Take Your Time

It's OK, really, I didn't have anything better to do than wait for roadside assistance to send a tow truck to my house.

Several hours ago I went out to look in my trusty and beloved car (said without a trace of sarcasm) for something. My automatic door unlocker-thingy didn't work, which I initially thought was due to the thingy's having a dead battery. I used the actual key to unlock the doors and noticed an odd ticking noise. So I tried to start the car. Nothing happened - not even a clickety-clickety of the car trying to start.

So my neighbor came over and tried to jump it for me. We let his car run while attached to mine for at least five minutes, and mine still didn't start. The neigbhors have offered me use of one of their cars (the husband rode his bike to work today), which I will take them up on.

However, before I go anywhere I have to wait for the tow truck to arrive. Hyundai offers free roadside assistance, and they are kindly sending a tow. But since I'm not stuck on the side of the road somewhere, I'm apparently a low-priority case. I've had two automated calls from roadside telling me that that the tow truck will be here in an hour and no sooner.

This puts a major hitch in my day. I have to drive down to RunTex to pick up shirts for the Danskin race committee. Then I have to deliver those shirts and two boxes of volunteer shirts to a t-shirt printing place that is in so far-south Austin that it might as well be San Antonio. I was hoping to make the trek south long before afternoon traffic starts, but it looks like I might not be so lucky. I'm trying to figure out how I can ditch at least one of the children while I run this errand.

And I'm not even going to think about what is going to happen to my schedule tomorrow if my car is still in the shop. I have a sitter coming so that I can go to meetings and run errands. I may have to cancel if I can't get around.

This is honestly the first problem I've ever had with my rolley-mobile. I love my little Hyundai. It runs like a top, at least it did until today, and does everything I ask of it. This is in sharp contrast to B's BMW, which seems to have constant problems and to always be in the shop. Last month alone, he took it in for a new transmission, which would have cost us $7,000 had the car not been under warranty, and for a broken rear window. Just goes to show that expensive cars aren't always better.

In the meantime, I'm sitting here waiting, waiting, waiting.