What’s The Complication Here=
?
The car wasn’t starting…
My Toyota Corolla is eighteen years old and runs well,= very well. I bought it in 2003 for $4000. + + I was able t= o buy it outright. Through the years I’ve spent less than $1000 in repairs and upkeep. She’s a jewel.
The only exterior wear are = the immerging sun spots on the exterior from the hot tropical glare and the slightly…crumpled trunk lid. My first birthday present in 2009 was a dented truck lid. In the night a hit and run driver l= eft me a birthday present - I was asleep in bed and the car legally parked. The inside shows rough: some dirt, pod seeds, a little bea= ch sand, and the trunk ingredients which must now be stored in the backseat and floor.
Lately she won’t start easily. People from the nearby art gallery continually help me with the little things, like jump starts and replacing batteries. You see, I have a tendency to leave the headlights on.
This week for the third time in two and half weeks, the engine wouldn’t turn over. The lights were in off position, thank you very much.
Glen, at Kalaheo Shell Station, and who takes care of = all my car’s needs, had said last week, “Everything checks out.” He went on to exp= lain how I was pushing the key too quickly past the ignition starting point and I needed to let go of the key when it first catches. Voila -
So this time, I thought I knew enough to go through the steps…and after an additional two phone calls to Glen, the engine sta= rted. As it purred, I ran inside the apa= rtment to grab my keys, purse, and a power nutrient bar for snacking at work.
First though, before going on to work, I wanted to face Glen. Grace him with questions: What on earth was = going on? After years of no problem= s, always fine, never any quirks, why so much trouble now?
He patiently answered with the same details he had tol= d me over the phone less than twenty minutes ago and a week and a half ago.
When he finished, I paused and then asked, “Glen= , is all this due to the age of the car or the age of the driver?”
He said quietly and clearly, “Usually it’s= the driver.”
We had the best laugh I’d had in weeks.
Aloha -