I definitely did not leave a door open... and the times I've watched it to see the lights turn off after I exit the vehicle they do.  This morning the lights started to flash, but then the car started.  I left it running while I took Avery into school and called the dealership.  I have an appointment for next Thursday, but frankly, that's too far away.  Fortunately they called me back and told me to bring it up.  Now I wait to hear back.

On one hand I'm hoping that Advanced was wrong, that I just need a new battery.  Sure it's an expense, but it would explain and solve it all.  If there is some easily fixable issue, especially if it is covered under warranty that would technically be even better.  The last option is an electrical issue.  I had one with a Dodge Intrepid that had me sell the vehicle not too long after getting it and the Dodge Durango had electrical problems after the car starter went in it.  Point being, sometimes it just can't be resolved.

No va.  Yesterday I got up to make our pre-church Starbuck's visit and the car wouldn't start.  At first it said that the key wasn't in the car.  Well, I've had that happen before and a mere touch of the key to the starter button and the problem was solved.  Not this time.  Instead it started flashing all of the lights inside and outside of the car.  There was no sound or attempt to start.  In my head I could hear the 'fail' sound from the Price is Right.

As a result I got to take the Stinger out for a spin.  Avery and I got a reminder how nice it is to have a garage.  She noted her seat was cold and I had to run the defrost for a bit before I could get moving.  Fortunately there wasn't ice on it like so many others had yesterday morning for the first time this year.

My Favorite Egg jumped my car after we came back from Starbucks (yeah, I skipped church) and we took it to Advanced.  I was ready to get a new battery under the assumption that this one is at least 4 1/2 years old (factory), that seems like the typical lifespan I've known, and winter is coming, so it's likely to go then.  The guy offers to test it and ends up telling me that the battery is good.  That's a relief since the new ones (they're special, so they can handle the heavier electrical load) are $200.  WHAT!?  So instead we drove around and charged it up a bit.

Now I'm left with two main thoughts:  1 - how the heck did it die?  Did I leave a door slightly open or is something else up?  It started this morning, so probably the first, but dang it that I didn't notice it.  2 - how incredibly stupid it is that if you have an automatic trunk door that there is no way to open it if your battery is 'dead'.  It beeped like it wanted to open, but wouldn't let me pull it open even.  That is rather less than convenient when your jumper cables are in the compartment at the back of the vehicle.  I wiggled by way over the back seat to get into the compartment to get what I needed.

I'm not a green thumb or someone I'd consider to be a gardener.  I do like to have a couple of tomato plants each year.  I put them in pots instead of in the ground to avoid the late and early frosts here in Western PA.  My goal is fresh tomatoes for my salads or to mix with mozzarella and fresh basil (the only other thing I try to grow most every year).  I admit it, I also love the smell on my hands after picking tomatoes.  It is pure nostalgia to me and it puts a much younger me right back in my parent's backyard garden.

 

This year I bought my two plants, put them in their pots with their tomato cages, gave them decent soil, and set to the task of watering them regularly.  They shot right up.  In the meantime, a little tomato plant had started to struggle from the ground just beside my concrete patio.  It would have gotten morning sun, but been cut off from direct rain where it managed to start growing, which was shielded by the deck above.  This guy started growing from seeds probably lost from last year's plants.  Those with greener thumbs like to call this a 'volunteer' tomato plant.

 

The other thing you need to know about me is I'm a sucker for animals and even plants.  Someone cutting down a tree breaks my heart a little.  I had to give this tomato plant a chance.  I thought for sure I'd destroy its roots trying to pluck it from the ground pinched up against the concrete, but I had to try.  Out came the shovel.  I used a small pot that I had lying around because chances are it wouldn't go anywhere, but if it did I could always repot it.

 

I was so pleasantly surprised when it too took off like crazy, catching up with the other tomato plants in size in very little time.  Time to go buy him a big pot of his own and to buy more soil to "do it right" when I repotted him.

 

Because he was behind the other two, I saw blossoms when the others were giving tomatoes (which weren't all that tasty).  But still I watered and I waited.  Let's fast forward, because this volunteer plant is now easily 2x if not 3x the girth of the other two plants and just as tall.  He put off all kinds of branches.  I've slowly been reaping the rewards and the tomatoes are large, juicy, and quite tasty.  I've bragged a bit about him, that this little volunteer plant was giving me 5-10 really yummy tomatoes a day.

 

The other two plants went brown and died off.  They've been disassembled and put to the curb.  But the volunteer continues.  So when the temps at night were dropping towards the 40s it was time to offer a little more protection as to continue reaping the bounty.  It means that he doesn't get as much light, but he's now sitting in my basement near the back door to get as much morning light as possible.

 

This morning I picked off approximately 80 (not a typo - you read that right - eighty) ripe red tomatoes from this plant.  There is still a ton of green or not quite ripe tomatoes on there.

I feel so blessed.  I gave this plant an opportunity.  I invested in it.  I didn't have to, but I wanted to, and it cost me relatively little.  It exceeded my wildest expectations because, well, let's be honest, I didn't have too high of expectations for it.  I just gave it a chance.

 

You can write your own moral(s) to this story.  The ones God put on my heart are the value of life, that it's easy to change the course of that life, and that a small investment in someone or something else can bless you beyond measure.  Be blessed and be a blessing.

More proof God has a sense of humor:  I woke up this morning.  It was still dark, so I rolled and looked at the clock.

6:02am:  I thought, oh, thank you Lord that I have a half an hour before I have to get up.  Then I realized it's Saturday!  So I thought, even better Lord, thank you that as long as Avery doesn't wake up I'll get to go back to sleep for even longer!!

6:04am:  The smoke detector in the bedroom neighboring mine (the one I use for workout equipment) starts to chirp wanting a new battery.  Even if I hadn't already woken I would have because at that moment Saffy jumped up with me all agitated (because she can't stand the chirping any more than I can).

6:08am:  I'm on a step stool changing a 9 volt out.

6:15am:  Well played Lord :)