Possession

3/24/16

OK, I lied.  The song lyric is wrong.  The Waiting IS NOT The Hardest Part.  At least not for me.  For me possession is the hardest part.  I had a troubled nights sleep.  I woke up early and read more posts on line and watched YouTube videos.  My car was stuck in the driveway.  My dilemma for the day was whether to leave it there or push it all the way into the garage.  Pam solved that one by saying she wouldn’t help me at 6:10 am, the time I was leaving to go to work.  She was already a little irritated by the car, and my obsessive commentary about it.  Mark was irritated with me, as I had called him after I got home from the movie last night, and he could see no practical purpose for the call, as I was not in the car.  He was right.  Pam was right.  So off to work I went.

At that time I assumed that the car would not start because I had killed the battery.  I spoke with Mark for a moment or two, and he asked me if I had a battery charger.  I said no.  He asked me if I had a trickle charger.  I said no.  He asked me if I had a jump starter.  I said no.  He said buy them.  I did.  He called me later and asked if I would have them tomorrow.  I said no.  He asked why didn’t I use Amazon Prime.  I said I did, but the items were from third parties and did not qualify for Amazon Prime.  So I would have to wait.

He went on to ask me exactly what I did while trying to start the car.  I said I turned the key.  He asked me if I pushed on the accelerator.  I said yes because nothing was happening.  He went on to say I probably flooded the engine and asked me if I knew what that meant.  I told him I did, but I am not sure he believed me.  He asked me if I ever had an old sports car.  I said no.  As an aside, this was I question I would hear quite often over the next few days.  Anyway, he than told me how to start my car.  It seems this is a multi-step process.  First,  turn the key part way so the fuel pump begins to push fuel towards the motor, which is located in the back of the car.  Second, pull up on the throttle control that is on the floor to the right of the drivers seat.  Of course, he reminded me to do this GENTLY.   Third, push the clutch ALL THE WAY DOWN to the floor.  It seems the car has a lock out mechanism which prevents starting if the clutch is not fully depressed.  Fourth, turn the key all the way to the right to engage the starter.  Never, let me repeat, never, he said touch the accelerator.  He said try it when I get home.

I went home and decided to try the process out.  Funnily enough the car started immediately.  I guess the battery was not dead.  I cannot describe just how stupid I felt.

Pam was home so I asked her to hold the gates open so I could try to put the car into the garage.  When I first described the car I was getting, I said it was called a narrow body 911.  When I look at it and compare it to my 2015 Cayman, it is clear just how narrow the car is.  Even so, I asked Pam to stand near the driveway gates to let me know if I could pass thru them without any issues.  She did, and it did.  I parked the car in the garage, feeling like way better than my action warranted.