Dead battery in a Toyota, Bridget Jones' hair, and a Jeep Wrangler

So, I just learned from one of my landlords that loud-walking lady (who also sometimes plays her music too loud) has moved out. She was my upstairs neighbor since I moved in here, but she has apparently left Memphis.
Anyone need a 2-bedroom apartment in Midtown Memphis? Contact me if you do - my landlords asked me to put feelers out.

And, now, to the reason why I've been in such contact with my landlords - my wonderful car. Yesterday, at 5 am, I headed out to my car to go to work. And the damn thing wouldn't turn over. It wouldn't start. The air / radio / annoying beep / lights all functioned, but it wouldn't start, and just went "click-click-click" everytime I tried. I freaked out, called a co-worker, called my mom, and called a co-worker again, to come and get me. Said co-worker, MB the sports guy, did, but he drives a convertible known as "the pimp sled". It's a restored 70's impala. By the time we got to work, my hair looked like Bridget Jones' in the road-trip-in-a-convertible scene. We also started the show late, and I was (understandably) distracted for most of the show. I also didn't get my morning latte, as I was carless, and i'm the one who normally does the 7:30 Starbucks run.

I was really freaked out, called the dealership (because I did get some kind of extended warranty when I bought the certified pre-owned Toyota) and they said I would have to have it towed (at a cost of $75) and they would have to run diagnostics (at a cost of $79). Then, if they determined whatever was broken was covered by warranty, Toyota would pay for the rest. If not, it was parts and labor and all that, and could end up costing me probably close to $1000 when it was all said and done. Then, the guys I work with suggested I call their mechanic, and try to set something up with him. So, I did, and told him I'd call him once I got home.

In the meantime, co-worker MB offered me use of his spare car, a stick-shift Jeep Wrangler, so I could still get around and do all the things I have to do. And yesterday, Tuesday, I had promised to pick someone up at the airport at 1 PM, so I was especially anxious to have a vehicle at my disposal. I left work at 10 am, and borrowed said Jeep. I got home, parked the Jeep in front of the bike shop, and asked one of the bike shop owners / landlord brothers, Ron, if he could look at my car. He said it was probably just the battery, and put an electric charger on it. Due to flight delays, I didn't have to get to the airport until 2 pm, and decided not to hazard taking my car out with a risky battery, and headed out in the Jeep.

Did I mention the Jeep had it's soft cover off? Yeah. So, to mitigate the Bridget Jones windswept effect, I put a bandanna on my head like scarf, and drove to the airport - during which drive I realized the gas light was on. After I did the airport pickup, we headed to the Shell station at Ghetto & Airport to put gas in the borrowed car. My car only has an 11-gallon tank, and never costs more than $30. As the numbers kept cranking on the pump, I said, if it gets to 15 gallons, I'm stopping. At $40-something dollars and 15 gallons, it still wasn't full, and I stopped. Whoo, Nelly, that's a lot of gas. But I'm being done a favor, so I don't complain too much.

It's weird driving stick again. Driving a Jeep, I feel like a different person. My hair is blowing all around, I'm getting sun on me, and I'm much higher up than I normally am in my car, or most cars I'm a passenger in. I feel taller, more powerful, more in control. It's harder to hear the radio, and the wind is blowing an whistling by, but it's really cool. And, it's not that hard to drive. I don't think I'd want one as a full-time car (not too practical, and I'm a practical kind of girl), but it's damn fun to drive for a little while.

I checked in with Ron, the landlord, and he says he should have a battery in for me today, and can install it tomorrow while I'm at work. If it's not the battery, then I'm screwed. But if it is, hallelujah, and I'm good to go. And I can give MB back his Jeep, and go back to my little Toyota Corolla 4-door automatic kind of life.