Is it Mustang time yet?

Thanks to the weather, no, it isn’t, and it’s just as well because it is sitting in the garage with a dead battery. Thinking back to the winter of 2006, I thought it would be a good idea to back the car into the garage in case it needed to be jumped, that way the battery would be easier to get to. But nothing happened last winter. It started up right away last spring. Now jump to Fall 2007. The battery was fine last winter, so why bother to back it in again, right? The battery was fine last winter, so why bother to periodically let the car run for a few minutes to keep it charged? It was so cold this winter, why would I want to spend one second longer outside than absolutely necessary? It was fine last year. Well, I should have done all of the above.

When I discovered this, since I didn’t back it in, the front of the car was under the storage cabinet in my garage, and I couldn’t raise the hood to get to the battery. So I called AAA and explained that the car might have to be pushed or towed to be able to open the hood. When the AAA guy got here, we found that I couldn’t even put the car in neutral to try to push it. He ended up wedging the hood about open four inches and was able to squeeze the cables in. Car started right up. I was late for a meeting, but I thought rather than rush off, I’ll at least turn the car around and back it into the garage. Then I remembered all the trouble I had doing that last year. There is a slight curb up to my driveway, so I have to give it a little gas to get over the curb. This is quite manageable when pulling in forward, but in reverse it is a bit trickier. (At least it is for me, someone whose parallel parking skills can evoke laughter.) So on the first attempt of getting over the curb, then slamming on the brakes so I didn’t crash into the garage (the door opening is narrow), I remembered that last year, I put the top down when I did this because I could see better. So, in the dark, at 35 degrees, and in March, the top came down. On the third try, hoping that none of my neighbors were watching all of this, I succeeded in backing it in, with no damage to the car or garage. But I was late and in a hurry, so I put the top up and turned the car off. It was only after I pulled the key out that I thought maybe I should have let it run for awhile. But considering all the time it took for this whole ordeal to unfold, it was already running for about 10 minutes, so it should be okay, right? Wrong! It wouldn’t start again. So there the car sits, but at least it is turned around now.