grumble

Last night I was settling in for a nice long warm night when I got a phone call. It was derien, the car wouldn't start, battery seemed fine, but starter wasn't turning the engine. So I took the van out to the airport to get the car going. It was cold. It was dark. It was windy. After some inspection that revealed nothing apparently disconnected and no quick solution to the starter that wouldn't start, we push started the car on the 4th or 5th try. I got back in the van to drive it home and it did its flooding/won't-start-come-hell-or-high-water trick. After much cursing, I left it at the airport.

So this morning I woke to the prospect of auto troubles with subfreezing temps and a windchill of sweet 16F. Lying down on the pavement is how I imagine being touched by a ring wraith feels. It saps the life out of you amazingly quickly. Even in daylight I found no loose connections and after some initial attempts I decided there was no way in hell I was going to pull the starter. So we push started it again, derien took the car to the dealership, and I did dishes to warm my hands up.

I know what squirrels want

Today I while defrosting the fridge, I put the food out on the porch. I didn't have to worry about it getting too warm and since we live on the second floor the street people couldn't help themselves. When I was bringing the food back in I noticed a little bit of gold foil mixed in amongst the food. Then I remember there used to be a Hershy's Special Dark 1lb bar in the fridge. The bar was gone. None of the other food had even been touched, other than possibly to push it out of the way. If you noticed any very peppy squirrels around Portland today, you now know why.

Having a rebuilt starter installed isn't cheap. I'll be staying home and not buying things for a while.