So yesterday among other things I proved (once again) that I know literally nothing about cars.
As I was driving back from a customer meeting the alternator/battery light came on in my car. After a few moments I realized that steering had become more difficult, though possible. I called the place I take my car to be fixed which is over off New Hampshire Avenue. They said it was ‘the belt’, it probably snapped. I should bring it in. I said I would that evening.
SO last night I took the now convenient Intercounty Connector (ICC), Route 200, over to New Hampshire. While driving over there I learned, through experiential data, that when ‘the belt’ snaps, the batter is now being recharged so well. And when you have been driving for a while and your headlights are on (and your radio is on) your batter eventually goes dead. In this case about 1/10 of a mile from the New Hampshire Avenue exit. Luckily I was able to coast to the right shoulder and the emergency blinker worked (which meant I figured out what to push to turn the emergency blinker on).
I called Ellen who was almost at the car place to tell her I might be a bit delayed. And I called AAA to have me towed there. They had to put me on hold for a LONG TIME since they had difficulty getting their system to find me, the ICC being so new, and thus identify who would be assigned to come get me (and my car). It is an unhappy experience to be sitting on the side of a highway with a pretty dead battery, the emergency blinker being the only thing to warn drivers not to hit me, the AAA’s telling me the safest place to be was in my car, and watch the battery on your cell phone drain while listening to a recording of how my call was important to them and they would be back to me as soon as possible.
However, the young woman doing the assignment came back on before the cell phone turned off, the AAA tow truck came before the emergency blinker stopped, and the car place was less than 3 miles away so I didn’t even have to pay extra for the towing.
Which leads me to this morning. This morning I can safely claim, unlike many who do, that I had a very low incremental carbon foot print. I took the ride-on bus from a block from my house to the Grosvenor Metro stop, the metro to Rockville, and then the ride-on bus to two blocks from the office, and got in by 7:30am. As to how I will handle tonight we will leave that to later.