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.