Another Glorious Day!

 What could be better than freezing temperatures, constant rain and a dead battery?  Unloading everything OUT of the van for its trip to the next town up .... also in the rain!

True to Mercedes Towing, they sent me twelve messages regarding the tow truck that was to arrive.  I called the tow truck company to explain to them that this was not JUST a van, but an RV van with generator and propane tank 8" off the concrete.

Okay he said ... that will be about four hours before I can get a big truck there.  MY suggestion was to please send the BATTERY JUMP guy to see if we could get it started.  He said good idea.

Forty minutes later, Tony arrived.  Tony saved my day!!

What a GREAT kid.  He said he gets lots of calls for these vans ... no surprise.  Every one built in the last three or four years has the exact same problem.  He hooked this gadget up to the hot and neutral posts under the hood.  They stuck like glue because the alligator clips are much stronger than the flimsy battery charger ones.

Go ahead he said ... start it up.  NOW?  We don't have to wait?  He laughed!  Hit the button he said ... and it started right up.  I NEED ONE OF THESE!  In fact, I ordered one.  You plug it in and it will give a minimum of ten jumps to any vehicle.  Charge it up with an extension cord.

He waited while it kept running ... just to be sure.  We talked about a hard wired charger to the battery itself.  I'll look into that next week.  

He left after a REAL handshake.  I like that kid!!  And so with a big sigh and a still nagging headache, I drove off into the rainstorm of rainstorms.  The computer is out of its ever loving mind, but it was still moving the wheels down the road, so I kept going.  

The left turn signal red light (someone is beside you) kept going on and off for the first ten miles.  It was a two lane road.  The windshield wipers would work ... not work ... work screaming fast ... go really  REALLY slow and then stop again.  At least this time the brake lights worked.

The storm got so bad I finally turned off on a side road and went the back way to the freeway, before heading home.  An hour later, I pulled into the driveway.  

I called the Mercedes repair shop to tell them it was NOT being towed in, but I needed an appointment to unscramble the computer's brain.  I'm in at 7:30 THIS morning.  That is way too early to be at the shop an hour away, but I guess I have no choice.  I have to wait for it since I have no ride, so I will try my best to be on time.  

Then began the UNPACK because they don't want anything near the front seats and I don't want anything expensive left inside.  An hour later the sun actually came out for a bit, but I looked like a drowned rat! 

To make it even more fun, I had to attend an Elks Lodge meeting that I truly wanted to miss.  It lasted 90 minutes before I was headed home.

Wish me luck today!!