Fancy and Delta have a vet tomorrow about eight miles away from home. I need to bring Fancy home from the stable. Oh drat! It has started snowing and drizzling. I started the truck a few weeks ago. Surely it will start. No, my truck hates me in winter. It did not start. It made that clicking noise that sez, “Charge my Battery; I’m out of enough juice to start this big engine!” Damnation. I’ll get the cables and charge the battery after Terry and I eat our late breakfast.
Mother Nature hates me but stopped the snow and drizzle before we made it home from our restaurant. Dealing with the truck now, I had to remember the hood control was in the truck. You can’t open the hood until the pull release inside the truck is done. Heck, I got that done. Now, the hood was frozen shut. I managed to break the thin sheet of ice and got the engine hood control release to unfreeze and work. (During this process, curse words were used.)
I get the jumper cables and attached them between the car and truck. Hmmm, why is the car battery cable smoking? I ignored it and waited to start the truck. Hmmm, the truck doesn’t make the chirping/clicking noise anymore. I wait, still ignoring the smoking battery cable. (Don’t ignore a smoking battery cable!) Darn truck is deader than dead. Obviously, I need a new battery. I give up and start to take off the battery jumper cables. Oh rats, I had the cables attached to the wrong posts in the car! Hmmm, the jumper cable seems burnt. The jump cables are burned! Good Lordy! The smoke must have meant the cables were burning! SCREAM! I’ve always heard you can blow up your engine if you put the cables on the wrong posts. It’s my birthday, and I didn’t get blown up! I looked it up on google later, and it sez, the battery can blow up! SCREAM! I look at the battery hookup. There is no way I can do this. I need help.
I call the small town tow truck service. My contact told me it would be an hour wait, get a battery and call back. With only a few seconds of brain pause at the Riley parts dealer, I remembered my truck was a gas-powered V-10. I did remember it was a 2001 Ford. The Riley parts store guy carried my battery to my car, small-town service. When I got home, I called the tow service. Next, I wanted to get the battery to the truck. Good Lordy! This battery must weigh fifty pounds. I carried it close enough to the truck so that the tow service guy could see it.
The tow truck service guy showed up and got busy. How amazing that he was wearing a mask! I got my coat, hat, and mask on and went out to join him. He said, “this could have done damage to the engine.” I screamed quietly and tried to hold my breath until he got the battery installed. I let him start the truck. I must have left the key turned on inside the truck because he said, “It’s making a noise!” I cheered. He turned the key, and the engine started. Glory be! I paid, but forgot to tip. I will get that done later!
Fancy is now home and ready for transport to vet appt. tomorrow! Delta goes too; she needs to have her teeth done. She hasn’t been anywhere for a couple of years. I got her out of the pasture and loaded her into the trailer. She went in! This is working!
What a start to a birthday! I avoided an exploding battery!
I celebrated not spending my birthday in the hospital tonight at the Wyoming Street Wine Shop with their hummus tray, two glasses of wine, and Raspberry pound cake. They gave both Terry and me extra cake, and Terry paid!