Deathride.

Okay, scrap all that stuff about studying.

The van had issues turning over this morning. Which is surprising, because it started up just fine yesterday. Driving to school, I noticed surpressed electrical function. As in, my turn signal stopped working. I happened to glance at that little electrical dial that you almost never look at, and it was near orange. Huh? It can get over there? I made a mental note to get gas on the way back from class.

I went out to the van right after class. I checked the oil. More than enough, thankfully. She started, even more desperately than last time. The electrical guage was in the orange. I decided to just drive straight home. I got thinking about how old that battery is. It’s been in there since I started driving, so at least six-seven years. It’s had jumps before, but it’s been years since she got a jump-start.

Or maybe this is what happens when a battery dies, except nobody’s ever around to see it. Maybe a jump-start will fix it. Zap my dad’s car battery yet again, ha ha.

I noticed the heat fan was blowing slowly. So I turned it off. I started thinking of anything else I could turn off, but sadly, the van is not the Starship Enterprise. The clock illumination was going dim. The electrical needle was going more and more towards the little 8. Also, my RPM guage was up around 4500, even though I was idling, or coasting. I assumed it had died, as well. I wondered what would happen if her battery died in the middle of route ten, less than 1000 feet from home. That would be embarassing. And make for a great story! What amuses me is that despite the transmission being jumpy for months, it didn’t die.

I made it home and parked on the street as usual. Turned her off. Paused. For my own information, I tried turning her on. Ah, that death cry you only hear so often. Yup. If I had gone to get gas, her battery would have died right there. I’m willing to bet if I had studied at the library, the battery would have been dead by the time I came out.

I suppose I’ll get a jump whenever my dad gets home. If she runs normally, well, okay. If not, I guess I’ll buy a new battery. I don’t know. I keep saying I’m not going to keep the van for too much longer. But what if she just refuses to die easily? Why not just get a new battery anyway?