Wednesday, July 27, 2005

You Wanna Start Something?

One of the things I hate about hot weather is ... well, it's hot. And for the first time I can remember, I had a car battery go bad in the heat.

Oh, I've had car batteries go bad during cold weather. Now, I know, it really doesn't get cold here. Not like it does up north. But it gets cold on occasion. And when I've had a car battery fail, it's been during cold weather. You know, you go outside, there's ice on the windshield, your teeth are chattering, you open the car door, jump inside, put the key in the ignition, and turn the key.

Nothing.

Okay, maybe a "rrrrrurrrrrr...." or a "clk-clk-clk-clk-clk..." or something like that. But either way, it means a dead battery.

Now, I've had problems when it wasn't cold, but those times always turned out to be the alternator had gone out and the battery wasn't being charged and it died. And when the alternator was fixed or replaced, sometimes the battery had been damaged and needed replacing.

But when it was just the battery, it was cold weather.

Until this week.

I went to the car which I had parked in the lot at work (instead of the covered garage as is the norm), opened the door, got inside, put the key in the ignition, and ... "clk-clk-clk-clk-clk-clk-clk."

Another was leaving about the same time, but in a distant section of the lot. He got in his vehicles, pulled out, started my way, and suddenly turned and went out another exit.

Then another person did the same thing.

Finally, another person came out of the building, walked over to my way and asked if I needed a jump. So, I managed to get home.

The next morning, same thing. I was late getting to work, but got there.

This evening, I had enough. Charging it last night hadn't worked, so when the wife got home, we ate supper then went to Sears. Sears has an automotive center and Die Hard batteries.

I've used other batteries in the past. The very first time I bought a battery for a car, I bought a Western Auto battery. Within a couple of days, I had driven to my grandparents house, and I got stuck with another dead battery. That's when my grandfather told me I shouldn't have bought a "Western Ought-To" battery. Needless to say, it was the last one of those I bought.

If we had lived in Savannah, heck I might have bought a Hixon. I remember a commercial that was always played on the TV stations in Savannah. It was a drawing of a tough-looking fella holding up his fist. One voice said, "You wanna start something?" Another voice replied "Yeahhh!" The first voice said "Get a Hixon." Then an announcer said something about Hixon Batteries. Which, I guess, was a local Savannah business. The lady who ran it died about five years ago. I don't think they are still in business. At least, not as Hixon.

Anyway, I've bought other batteries, but have never had a problem with a Die Hard. Maybe I'm just lucky. Or maybe they're just good. Either way, my history with them is a good one.

So, tonight, we went to Sears and left them the car. I'll pick it up tomorrow.

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