Poor msbelle. I hope you get some good rest tonight. And mac probably held it in all day, you know? Which doesn't make it easier to deal with, but I bet the noodle was worried.

ita, were able to reschedule everything today? Car trouble is always so unexpected and infuriating.

I cabbed it to my doctor's appointments, but still have to do the banking and groceries.

I just can't face taking the car getting and getting the bill, ya know?

Oh, I totally know. Sorry, babe. Glad you made it to your appointments, though.

I hesitate to endorse a fast-forward to Thursday, though, mostly because I have to have a big copyedit done by then, and it's not looking good.

ita, I'm so not mechanical but do the lights/wipers work? If they don't it may just be the battery. Or the connection to the battery.

My car mysteriously wouldn't start one morning, and I tried the headlights and hazards and nothing worked. I got out to go upstairs and call the office, and when I slammed the door shut the hazard lights came on. Wuh? I got in again and the car started just fine, so I gingerly drove to the shop and described what happened with a lot of "I know this sounds crazy, but I swear..." They determined that the connection to the battery was lose, but slamming the door had jiggled it back into place. Further validation for my belief that thumping things will make them work!

So: annoying, but not as annoying (or expensive) as a new starter would be. I hope it's something like that.

Here's hoping it's just something jiggered loose!

You know, I suppose a 30kg koala could be considered HYUUUGE compared to a modern one, but still that wouldn't be considered a large dog! So I look askance at the classification as megafauna.

Health-ma to my Mom seems to be helping, some, though mainly that may be to a) getting a comprehensive diagnosis which explains all her various maladies and b) getting a diuretic that should take care of much of the retained fluid that caused the maladies.

Probably not much can be done about the cause, which is regurgitant heart murmurs, but the symptoms can be managed. :: crosses fingers ::

I've got to leave for a dentists appt in a few. I was going to swing briefly by work after, but.... the only reason would be a meeting I'm definitely missing and the buttload of work I have to do. So....

Oh ita, I was gonna post earlier about your car, but....

eta: the first thing I'd try is turn the lights on and see how bright they are. If they're dim, then the battery is low. If they're bright, try to start it and see if the battery dims when you do that. If not, then the starter isn't getting power (which could be the solenoid) or the starter might be bad. (A starter solenoid is just a relay - it takes the small amount of current flowing through the ignition switch and uses that to flip a mechanical switch to allow a large amount of current to flow through to the starter.) (end of eta)

Anyway, the clicking sound you hear could be the starter solenoid - this can happen if the battery has only a little charge left. In which case, a jump might get it started. Have you driven it much recently? If so, then the battery might have run down for some reason, like it isn't charging when you drive it. Was the 'Alt' light on (or the alternator gauge in the negative) while you've been driving recently?

Anyway, I'd remove and clean the battery cables and battery terminals and then reattach them (or have a mechanic do that). A small wire brush works good for that. Then jump-start it (if you jump it and you still only get the clicking sound, it might be the solenoid itself) and drive it for a while and see if the battery gets charged while you're driving. If not, then you might need a new battery. Otherwise it might need a new alternator or starter, or something else in the charging circuit is bad.

But there's a good chance it's not something horribly expensive.

Oh, and if you know the battery is old and probably needs to be replaced soon anyway, you could just buy a new battery and stick it in (they come fully charged) and see if that solves your problem. If the new battery won't stay charged then you'll have to look at the alternator or charging circuit as well.

In weird NYC news, the maple syrup smell is back! I totally smelled it last night, so am glad to have confirmation.

I never smell the maple syrup.

Are we still blaming New Jersey for that?