Battery, Mustang, Ding

How was your Tuesday?

We had quite the day.

And it all started with a battery. That died. In our car.

No worries, my husband took it out, put it on a charger before he left for work and told me I was quite capable of putting it back in the car to drive to the repair shop (just in case something else was wrong).

Instructions?

"Black cable goes to negative, red cable goes to positive, use a wrench to tighten. Oh, be careful."

So I alerted my house guests that I was heading to the garage to pretend I was a mechanic and if I were to get electrocuted, please dial 9-1-1 for assistance. They are from Finland. Wasn't sure if they knew about the United States emergency system.

Ok, accomplished the task (with a very small spark, nothing to get excited about).

Started the car up and headed 30 minutes south to our auto repair center. Ten minutes into the drive, the air conditioning conked out. Ok. I guess I should also turn off the radio and cross my fingers and hope that the car doesn't quit altogether. It doesn't. But dies as soon as I stop at the repair place.

After taking care of paperwork and dropping off key, I jump into a rental car.

A bright blue Mustang convertible with so many bells and whistles that I was awestruck. Headed north to join my house guests for lunch and a swim at Del Mar Beach.

Not a care in the world.

And no, I am not done with the story.

As we are lounging next to the surf and watching the toddler in his bright yellow beach shoes...

I receive a text message.

>Car has been dinged<

What???

Apparently, while our car was sitting in line waiting to be pulled into the service center, a man backed into the passenger door of our parked, unoccupied, minding-its-own-business car and then tried to speed away.

Luckily for us, he was stopped by a mechanic and information was exchanged.

I assumed that this incident was rare. Odd. Possibly blog-worthy.

So I asked the service manager if this was the most unusual thing that ever happened onsite. He was quick to respond.

"No, it happened to someone else the day before yesterday."





Update:  The appraiser estimates the damage at $568.73, a relatively minor repair.