happenstance

It happens that I do not have to commute to State City tomorrow, which made today my last commuting day of the week. Because it was my last commuting day of the week, I drove alone.

It happens that every week, I stop at C0stC0 for gas on my last commuting day of the week. It is the only one that is on one of my regular routes, and I would rather just buy gas there once a week than have to think about which station to go to in town (and pay more). I put 6.5 gallons in my tank.

So it happens that I had just filled my tank with gas when I tried to start my car and heard a very slow chug, chuuuug, chuuuuuuuug sound and then nothing. 

It also happens that I have been putting off buying my car a new battery since, oh, January of 2014 or before, when I had my oil changed one time and the guys at the oil place told me that my battery was operating at 15% of what it should be, and would I like a new one? and I said no, thank you. 

It even happens that I priced them at C0stC0 a couple of months ago, and then still I waited, because sometimes my car struggled to start, but sometimes it started just fine! Fine, I tell you. Okay, a little slowly. But fine! Just fine.

Two C0stC0 employees tried to help me push start my car, but nothing happened. And I mean nothing. There was no sound coming from my car. (I do know how to push start a manual transmission, although for a moment there I thought I had forgotten.)

Instead, they pushed me to the nearest parking spot and I went into the store to buy a battery.

Now, it happens that C0stC0 does not install batteries. Further, it happens that I have no tools in my cur that would enable me to change the battery myself. However, it happens that people are nice, and two of them stopped to help me. 

One was a middle-aged guy with an accent who did not have tools but did have friendly. The other was a not-quite middle-aged guy with a huge, oversized truck that probably contained one of each human-made item invented since the beginning of time and it still had space left over. One of the things it contained, fortunately, was a set of pliers. 

He swapped out my battery, I returned the old one to C0stC0 for my $15 recycling fee, and my car started with a purr that I'm not sure I've ever heard out of the ancient little go-cart before. 

It occurs to me that I probably should look into the rest of my list of potential car-fixes: the timing belt, that funny noise in the right wheel well, the muffler. Preferably before they go the battery route of just up and giving up on me. I probably can't count on this level of good fortune and happenstance for every car problem that I let go on too long.