When it rains it pours

And I'm not talking about the weather.

I hate to sound like such a Debbie Downer, but sometimes I feel like nothing can go right. Among everything else I'm dealing with, my car decides to not start on Sunday when we were leaving G's birthday party. Right when it started raining no less!

I've developed this love/ hate relationship with AAA. I will say that I'm so glad I went into AAA last week to get my car registration and new tags because when I went there, I hadn't realized my membership expired. So I renewed my membership just last week.

Days later, my car won't start. I initially thought it was the battery. AAA came out and checked the battery. Their little diagnostic check said the alternator was bad, so we had to get a tow truck (this AAA guy only had a pick up). So again I wait for an actual tow truck. (During all this my mom had come to get Carlee and took her to the party we were supposed to be headed to). So AAA Guy#2 comes, loads my car up, and takes it to my mom's house. I had to ride with him. Talk about awkward conversation. I ended up borrowing a friend's car and finally meet my mom and Carlee. End of Day 1, Car Troubles.

Monday: Day 2. I called AAA early so they could get my car towed to a mechanic. AAA comes out, tests everything once again. AAA Guy#3 says that it's just the battery, not the alternator. So I bought a battery from him and he replaced it. He also said that the battery terminal is bad and advised I get it replaced soon. I just nodded my head. I go to work and back and as I get home, my radio starts flickering. I turn off the car and try to start it again. It didn't start. So I called AAA again! This time they didn't check the battery, I just had them tow it to the mechanic. Although when the AAA Guy#4 got there, my car started right up. Figures, right?

So my car goes to the shop, they test everything, and they just fix the battery terminal. My car was done around 6pm so we went and picked it up. Fixed in a couple hours! Too good to be true? It was. As I was driving back to my mom's, my radio started turning on and off, my headlights were flashing. I was able to pull into the driveway and I turned the car off. I tried to turn it on and it was a no go. I called the mechanic and he came to the house to check it out. (Now that's customer service!) He came by, said it's got to be the alternator although their test said the alternator was good. He advised me to call AAA and have them replace the battery since something drained this battery. Then in the morning, he'd come get the car and take it to the shop.

That night I call AAA for the 285th time. I explained that I needed them to replace the battery that they installed that morning. They send AAA Guy#5 out and because its after 7pm, they aren't authorized to do battery installs. So all he could do was jump it. Whatever. At this point, I was done dealing with it, I had a tired toddler, I wanted to go home. He jumped it just so we could move it out of the way. Did that then we went home.

Tuesday: Day 3. Again, I went to my mom's in the morning and called AAA early. Again I had explained to the dispatcher what exactly I needed. They had AAA Guy#6 come out at 7:30am. As I was walking out to meet the tow truck driver, my mechanic was driving by so he stopped and talked to the tow truck driver to explain the whole situation. Thank God, because I have no clue what I've been dealing with. Then the mechanic tells me that AAA doesn't do battery installs until 8am. What??? Why all these stupid rules about times? The guy is here now. Well, he left and didn't say a word to me. I call AAA again and tell them I want someone there at 8am sharp to replace the stupid battery.

That's when AAA Guy#3 from yesterday shows up. He asks me what happened. Uh..my car won't start. Duh! So he tests the battery AGAIN. He says the battery is fine and he would jump start it to get me going. I explained that the mechanic wanted my car back. He didn't know why since it was just the battery. So he said to go start the car before he leaves. I get into the car, go to start it and "click, click, click, click". Nothing. I asked him "So what does that mean?" He couldn't answer. I called the mechanic and explained the situation. He ended up talking to the AAA guy. AAA jump started my car so the mechanic could come pick it up. So I'm standing there with my car running for the mechanic. All of a sudden the car just dies. What do I do now? Luckily the mechanic had a different battery and got it running to take back to the shop. They called and said it is the alternator after all. I'm hoping is is indeed that and they can fix it. Its not a lot of money (thank goodness).

Looking back it's kind of amusing. I just hope this is the end of car troubles for awhile. A LONG while.