fuckity fuck

[mistressofmuses]

Aaaaaand we're stuck in a Walmart parking lot because the battery in the truck died and it has been a magical comedy of errors trying to replace it.

Poor Alex has been doing most of it, but this fucking sucks. It was a shitty day at work already, I have eaten NOTHING today because I worked through lunch and didn't notice, then stayed a half hour late because I was so focused on the new rescheduling hell that I forgot to do my regular tasks.

- got out half an hour late
- as I walk out, Alex tells me the battery died
- call work friend who just left, but he comes back and jumps us
- we go to Walmart to buy a new battery
- they only have one that will work, despite having a range listed as in stock online
- realize there are no tools in truck due to theft risk at apartment
- buy a pair of pliers
- terminal is super corroded, can't make one of the nuts budge
- try for close to an hour, after Alex tells me the Walmart is sold out of socket wrench sets
- realize he meant only ONE set was sold out, so he goes in to buy those
- takes another half hour but we get the terminal off
- this vehicle has a top bar that fastens it in place, which is another huge struggle
- get old battery out and new one in
- several scraped knuckles later, and a lot of struggle, get top mount thing reattached
- battery is slightly too short
- terminal will not reattach because it's the wrong height
- still fucking stuck
- had to use post shims to fix that issue in the old car
- Walmart does not sell post shims in-store

I've called Taylor and begged them to go to an auto-parts store that closes at 10 to get the part and rescue us. Hope they manage to get there in time!

I haven't eaten all day, and I hate this and I want to die.

And I have a dentist appointment tomorrow and then have to go to work after for a close and even more rescheduling hell. Really, just fucking kill me.

Comments

[scarlipswolfwife]

Ugh. I hope you were able to get the battery working!!!!!

[mistressofmuses]

We were! My mom and Taylor bought the (very last available!) post shims at the auto parts store about twenty minutes before close, and then came to the parking lot we were stuck in, haha.

And everything worked today, too!

[scarlipswolfwife]

Yay! That's good! I'm glad to hear that!

[olivermoss]

That sounds miserable. I hope you got rescued and are same somewhere now.

[mistressofmuses]

It was miserable. I'm not a mechanic by any stretch, but I've replaced batteries before, and this should have been a thirty minute project. Instead it was three and a half hours and I hated every minute of it.

But we made it home around 10:30, and everything still worked today!

[spikedluv]

Oh my god! What a crappy day! I hope you were rescued and got something to eat.

[mistressofmuses]

It was the worst, sob. But my mom and Taylor did come rescue us with the part we needed, we got the battery fully installed, the car started, and I came home and made toast because I didn't want to do anything but fall into bed, lol.

[spikedluv]

Toast is a valid meal choice! Especially after that day. I think I'd have gone for ice cream if I had any in the freezer. *g*

[mistressofmuses]

Lol, ice cream would have felt very satisfying, I think!

[kn0tme]

Just think how much you'll laugh at this in 5 years.

[mistressofmuses]

I DO laugh about the worse version of this problem from five years ago.

At the time we had the same thing happen in a previous vehicle, where the terminals would not stay connected to the new battery. At the time we were living with friends who lived in a city about an hour and a half away from my office, but still had to get back there.

We tried to get back to their house, but every couple miles, the terminal would slip off the battery and the engine would die. We looked for solutions, and at that point it was after midnight, so we couldn't go to an auto parts store to get the actual shims... but basically the only solution is "bulk up the battery posts with lead."

So we limped to a gas station... and bought lead fishing weights, which I hammered flat with the wrench, and had to try and wedge those inside the terminals to create enough of a connection to keep it going. It would still slip, but we'd make it ten or so miles before having to repeat the lead-smashing and wedging process.

We made it "home" at almost 4am.

That night was the genuine worst, but is also just plain silly in retrospect.

[kn0tme]

And ingenious! I'd have said screw it and spent the night in a hotel!

[mistressofmuses]

Lol, we absolutely should have. We were pretty broke at the time, but sleeping in the car until an auto parts store opened would probably have been the better call tbh, haha.