Click

So Barbs got into the blue slug this morning to go off to work in Lady Barron. As usual, mild chaos, eggs for friends, lunch etc all hastily loaded. Husband opening gate having shut the loyal hounds in...

And I continue to hold the gate. See Barbs charge into the house... sprint across to Peter's truck that we're (thank heavens) baby-sitting, and reverse over to the blue slug. I arrive at a rapid stagger (you cannot call what I do 'run') as she is hefting the load of daily requirements from one ute to the other...

"It won't start. Just goes click." And with this she left me to feed chickens close the gate and apply my famous curative skillz to the ute. I am a truly gifted mechanic. A genius with the 4 pound hammer, and sometimes pretty good with baling wire. sigh. Te sad truth is I've never had the supposedly masculine interest in the infernal combustion engine. Circumstances have forced me to do some work on them over the years, but my fixit skill comes down to opening the bonnet and staring at the engine. I've seen other fellows do it and it works really well for them.

For me... it went click. try again nothing happens. Go and do the famous stare... Try again. Lights on dash.

Click.

And the interior light slowly faded... Okay... so the fuses I checked (which all seemed ok, were fine. Battery terminals attached fine. There is power but it goes away in spite of the stare.

Suck my teeth. Try the stare with added fencing pliers.

turn key
Click

remove battery. By now horrible (ill-informed but horrible still, or maybe because of the lack of knowledge ideas of what expensive things could be wrong, are going through my mind. Our budget has zero fat. Expensive car problems are not required. I'm sure they'll come, but they really really aren't wanted. Is it Battery (not the worst). The Alternator... something else more expensive?

Put the battery on the charger... aha, it says not fully charged -which it ought to be. The whoop whoop is a long way out. Now... alternator or battery?

Worrying and not constructive enough to write i went and fussed about my plants for 10 minutes... came back and found the green fully charged light on the battery.

Hmm, The battery is charged after all. So it is probably not the alternator. Not knowing what else to do I cleaned the terminals with some sand-paper, put it back.

Give it my best long evil snake-eye stare. Wave fencing pliers suggestively...

get in. Turn key...

Brmmmmmm!!!!

I really have to work on that stare! ;-) (and was I relieved. It took me ages to settle into writing though, and I'd wasted quite a lot of time on the stare-process)