It's always something

I caught these characters while at Safeway spending my Fresh Bucks.  I had noticed while driving there that the battery light had come on on my dashboard, and I made a mental note to call Doug when I got home for a recommendation as to where to go to have the battery checked and perhaps replaced.  But on the drive home, the entire electrical system went out.  Fortunately I was able to get off the commuter-clogged main thoroughfare (though with the steering out it was like trying to move a mountain) and get to the auto body shop near where I live that had done last year's repairs to my car.  

When I described the problem, the mechanic said it was almost certainly the alternator.  But they don't do electrical work there.  The mechanic offered to jumpstart the battery and look for nearly shops that could sell and install a new alternator.  I called Doug and he came down to the shop.  Fortunately the mechanic was able to find a shop just two miles down the road.  I called there and they said if I could get there in 15 minutes they could do the work tomorrow. 

So the mechanic started the car and I drove off with Doug right behind me in his car and we crawled down the road in heavy traffic.  Meanwhile the warning lights had come on again, and I was terrified that the car would just stop right there on Highway 99 in the midst of all that traffic. 
 Fortunately we made it to the shop with two minutes to spare.  So I left the car there after Doug transferred my groceries from my trunk to his; he drove me home and went inside to get my walker.  We put the bags on the walker's handles, hugged, and I went inside and up to the apartment.

I am so not equipped to deal with this sort of crisis!  But I had started the day feeling cheerful thanks to Energia Renovar and so I held it together, with Doug's help.  As I've said several times before, there could not be a better brother-in-law.