me in touch with the nearest authorized towing service, in Algoma.
he told me he had a lot of cars in the ditch to deal with, but I assured him I was in no rush to get anywhere, and it was not an emergency, I was safe and sound at home, not stranded on a highway somewhere.
he told me it would be after 2 pm, and I called the dealership in Sturgeon Bay, where we have all our service done, to make an appointment for late afternoon.
the tow truck with sled (the flat bed thing they put cars up on, rather than "dragging" them by that pulley and hook thing) pulled up about 3:30, but when I went out to meet the driver, he informed me that our driveway was not clear enough for him to pull in, that he was sure he would get stuck.
stuck!??!
it's a frickin' tow truck!!
AND, it's a frickin' Triple A authorized tow truck!
the driveway, which is a shared driveway with the church next door, is plowed by a driver for the county, a very nice man who happens to be a member of the church next door.
he had cleaned it out nicely on Friday and Saturday, in anticipation of Sunday service.
but the approximately 2" to 3" we received Sunday and Monday had not been cleared yet.
but we had been driving in and out, so I assumed it would be no problem for a truck.
never assume, I was wrong, it was a problem.
the tow truck driver was nice enough to jiggle and wiggle the key in the ignition again, just to make sure, but no luck.
he gave me his business card, and told me to call when the driveway had been plowed.
so, Patrick and I will be clearing snow tomorrow.
if I had known, I could have done it today, while I was waiting.
oh, well.
at least we have one car that is working, and Patrick has the next two days off, so we will deal with it.
but it's an odd thing.
working at home, and because of the price of gas now, I try to keep my trips in to town at a minimum, and I am often home for days at a time, and it doesn't bother me at all.
I really enjoy being home.
but today, knowing that if I wanted to go somewhere, and I couldn't - that bothered me.
crap.
later,
Patty