Her name is Abigail part 3

Photo by Luigi Manga on Unsplash

As you have seen from, "Her name is Abigail part 1" and, "Her name is Abigail part 2" there had to be a part 3 because why would replacing an alternator, starter, and a battery fix my problems?

After what started out as super stressful and ended up wonderful night at my friend's house I departed the next day, in my car, and it worked fine. I kept the AC off when possible, I mostly drove during the day to avoid turning on lights, and my car was running fine. I was pretty nervous when driving it for fear that it could go out on me at any point but that was okay. I had used a date night with husband to have him teach me the proper way to push a light car like mine.

Just a few pieces of information on how to push a car by yourself.
1. Turn the car on enough to put the car in neutral(if that is an option)
2. Open the driver's side door. While standing between the open door and inside of the car you will push. What you will be pushing is the door and frame of the car. Why you ask, I asked this as well, because if you pushed the car with the door closed/ on the outside of the car and hit a downward hill you would not be able to quickly jump into the car and hit the break or pull the emergency brake.
3. Practice these skills and techniques, they might come in handy one day.

Does this little list seem like foreshadowing, well if it does, well it sure felt like it too.

Fast forward to a Friday night. I get off from work, hit the mall up for a little retail therapy, Husband is at work, and I need to swing by a friend's house to drop something off. I'm like hey, Teach likes rides let me go grab him and we'll chill together. I get out of my neighborhood, through a stoplight and am cruising just fine when it happens. All the lights come on the dash, all the gages needles fall straight down and the car loses power. I have just enough momentum to roll into a turning left lane.

I turn on the hazards, I keep the lights on and wait for a break in the traffic. Standing in the driver door I start to push my car across the street to a less busy road. I am doing okay until I reach a slight incline. I am pushing as hard as I can but the car is not moving.

Out of nowhere some lady pulls up and says, "Do you need some help?"

Honestly, my first reaction is always, "No, I am okay," but right now, like most times, it would be a lie and my car would still be in the way. I so instead I say, "Yes, please, if you could help me push it that would be great."

This nice lady is pushing from the back, Teach barking at her from inside the car,  and I am pushing from inside the driver door(see steps above as to why)  we are able to get it up the small hill and into a parking lot. I thank you profusely and then she rolls out. I told Teach that is not how we treat people that are helping us and he just looks at me. I then start to make the calls.

I luck out because Broha is actually close by and so he comes over to help. We figured if we can get the car jumped we can get it to nearby mechanic's shop and if we fail in between we'll just call AAA to get them to tow it.

After reading the directions on the jumper cables we are able to get enough juice to the battery to start my car. I pulled out of the little parking lot with only my hazards on and Broha driving behind me with his lights and hazards we make it less than a mile to the mechanics. Where my car promptly dies as it rolls into a parking spot.

I pull out all my stuff from the car, call Teach into Broha's car and head home. The next day I swing by the mechanic's drop box and leave them a set of keys and note of why the car is in their parking lot.

Honestly, I felt like something like that was going to happen. It was one of those moments where I was getting in the car my gut told me to use the truck, but NO, I didn't listen. Oh well.

The car was not at a mechanics and hopefully, they could now tell me what was going wrong with my car and end my pain and suffering.

Has anyone else had a time where they should have listen to their gut but ignored it instead? If so please leave a comment or story below!

Her name is Abigail part 2

Photo by Noah Kuhn on Unsplash

Please note, if you haven't read, "Her Name is Abigail part 1" things might not make sense.

Our story picks up about a week later.

I had planned to take a half-day in August to visit friends and have no real plans. We were just going to meet up at someone's house. Let the kiddos and puppies play. Eat food, drink whatever, and chill out.

I went to work, stopped to talk to the good people at AAA about what to do about my battery and then headed home to pick up Teach and head over to my friend's house.

It was a scorcher of a day and so Ia turned on my AC for Teach, had my lights on because I was driving on the interstate and then pulled off my friend's exit. Before I made it to her house I called to see if she wanted any Starbucks. A nice little indulgence to start off the rest of the chill day.

As I was in the left turning lane my car when all the lights on the dash flashed and then my car died. I, of course, was now stuck and could not move my car. It threw on my hazards, opened the windows for my dog, and then panic called my friend. She was like my husband will be on his way.

I then clogged traffic for a little bit not knowing what to do. Honestly, my brain went blank, I didn't know what to do with my car, how to push it, and or what to do with my dog. I got out, waited for my friend's husband and stood behind my car waving my hands to indicate pass me and mouthing, "Sorry! Please go around."

One guy in the truck did not stop to help BUT did tell me I should call the local police to let them know about my traffic hold up. As I called and then hung up the phone my friend's husband arrived. He started to push, I steered and another person jumped out to help him.

Why is it only once someone starts to push a car do others seem to stop? I assume that is because they know exactly what the person needs and what they can do to help.

We got the car pushed into a fast-food restaurant parking lot next to an auto repair store. While I called Husband, who was of course at work and unable to help, I told him about my current predicament as my friend's husband, let's call him G. went to talk to the auto parts people. A few machines later the result was my battery had died again and they tested the alternator and it needed to be replaced.

Wonderful. Just, wonderful.

I purchased said part, had the car jumped so it had enough power to get to my friend's house and I arrived.

In the midst of all of this my friend had slipped clearing her shower/bathtub and had landed so hard on the downspout she bent and broke the pipe. Her husband, G., saved me to come home and do some plumbing.

Once G. was done with the plumbing he proceeded to then start to fix my car. By the time he had a tire off, not sure that was necessary, Husband had come home from work and together they fixed it. I think this is the second time Husband has replaced the alternator, if not the third time.

Anywho, we proceeded to eat, drink, be merry and talk and drink way too late into the night. My friend's shower was fixed and my car was able to run again.

What can you do right?

Her name is Abigail part 1

Photo by Denin Lawley on Unsplash

This is the start of my tale of woe for our cars.

I, at the writing of this post, own a 2004 Acura TSX. I have owned it since 2013ish, and I have enjoyed it very much. It is by far the nicest car I have owned. I named her Abigail and she has a leather interior, heated seats, nice radio system, and a sunroof. She has been good to me getting me back and forth to Michigan a few times, back and forth across Virginia and all the way down to Georgia.

Since we've owned this car, and I am the second owner, we've replaced all the basics, tires, battery, ignition coils, the alternator twice, serpentine belt at least 3 times, and the power steering pump I think twice. Overall, since the car has been paid off, these bills, though not welcome were never killer until the last few weeks.

This story starts about a month ago at the end of a hot July when Husband and I went with his mom, dad, grandpa, and grandma to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, TN. That trip was overall very enjoyable and I really need to write a post about it. I digress. Before we even left town, we had deicded to take my car because the AC is the best and it was going to be hot. However, earlier in the week it had had some starting issues. We came to the conclusion that it must be the starter. Husband, being the badass he is, replaced it after working a 12 hour night shift. This made it possible for us to leave on our trip. It acted fine all the way over to TN and all that weekend. All the way until we tried to leave.

We were leaving Pigeon Forge, Sunday, around 4:30pm and we gave everyone hugs and high fives and headed down the road so Husband could visit the Smokey Moutain Knife Works on our way home. It was about 20 minutes away from our last adventure and they closed at 6. It was going to be close but we were going to make it.

We got on the road about 5 minutes before all the lights on the dashboard flashed on, then all the gages needles dropped straight down and the car died. Like, shudder once and then die. We hit the hazard lights, and then Husband gets out to try and push our car out of the way. We had died in the third lane of a three-lane road. As he started to push, a guy pulls in front of us, gets out and as I steer and we slow down traffic we get rolled into a Days Inn. We thank the guy and Husband pops the hood. By this time I'm on the phone with AAA.

However, before we could get a claim going the car started again. Still trying to make it to Smokey Mountain Knife Works we said never mind, hopped in the car and while the car was still running, got gas, water, an energy drink and then continued down the road. We made it about 2 miles before the same thing happened.

All the lights on the engine dashboard turned on, gage needles went straight down before the car died. This time we were in the right lane and so as Husband got out to push us into a Speedway/Subway, another guy jumped out to help him push. We thanked him and then headed into Subway. We sat in the AC, ate some food and then started to figure out our next step.

I called AAA again and he called his folks and grandparents since they were still in town. They came by and while we waited the hour and a half quoted for us to get a tow to a local shop. Grandma and mama sat with me in Subway while I filled out postcards while papa, grandpa, and Husband all fiddled with the car. They came to the conclusion that it was the battery.

They hopped into the car, went over to Autozone, and bought a new battery and had it in the car before the tow truck got there. The weird thing about that battery was that it was less than 2 years old which is why we didn't think it was causing the issue at first. The tow truck guys said okay never mind, call us if you need us. We gave hugs and thanks again before heading down the road.

It was a very tense ride back to Southwest Virginia but we made it safe and sound. We both got about 5 hours of sleep before we rolled out of bed for a fun Monday morning.

Confidently Wrong

Photo by Anastasiia Ostapovych on Unsplash 

The other day everyone in my household received new debit cards. They came from the bank in unassuming white envelopes to replace debit cards that were about to expire. Since they wouldn't expire until September I left mine on the kitchen table unopened for about 2 weeks.

Then Husband and I were headed out of town to visit my old college roommate, her husband, and their wee one and I decided to take this new card with me. I'd be in the car for a few hours and have plenty of time to call the number on the sticker.

I didn't actually end up calling, I had Husband do it. Once activated this debit card went from the side of the door to the middle to the consul until it finally landed in my wallet.

Since we were traveling we actually put most things on our travel credit card so we could move travel funds to it once we got back home.

Fast-forwarding through a wonderful weekend we made it home late Sunday night, picked up our dog from our friends and went to bed.

Anytime you're out of town for a long weekend you always come home to two things that need to be done as soon as possible. Unpacking to start the laundry and going to the grocery store so there will be food in the house.

Monday after work and before I headed out the door to Krogers, I took out my debit card, cut it up, pulled off the sticker from the newly activated card, put it in my wallet and away we went.

That was my downfall.

The card I so confidently cut up was to MY checking account, not the JOINT checking account the new card was actually replacing. I hadn't even thought to double-check the cards, their numbers, or fully even read the note that came with the new card. I just assumed, without reason, that it was replacing my checking account. Suffice to say, when we tried to deposit a check into MY checking account it did not make it in.

The funny thing is just HOW confident I was when I cut up the card. There was no doubt in my mind I was cutting up the right card. Yet, there was absolutely no reason to assume it would be that card. Oh well right?

I've ordered a new debit card and I hope it arrives soon. Has anyone else done this before? Maybe not with a debit card but with something else? If so with what? Leave me a comment below! Thanks!