Sunday, December 11, 2016

Annals of December: Keep Truckin'

December, Stress, Winter Break

One week left until Winter Break. For better or for worse, the emotional ups and downs of a teaching calendar are pretty predictable. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but we're now staring down the barrel of one of the trickiest weeks of the year.

Here's the kind of thing that happens when I'm hanging on by a thread, like I always am at this time of year:

You know how when you press lock on your key fob? That turns off the headlights. I've been relying on that handy kill switch for six years now. But all of a sudden, the key fob stopped turning the lights off. I first noticed it when I went to visit my mom two weeks ago. Since then, I've been doing a good job of remembering to manually turn the lights off. I've only forgotten sometimes, and then only for short periods.

Fast forward to yesterday when I took my car to get serviced. They charged me a hundred and twenty dollars to diagnose my problem, which stems from a broken censor in the driver's side door. It was going to cost another hundred and sixty dollars to fix it. 

Meh.

I decided to wait to fix it until the new year because of all the other December expenses. That seemed responsible.

When I got home from the service station, I promptly forgot to turn my lights off. I left them on all day long. By the time I was ready to leave for The Christmas Carol with Mac, the battery was completely discharged. That's how my owner's manual refers to "dead."

I made the most of this car situation by first using Uber to travel to and from the theater. Then, this morning, I purchased some jumper cables and learned how to start my car all by myself. Even when things are tricky, you can always rely on a Life Long Learner identity to power you through.


3 comments:

mm said...

I had to get a new car battery this last weekend. I understand.

Melanie said...

Four new tires and four new brakes a few weeks ago. I feel your pain. And I'm just hanging on too. You've got this.

KC said...

Minnesota cars! We'll get this done, mm and Mel!