My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Our other car finally arrived from Hawaii a couple weeks ago. Last week Nadine and I drove to the grocery store a mile from our house. I needed to go to Costco too, which is 15 minutes away, but because I wanted frozen things from Costco I decided to go to the grocery store first. This is blessing #1.

When I parked at the grocery store, I turned off the ignition, took my keys out of the car, and exited the vehicle. Then I noticed the engine was still running, even though the car key was in my hand. Puzzled, I got back into the car and turned the ignition off and on several times. The engine stayed running the entire time. So I called Todd, my dad, my father-in-law, and my brother-in-law. None answered. I figured it was better to be stuck with my wonky car at home instead of at the store, so I drove home. Blessing #2.

After I got home I still couldn't get the car to turn off, so I called my father-in-law again. Blessing #3, he answered. At that moment I needed (1) to talk to someone who knows about cars, and (2) a calming influence, which he definitely is.

I had now been unable to turn off the engine for about 10 minutes, and suddenly smoke began pouring from the hood. Not steam, smoke. The only thing I know to do when a car smokes is to turn off the engine, and I couldn't do that, so I began to turn into a blubbering mess.

I jumped out of the car and tried to open Nadine's door, but it was locked. The car battery was fried at this point, so the automatic locks wouldn't work. I pushed the lever on her door to "unlock" and I still couldn't open the door. Now I was frantic, hysterical, and absolutely terrified. The car was still running and still smoking, and my child was trapped. After tugging on the door and trying to unlock it several times, I finally realized I had been pushing the "unlock" lever the wrong way. After that I was able to open the door and get Nadine out of the car.

I ran to the front of the car and looked for flames. No flames. Blessing #4. (I can just see it: "Hi neighbor, how was work? Sorry about your car that was parked next to mine, but mine caught on fire and burned yours too. Will a casserole make you feel better?")

After a bit the engine turned off, and then the smoke eventually stopped. And I was absolutely drained. Fortunately the story has reached a point where parts of it are somewhat humorous, but it was a fairly traumatic experience, especially not being able to get Nadine out.

We figured the Camry was toast and would need to be replaced, but we towed it to a mechanic anyway. Even if it was fixed, I wasn't going to drive it again. When your car turns into a smoke monster, you are excused from using it.

Unfortunately for the poor Camry, it IS toast and is on its way to a junkyard. Apparently the wiring to the negative side of the battery melted, which is highly unusual; who knows what else is wrong. It'll cost more to fix the car than what it's worth, that's for sure.

And in Major Blessing #5, our budget allows us to purchase a replacement car. I'm glad Todd is so good about budgeting, because two car purchases in five months isn't exactly budget-friendly.

The End.